Source: CNS News PHILIPPINES, July 11, 2002: The Roman Catholic Church in Asia’s staunchest Catholic country, the Philippines, has apologized for cases of sexual abuse by priests over the past two decades. Following a weekend conference, Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference, said up to 200 priests – of a total of 7,000 – may have…
GO TO SOURCE NEW YORK, NEW YORK, July 15, 2002: Sporting the ubiquitous hamburger bun overflowing with vegetables, the July 15 issue of Time magazine carries a cover story on the merits of vegetarianism for everyone. For many, meat is an obscene cuisine. It’s not just the additives and ailments connected with the consumption of beef, though a dish of…
GO TO SOURCE TRINIDAD, July 8, 2002: HPI’s local contacts here sent in a note that a Japanese-language DVD had appeared entitled “RG Veda.” Our correspondent, Anil Mahabir, spoke with a distributor of the DVD who said, “The film is not about anything even remotely resembling Indian culture or Hinduism, although the name “RG Veda” might seem to suggest such.”…
GO TO SOURCE PUNE, INDIA, July 7, 2002: As the demand for priests to perform certain rituals has increased, the supply of male priests has dwindled. Often young men do not follow in their father’s footsteps and have taken up what they feel to be more lucrative careers. Hence in 1990, an organization call Jnana Prabodhini started training both women…
GO TO SOURCE PUNE, INDIA, July 7, 2002: Jnana Prabodhini, a Pune-based organization, has been training women to become priests since 1990. With very little opposition from the public, JP has found that women priests have filled a demand, that priests graduating from their program perform rituals for all classes of people, and that women should have an equal opportunity…
GO TO SOURCE HAMM, GERMANY, July 8, 2002: Around 3,000 Hindus on Sunday attended the inauguration of the largest Hindu temple in Europe, at Hamm in northwest Germany, police said. The 700-square-meter Sri Kamadchi Ampal temple took two years to build and cost US$990,000, most of it from donations. The building is built in an architectural style typical of southern…
GO TO SOURCE NEW DELHI, INDIA, India, July 3, 2002: Joint research conducted by the Scientists of Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, a Central Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) laboratory, and Go-Vigyan Anusandhan Kendra, Nagpur, has resulted in the granting of a US patent for a unique pharmaceutical composition, announced Union Minister Murli Manohar Joshi. The research discovered…
GO TO SOURCE AHMEDABAD, INDIA, July 7, 2002: Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani has rejected a forensic report that contradicts the government’s view that a Muslim mob had set a train on fire from outside, killing 58 passengers, in February near here. The contention of Ahmedabad-based Forensic Science Laboratory that the fire, which engulfed two coaches of Sabarmati Express…
GO TO SOURCE NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, JULY 5, 2002: Lutheran pastor, Rev. David Benke, has been suspended from his duties and ordered to apologize to all Christians for participating with New York’s Cardinal Edward M. Egan, other Christian ministers, Sikh and Hindu holy men, imams, rabbis and civic leaders in an interfaith prayer service hosted by Oprah Winfrey…
GO TO SOURCE BIHAR, INDIA, JULY 4, 2002: Last month a group of Hindu activists from Bihar launched a campaign against animal sacrifice at the famous Lord Baidyanath temple at Deogarh in Jharkhand. It is estimated that about 100 animals are slaughtered at the Deogarh temple each month and the temple management spends about US$2,000 procuring goats for the sacrifices.…