IC02441.1444 May 11, 2007 56 EM-lines (552 words) INDIA    Police In Western India Detain Attacked Pastors, Release Attackers MUMBAI, India (UCAN) -- Police in the western state of Maharashtra have released 11 people arrested for an attack on two pastors but are detaining the victims for "illegal conversions." Those released on bail May 9 reportedly belong to two Hindu groups. They were arrested and charged in connection with the attack two days earlier on Pastors Ramesh Kopargol and Ajit Belavi, whom they accused of "deceitfully baptizing" families. Television footage showed the attackers kicking, punching and beating the pastors. The two men, natives of neighboring Karnataka state, later were dragged to the police station, where police charged them with "unlawful religious conversions." The incident occurred in Ichalkaranji, near the Karnataka border in Kolhapur district, 220 kilometers southeast of the state capital of Mumbai. Formerly known as Bombay, the port city of Mumbai is India's business capital, 1,400 kilometers southwest of New Delhi. A local court has remanded the two pastors to police custody until May 11, while police investigate the Hindu activists' complaint that the pastors tried to coerce conversions. According to reports, the bailed activists are members of Bajrang Dal (party of the strong and stout) and Shiv Sena (army of Shivaji, a Hindu king), and Hindu protests erupted in Ichalkaranji beginning on May 7. Abraham Mathai, vice chairman of the state's Minorities Commission, led a delegation to meet with Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil on May 8. Following the meeting, Patil ordered a probe into the incident. Mathai later told media the attack was "orchestrated in the presence of the electronic media," and therefore was "pre-planned." It was "sad," he said, that police booked the victims "based on charges made by the attackers." Several Christian groups have accused the state of taking the issue lightly. "We are upset that the culprits are at large. Just because Christians don't retaliate, others take advantage of it," said Dolphy D'Souza, president of Bombay Catholic Sabha (council). He told UCA News Christians are "disappointed" that the deputy chief minister has treated the incident as just another law-and-order problem. Bombay Archdiocese spokesperson Father Tony Charanghat condemned the incident. He told UCA News the "(television) footage showed the utter failure of the government." Calling the incident "shame on the authorities," Father Charanghat said Christian groups might appeal to the national Human Rights Commission. "The footage was enough to show how the two missionaries were assaulted and humiliated," he added. Church of North India Bishop D.R. Tiwade of Kolhapur told UCA News that even if there were conversions, "no one should take the law into their own hands." He said he would call a meeting of pastors to decide a course of action. The National Council of Churches in India, a union of Protestant and Orthodox Churches, condemned the incident. A council press release called the "repulsive" incident a "stage-managed" show of religious fanatics. The council demanded immediate government intervention to punish the guilty. It also wants police action against those "responsible for fanning communal hatred and social tension." The release called secular-minded people to condemn the incident. Meanwhile, Hindu groups continue to protest Christian missionary work in the state. Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray, addressing a rally in Pune on May 8, reportedly denounced people who convert others as exploiting economically and socially weak groups, and said his party supports those who fight conversions. END Related UCAN Reports INDIA Televised Attack On Christian Pastor Evokes Widespread Condemnation (May 1, 2007) INDIA Christians In Maharashtra State Report Attack By Hindu Fanatics (January 6, 2004) INDIA Suspected Hindu Zealots Attack Pentecostals (August 17, 2001) IE02444.1444 May 11, 2007 62 EM-lines (681 words) INDIA    Tribal Catholics Brave Difficulties To Foster Own Faith PURNEA, India (UCAN) -- Jacob Tudu was tired after traveling seven hours on a tractor through muddy, bumpy roads at night. But the trouble was worth it, said the 28-year-old Catholic layman, because it gave him "an opportunity to attend a rare event." The event was the episcopal ordination of Jesuit Bishop Angelus Kujur of Purnea, whose diocese is in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. Purnea town is 1,350 kilometers east of New Delhi. Tudu, a Santal tribal, was among some 15,000 people, more than half of the diocese's 23,000 Catholics, who turned up at the April 18 ordination. The ordination ceremony helped village Catholics stress "our distinct religious identity," Tudu told UCA News. The layman, respected as a prayer leader, traveled with 30 Catholic families of Pran Pur, a village more than 70 kilometers south of Purnea. Members of tribal groups, mostly Santal, comprise more than 90 percent of the diocese's Catholics, who are scattered among 500 villages. Typically, 10 to 12 Catholic families live in each village. Tudu undertook the tedious journey because he did not want to miss God's blessing -- a new shepherd embodying Christ. "So we had to join (the ordination) at all costs," he added. The ordination also provided an opportunity to see bishops and Church people from other dioceses. These people remind "us" that although few in number, "we are part" of the universal Church, Tudu explained. This solidarity strengthens their faith, Tudu claimed. "Otherwise, we feel weak and helpless" among "larger Hindu castes and tribes," he added. So, events like the ordination "fire up soul and faith" among the Catholics, despite the physical hardships, said Tudu, who has a 10th-grade education but works as a part-time teacher in a private school. He says Catholics in the diocese expect the new prelate to help them practice their faith. Before the diocese was created in 1998, a few Salesian priests worked in the area. They conducted Mass in villages once a month and offered free education to Santal children. Now, the diocese has 37 tribal diocesan priests, and a tribal bishop. "Yet, we are being starved spiritually, to say nothing of materially," Tudu said. The diocese has set up Mass centers that serve two or three neighboring villages. But they rarely have Masses, because priests say they cannot afford gasoline expenses to go to the centers. When contacted, no priest was willing to discuss this laity complaint. In the absence of priests, local catechists keep "our faith" flickering, according to Tudu's wife Sushila. The catechists organize prayers on Sundays. The Santal became Catholics three generations ago. The older Catholics preserve their faith through regular prayers on Sundays, held both at the Mass centers and at home, Sushila told UCA News. The younger generation is not so keen on prayers and Mass, but they cannot be blamed, she says. Her family goes to Purnea or other parishes to attend Mass at least once every other month, but the travel costs them "a fortune." They live 40-50 kilometers from the nearest parish, and transportation is not easy to arrange. Sushila says her husband believes Christ will answer their prayers. The Lord "is certainly generous," she added. "We rarely fall sick," she said, recounting one of God's blessings. And unlike other tribal men, her husband does not drink alcohol. Tudu tells other Catholics not to expect much from priests, but to live their faith on their own. According to him, his people still observe family and public prayers that have helped them stay off liquor. "We soothe our body and soul with prayers in the evening," he added. According to Tudu, his people have a deep attachment to Jesus, the Church and hierarchy, "otherwise so many of us would not have come for the ordination." Their faith also helps them avoid fights and disputes, he added, claiming that no local Catholic has gone to the court for any dispute in decades. "This gives us a special social clout," he claimed. People of other religions "trust our sense of justice" and "invite us" to become mediators, he said. END Related UCAN Reports INDIA Large Crowd Witnesses Ordination Of Young Diocese's 'Fatherly' Bishop (April 23, 2007) INDIA New Prelate Ordained Amid Dalit Catholic Jubilation (March 28, 2006) INDIA New Bihar Diocese Expected To End Catholics' Isolation, Lessen Poverty (December 13, 2005) IJ02421.1444 May 11, 2007 57 EM-lines (606 words) INDONESIA    Lay Catholics Trained, Encouraged To Evangelize Their 'Friends' And Others PADANG, Indonesia (UCAN) -- Robertus Yohanes Handaryono, 65, never quite grasped what the exhortation "Let us go, we are sent" meant at the end of Mass, until he attended a recent evangelization course. "I realized that the words are not only a formality or ritual to complete the Eucharistic celebration. By these words, God really wants every person at the Mass to be a messenger of the Good News," he told UCA News. Handaryono was among 110 lay members of Padang diocese's cathedral parish who took part in the April 23-27 course facilitated by the Evangelization Team of the National Service Board of Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Indonesia. The course reminded them that all Catholics, not just priests and Religious, share the task of proclaiming the Good News, according to Father Alexander Irwan Suwandi, parish priest at St. Therese of the Infant Jesus Cathedral. Handaryono, a 65-year-old army retiree, learned that God's grace helps evangelizers be good messengers. Through the Eucharist, he said, God fortifies Gospel messengers with his Word and feeds them. "There is no way that God would send out his messengers without arming and feeding them," he asserted. However, Handaryono, also a eucharistic minister at the cathedral in Padang, 880 kilometers northwest of Jakarta, admitted that he cannot just approach people who are not Catholics and proclaim the Good News. "In today's context, especially in this area, where Muslims are the largest community, evangelizers face problems if they misstep." Therefore, the appropriate way to proclaim the Good News is by offering a life example of values such as discipline and honesty, he continued. "The success of an evangelizer is measured not by the number of new converts, but by the number of people implementing biblical values," Handaryono declared. Another participant, Lenty Suryanto, now is convinced the cathedral parish needs more evangelizers to encourage "indifferent and lazy sheep to participate more in Church activities." According to the 46-year-old layman, some Catholics consider it "enough to only attend Holy Mass every Sunday." He made his disagreement clear. "It is not right. God sends every Catholic to spread the Good News." Suryanto plans to visit Catholics in his neighborhood and encourage them to participate in Church activities. He does not expect this to be easy, however, because most "are busy businessmen." According to Maria Helena Monica Judi Nuradi, a facilitator of the course, its goal was to produce "skillful evangelizers who will spread the Good News not just in words but also in deeds." Participants were encouraged to share their faith experiences during the sessions and to read the Bible as a medium of their personal encounter with Jesus, she told UCA News. Besides carrying the Bible wherever they go, she added, "evangelizers must also perceive changes within their lives after they read the Holy Bible." At the end of the course, Father Suwandi encouraged participants to apply what they learned and at least "evangelize their friends" by visiting other Catholic families and sharing faith experiences. "I hope the spirit of evangelization burns always," he told UCA News. Each participant was encouraged to visit at least six Catholic families as concrete evangelization work after the course. According to Father Suwandi, the course was the third of several major events held to celebrate of the cathedral church's 75th anniversary last Dec. 24. The celebration started with the Dec. 24 unveiling of the jubilee logo by Capuchin Bishop Martinus Dogma Situmorang of Padang, amid the launching of fireworks. The organizers held a five-kilometer walk around Padang on March 31. Parish recollections and retreats, along with blood-donation drives, also will be held before the celebration closes on Oct. 28. END Related UCAN Reports INDONESIA Evangelize Tribals Through Witness, Archdiocesan Commission Says (July 13, 2000) INDONESIA Course On New Evangelization Attracts Hundreds Of Lay Participants (September 13, 1994) INDONESIA Laypeople Should Be On Front-Line Of Evangelization (February 9, 1993) INDONESIA Evangelization Requires Witness With Deeds And Examples (October 23, 1992) IS02443.1444 May 11, 2007 66 EM-lines (698 words) INDONESIA    First Benedictine Monastery Established With Local Nuns KUPANG, Indonesia (UCAN) -- Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict have opened a monastery in Kupang, their first in Indonesia. On May 7, the acting secretary of Kupang municipality, Gabriel Kahan, cut the ceremonial ribbon in front of the monastery chapel to inaugurate Santa Maria delle Grazie Monastero, dedicated to Our Lady of Grace. After the ribbon-cutting, Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, apostolic nuncio to Indonesia, led a Mass in the chapel, with Archbishop Petrus Turang of Kupang concelebrating. About 300 Catholics including priests and Religious sisters from various congregations attended. Archbishop Turang, in his homily, expressed his happiness at the presence of the Benedictine nuns in his diocese. Kupang, capital of East Nusa Tenggara province (NTT, Indonesian acronym) province, is 1,870 kilometers east of Jakarta. "It is truly a blessing and a grace for our Church and society," the prelate said. The Benedictine sisters, he explained, live in community and devote their waking hours principally to worship and work, especially manual labor. After the homily, Archbishop Girelli consecrated the chapel and blessed the other sections of the monastery. With the permission of Archbishop Turang, all the guests followed Archbishop Girelli from room to room of the 850-square-meter building. "Today you may enter and see," Archbishop Turang told them, "but after the blessing, no one is allowed to enter, except with the bishop's permission." He explained that people who come to ask for the sisters' prayers or spiritual guidance will be received in a special guest room. Conversely, the nuns are not allowed to leave the monastery except for health reasons or on assignment by the monastery superior, he continued. The oval monastery, built at a cost of 2.8 million rupiah (about US$320,000), sits in a two-hectare plot of land atop a hill near St. Famiglia Church in Sikumana, about 10 kilometers south of Kupang. From the monastery there is a clear view of the city and the Timor Sea. Returning to the chapel, Archbishop Girelli and Partini Harjokussumo, second assistant secretary of NTT, signed a commemorative plague. Harjokussumo, a St. Famiglia parishioner, signed on behalf of NTT governor Piet Alexander Tallo, a Protestant. "The presence of the Benedictine sisters here is evidence of God's love," Archbishop Girelli told the congregation at the end of Mass. "I hope the presence of this monastery will bring abundant blessings to all people in this province." On behalf of Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop Girelli thanked Archbishop Turang for giving the Benedictine sisters a chance to serve in the archdiocese. He also thanked Benedictine Sister Mother Abbess Maria Giacinta and her community for their "faithful journey from Orte, Italy, to Kupang, Indonesia." In her speech, Sister Giacinta described the sisters' presence in Kupang as "an answer to our prayers." The Italian nun spoke in Italian, and Father Gerardus Duka, the bishop's secretary, translated. She thanked Archbishops Girelli and Turang for blessing the monastery and welcoming Benedictine sisters to serve in the archdiocese. She also had words of thanks for local government officials. "May the Blessed Mother and Saint Benedict bless you all," she said. Two days earlier, Sister Maria Scolastica Nuwa, one of five Indonesian nuns assigned to the new monastery, spoke with UCA News about its establishment in Kupang. The five sisters all come from the predominantly Catholic island of Flores, also in NTT, about 200 kilometers northwest of Kupang, which sits at the western end of Timor Island. "It all started with our desire to serve people in Indonesia," she recalled. "We then contacted Divine Word Father Romano Gentile, an Italian priest who serves on Flores, and he suggested building a monastery in Sikumana," she continued. "Our monastery in Orte, Italy, then contacted Archbishop Turang," she said, adding that construction work on the monastery began in November 2005. The other Florinese nuns at the monastery are Sisters Maria Grazia Wone, Maria Luisa Marince, Maria Francesca Bue Gare and Maria Felicite Baya. All five were trained at the monastery in Orte. Women's monasteries of the Order of St. Benedict go back to Saint Scholastica, sister of Saint Benedict of Nursia. Saint Benedict, who lived approximately 480-547, formulated the Benedictine Rule for monastic life. Most men's monasteries founded throughout the Middle Ages adopted it. END (Accompanying photos available with the UCAN Photo Service. Use story code IS02443.1444 or a person's name to search for related photos.) Related UCAN Reports CHINA Benedictines Plan To Open Missioner-Run Hospital In Northeastern China (September 16, 1996) CHINA Benedictines Preparing To Run A New Hospital In Northeastern China (August 3, 1993) KO02447.1444 May 11, 2007 59 EM-lines (655 words) KOREA    Bishop Visits Buddhist Leader To Present Vatican Message For Vesak SEOUL (UCAN) -- A Catholic bishop recently visited a Buddhist leader and conveyed to him the Vatican message for Vesak, the upcoming Buddhist festival. On May 10, Auxiliary Bishop Hyginus Kim Hee-joong of Kwangju, paid a courtesy visit to Venerable Jikwan, chief executive of Jogye Order, Korea's largest Buddhist denomination. The bishop is president of the Catholic bishops' Committee for Promoting Christian Unity and Interreligious Dialogue, so his visit was the first ever by a representative of the Catholics Bishops' Conference of Korea (CBCK) to the headquarters of the order in Seoul. This year, South Korea's Buddhists will celebrate Vesak, which marks the birth of Buddha five centuries before Jesus was born, on May 24. During his historic visit, Bishop Hyginus Kim conveyed the Vatican message Christians and Buddhists: Educating communities to live in harmony and peace, which the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue issued on April 25. Cardinal Paul Poupard and Archbishop Pier Luigi Celata, president and secretary of the council, respectively, signed the document. Bishop Kim explained the contents to Venerable Jikwan, saying, "The message says that to understand other religions and to cooperate with them, continuous dialogue is needed in order to overcome misunderstandings and prejudices. It also urges us to help each other to work for peace in the world." Bishop Kim then acknowledged that Buddhism is one of Korea's traditional religions and is rooted firmly in Korean culture. "If Buddhism and Christianity, which represents Western culture, can cooperate with each other, we can contribute to further developments in society and culture," he said. Bishop Kim then gave Venerable Jikwan a Korean Bible translated in 2005, as well as a wood carving depicting the Last Supper. In return, Venerable Jikwan gave Bishop Kim a miniature bell from a Buddhist temple and a red lotus-shaped lantern. Local Buddhists hang such lanterns in temples and on the streets to celebrate Buddha's birthday. "The lotus can grow in dirty water and have beautiful flowers," Venerable Jikwan told Bishop Kim. "And unlike other plants that bear fruit after their flowers fade, the lotus can bear fruit just when its flower blossoms. It has 'cause' and 'effect' at the same time. That's the karma of Buddhism." The Vatican message urges Buddhists and Christians to help communities to dialogue and live together in harmony and peace, and says, "Education for peace is a responsibility which must be borne by all sectors of society." The message also points out: "Ultimately, the aim of true education is to bring the individual to encounter the ultimate purpose of life. This motivates the person to serve broken humanity. Together may we continue to contribute towards peace and harmony in our society and the world." Venerable Jiwon, director of the Social Affairs Department of the Jogye order, told UCA News on May 10, "Catholic leaders have released congratulatory messages every year, but this is the first official visit from the Catholic Church." He said he appreciates this Catholic Church effort. According to the monk, Korean society faces many problems that include conflicts among regions, classes and political interests. "Religions have much work to do together to solve the problems," he said. "We should get together to overcome such matters through dialogue, exchange and cooperation, and the Catholic Church has showed a good example." "With such exchanges between Buddhism and Catholicism as a model," he added, "religious people need to cooperate and work for reconciliation among religions and contribute to social development." Father John Bosco Hong Chang-jin, secretary of the bishops' committee, commented to UCA News on May 10: "Considering the Church's (prior) exchanges with Buddhism, this official visit should have been made earlier. Even so, it is another good start for dialogue with Buddhism." Since 2000, Korean bishops have issued Vesak messages to local Buddhists and some have also paid private visits to Buddhist temples on or around Buddha's birthday. Buddhists in turn have issued Easter and Christmas congratulatory messages to Christians. END (Accompanying photos available with the UCAN Photo Service. Use story code KO02447.1444 or a person's name to search for related photos.) Related UCAN Reports VATICAN UCAN Document - Message For Vesak Day Honoring Birth Of Buddha (April 26, 2007) KOREA Top Monk Makes Buddha's Birthday Visit To Catholic Welfare Center (May 2, 2006) KOREA Bishops' Vesak Messages Thank Buddhists For Condolences Over Late Pope (May 12, 2005) PA02430.1444 May 11, 2007 56 EM-lines (668 words) PAKISTAN    Church-Run Labor Day Seminar Boosts Sanitation, Brick Kiln Workers LAHORE, Pakistan (UCAN) -- Ijaz Masih has been a sanitation worker for 21 years, but his salary never changes. He is just a "temporary" worker. Every three months, the 74-year-old government employee is fired, then rehired the next day to resume his work. For 12 hours a day, he sweeps streets and cleans the drains of Bado Mali town in Punjab province's Narowal district. When Ijaz recently spoke with UCA News about his lack of job security, he noted that the town had 25 sanitary workers 20 years ago but now only 10, so every worker's workload has more than doubled. Even so, he has stopped asking to have his job made permanent because his boss has threatened to fire him. Ijaz, whose name Masih is not a surname but identifies him as a Christian male, was among about 250 laborers of various faiths who attended a seminar on "Saluting Laborers' Struggles," on May 3 in Lahore, 270 kilometers southeast of Islamabad. The national secretariat of Caritas Pakistan, the local Catholic Church's social-service agency, organized the event to celebrate International Workers' Day, which was May 1. Brick-kiln, domestic and sanitation workers took part in the seminar at the Lahore office of Caritas Pakistan. It was decorated for the event with posters extolling the dignity of labor and demanding equal rights for women laborers. During the seminar, Muhammad Sadiq Nasir, general secretary of the Sanitation Workers' Federation in Kot Radha Kishan, a town near Lahore, condemned the "animal-like treatment" of sanitation workers. Sanitation workers who complete three months of probation do not get medical benefits, annual salary increases and other benefits of permanent government employees, he said, because they are never given permanent staff status. Nasir, 70, said he agrees that labor unions should be formed to defend the rights of workers, but it is difficult to set up such unions because employers often divide workers along religious, ethnic or provincial lines. Tabeer Theatre, a Christian drama group, later staged a play about a brick-kiln worker whose daughter was raped by his landlord's son. Instead of filing a case against the offender, the worker had to accept monetary compensation. After the seminar, Nasir told UCA News about a court case his federation filed in 2002 against a sanitation inspector who harassed his female workers. The federation won the case and the court ordered the officer's transfer, but the verdict was never implemented. "We had to leave the matter," Nasir said, "because it was hard to pursue, due to (the federation's) financial problems." Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore, the chief guest at the gathering, encouraged the laborers to trust in God and to continue their struggle for justice. He urged them to get themselves organized and send their children to school, and he promised, "The Church is always with you." Since January 1990, Caritas has been running a program for marginalized workers in five districts of Punjab including Lahore. Saleem Raza, the program manager, told UCA News that meetings, workshops and training sessions are held for sanitation, brick-kiln and domestic workers. "This helps them get organized, gives them an awareness of labor laws, and enables them to identify their problems and find solutions," he said. According to Raza, the program has managed to get national identity cards for 3,281 laborers, register 1,726 children as citizens and put 2,879 workers on voting lists. In Pakistan, many brick-kiln workers who are not government employees lack identity cards and cannot vote. One way to get such a card is to present one's marriage certificate, but the government does not recognize marriage certificates of Christians obtained from their parishes. The program has also helped set a wage level for brick-kiln workers of 300 rupees (about US$5) for every 1,000 bricks, and boosted the wage of sanitation workers from 130 rupees to 175 rupees in Lahore and 160 in other districts. Raza added that a Caritas housing scheme for brick-kiln workers now underway is expected to house 112 families in an eastern suburb of Lahore. END Related UCAN Reports PAKISTAN Hundreds Protest Death Of Christian Sanitation Workers, Blame Government Negligence (May 25, 2006) PAKISTAN Charity Works For Real Independence For Brick-Kiln Workers' Children (September 5, 2005) PAKISTAN Christians Feature In Labor Day Demonstrations And Seminar (May 6, 2005) PM02446.1444 May 11, 2007 56 EM-lines (682 words) PHILIPPINES    Muslim Mothers Credit Catholic Cooperative With Easing Poverty TAGUM CITY, Philippines (UCAN) -- Muslim women in a southern Philippine town prefer to borrow from a Church-run cooperative than from private lenders. "I can stretch the amount and use it efficiently because I do not need to rush for payments," Naima Imbader explained to UCA News. She belongs to a cooperative in the Bangko sa Kabus (bank of the poor) Development Project run by Tagum diocese, based 945 kilometers southeast of Manila. Imbader, 32, a member of the Maranao Muslim tribe, said the 8,000 pesos she borrowed four years ago -- then worth about US$150 -- was invested in a stall at the city market and a mini-grocery store next to her house. The mother of three, one of the first members of the Ma-alad Tagum Islamic Center community to join the cooperative, explained that Bangko sa Kabus allows payment over a longer period of time, with monthly interest of just 2 percent. Private moneylenders typically charge 20 percent interest per month. Myrna Mapandi, 42, also has three children and serves as cluster coordinator for the Church-based cooperative in the Ma-alad area, home to about 1,000 Maranao families. She says fellow Maranao earlier tried to "discourage" tribal members from joining the cooperative by saying the money "comes from priests," but today another 18 other Maranao have also become cooperative members. Mapandi told UCA News on May 5 that most were "skeptical" at first because they thought the Catholic Church would use the cooperative to convert them. At one point, she pointed out, the number of Maranao members had reached 30, but some have returned to Marawi City in Lanao del Norte, northwestern Mindanao. Tagum City is in the east-central part of the island. Like Imbader, Mapandi also used to peddle goods but she managed to build a small store and acquire a stall at the city market, thanks to loans from Bangko sa Kabus. Now, she plans to expand her business into selling used clothes by applying for a 25,000-peso loan to use as capital. Zenaida Serrano, the foundation's executive director, told UCA News on May 3 that the cooperative, a project of Tagum diocese's Spes Pauperum (hope of the poor) Foundation Incorporated (SPFI), aims to bring women from families living below the poverty line "beyond the basic needs." Bangko sa Kabus helps alleviate poverty, she said, by giving business capital to mothers so they can help provide for their families. The idea of reaching out to non-Catholic clients is SPFI's way of helping the local Church strengthen interfaith dialogue and understanding, she added. "It is the Christian way of helping -- regardless of race or in this context, faith." Spes Pauperum evolved from the Diocesan Nutrition and Livelihood Apostolate for poor mothers, which came to an end when Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. Catholic Church's overseas aid agency, diverted funds to Africa, Serrano said. The loan program began in 2000, with 150 wives of farmers and fishermen as the first beneficiaries, she recalled. Records of the cooperative indicate that cooperative membership reached 8,000 in 20 Tagum parishes by March 2007. According to Cindy Casili, SPFI's human resources officer, SPFI not only provides capital to cooperative members but also offers other benefits, such as low-cost insurance. Casili, the most senior of five Muslim personnel, also told UCA News that the family of a deceased project member receives 100,000 pesos, while SPFI provides financial aid in the case of hospitalization. This benefit alone was enough to draw 41-year-old Salam Macaindig away from moneylenders and loan sharks, says her husband Yusuf, 50. The retired police officer told UCA News on May 5 that Salam wanted "some kind of protection," because, as she travels around on foot peddling pails, mats and plastic basins, exposure to the elements leaves her vulnerable to sickness. SPFI says it has 9,000 clients, including 908 Muslims. The five Muslim staff among its 66 personnel help Muslim clients understand the foundation's spirit, Serrano said. She also noted that from a starting capital of about half a million pesos in 2000, SPFI now has at least 30 million pesos in assets. END Related UCAN Reports PHILIPPINES Diocesan Cooperative Helps Catechists Stretch Meager Earnings (January 17, 2007) PHILIPPINES Peddlers Blame Economic Situation For Poor Sales Despite Full Churches (April 13, 2006) PHILIPPINES Muslim Tribe Calls For Independent Investigation of Bombing (April 24, 1992) PR02440.1444 May 11, 2007 59 EM-lines (669 words) PHILIPPINES    Catholic Groups Declare Support For Candidates CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines (UCAN) -- Several Church-based groups have endorsed candidates for election on May 14, even as the Philippine bishops reaffirmed their common stand to not do so. Managsilingan ta CDO (we are neighbors, Cagayan de Oro), an interfaith movement in the southern Philippines initiated by Cagayan de Oro archdiocese, has released a list of local candidates it supports. It compiled the list, which it issued on May 3, based on criteria Archbishop Antonio Ledesma of Cagayan De Oro proposed to voters in a pastoral letter two days earlier. Roberto Ansaldo, co-convener of the group, said at a press conference on May 3 that its "advisory list" represents members' effort to "discern" the candidates' platforms and stands on issues affecting local people. Cagayan de Oro City is about 790 kilometers southeast of Manila. Ansaldo explained that the candidates on the group's list, released to all 23 parishes in the archdiocese, were selected based on "conscience, competence and commitment," the three qualities set by Archbishop Ledesma in his letter. The layman emphasized, however, that neither the prelate nor the Church is endorsing the group's choices. "The list was solely our initiative," he explained, adding that Archbishop Ledesma merely suggested the process of selecting candidates, "not the candidates themselves." In his pastoral letter, the archbishop, who also serves as vice president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said a good candidate must be guided by a sense of morality and "the values of truth, justice and love," and must be sincere about serving the common good. Each of the movement's members rated all local candidates according to the three qualities, and the results were collated on May 2, Ansaldo said. Monsignor Rey Manuel Monsanto, vicar general of Cagayan de Oro archdiocese, told UCA News on May 8 that the list is a "very commendable" effort and Archbishop Ledesma is "happy" the group made it. However, the monsignor reiterated that the archdiocese is not endorsing the candidates on the list. In Camarines Sur province, 250 kilometers southeast of Manila, another lay Catholic group announced its support for one of its members running for congress. In an April 18 statement, the Christian Life Community of the Philippines (CLC) declared "total support" for Sabas Manbulo, a CLC member since 1978, who is vying for a congressional seat in the province. The group said it recognized that its decision to support Manbulo is "difficult" and "challenging," but it maintained that "in these urgent times, to keep silence and not take a stand and not act on it, is to deny the very essence of our Christian commitment." CLC is a lay community started by Jesuit Father Jean Leunis and officially approved by Pope Gregory XIII in 1584, according to its website. In the central Philippines, a Catholic priest has been accused of campaigning for a mayoral candidate in Mandaue City, Cebu province, 570 kilometers southeast of Manila. Father Jojo Delejero of Gethsemane Parish, in Casuntingan village, was criticized by supporters of mayoral candidate Jonas Cortes for joining a rival candidate's campaign. Zoilo Cortes, uncle of Jonas Cortes, wrote a complaint letter addressed to Cardinal Ricardo Vidal of Cebu and Gethsemane Parish. On May 10, he told UCA News that he and his nephew's supporters would leave it to the Church to handle their complaint and would not take further action against the priest. Meanwhile, Mariano "Brother Mike" Velarde is set to endorse 20 candidates on a list he will present at a prayer rally in Manila on May 12, according to news reports. In March, the leader of El Shaddai, the country's largest Catholic charismatic community, called on the CBCP to endorse senatorial candidates in the coming election. However, CBCP president Archbishop Angel Lagdameo of Jaro released a statement on March 13 explaining that the CBCP wants candidates to make "a genuine covenant with the electorate," and not feel indebted to the bishops. The prelate remarked that telling people who to vote for is "as bad as buying their votes." END Related UCAN Reports PHILIPPINES Church Calls For Intensified Prayers Amid Rising Election Violence (May 4, 2007) PHILIPPINES Bishops Firm On Endorsing Values, Not Candidates (March 16, 2007) TH02437.1444 May 11, 2007 60 EM-lines (713 words) THAILAND    Thai Young People Begin Applying Youth Meeting Message In Daily Life BANGKOK (UCAN) -- Some young Thai Catholics say that, thanks to a recent international youth conference, they are now more aware of the potential dangers for modern youth and their need to promote a prayerful lifestyle. Jesus Youth, an international charismatic youth movement that began in 1985 in southern India's Kerala state, organized the Jesus Youth Southeast Asia Conference 2007. With "Love Beyond Borders" as its theme, the conference took place April 28-May 1 on the Bangna Campus of Assumption University, on the southeastern outskirts of Bangkok. The 300 or so participants came from Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, and there was even a small group from Congo, Africa. The lifestyle of Jesus Youth includes quiet time for prayer, regular reading and meditation on the Word of God, regular fellowship with like-minded people, renewed zeal for evangelization and helping the poor. The strength of Jesus Youth is said to be its special focus on a Jesus-centered life. It is not an actual community but a network of small yet vibrant groups of young people. On the last day, the participants were split into small groups according to country and challenged to pledge what they would do after the conference. Some Thai participants admitted to UCA News that they are just now beginning to put into practice the commitments they made during the conference. The young Thais, who accounted for 60 of the conference attendees, agreed to pray for people threatened by violence in their country, especially in the south, which continues to be plagued by a violent insurgency. They also promised to pray for other young Thais who confront problems such as drug and alcohol addiction, premarital sex and gambling. One Thai student, Phiraphong Verochana, has begun to act. He told UCA News by phone on May 11 from his home in northern Thailand's Chiang Mai city that he is trying to encourage Catholic youths to join local Church activities. "After I came home," 17-year-old Phiraphong said, "I shared with my friends at church what I experienced at the Jesus Youth conference, with hopes young people will come together and begin to take part in Church work." Parichat Thitipham, a 25-year-old student at Ramkhamhaeng University, which has facilities across the nation, told UCA News on May 11 that she has already begun to "pray more" and will pass on the Jesus Youth message to her church. Others told UCA News how their pledges will be realized following the conference. Sripat Leantinrat, a second-year student at Ubon Ratchathani University, said: "I will share with youths at my church what I experienced, especially about prayer. We are not supposed to pray by rote (memorization), but from deep inside our heart. I agree with the speaker who said today's young people should talk more about God's love and increase their faith." University students Pachalada Vacharakittanond and Chuenjit Charoenpongchai, both 18, said they want to establish a Jesus Youth group in their parish and strengthen the group by doing social service in the name of Jesus Youth. Pachalada, who leads the Interreligious Dialogue Organization at Assumption University, said, "Young people face many challenges in society, and many of them cannot stand the pressures." Pachalada also said she is concerned "they end up going down the wrong path, into drugs, alcohol and premarital sex." Young people find it hard to follow Christian teaching, she added, but as a leader of the Interreligious Dialogue Organization, she has the responsibility to bring the Good News to her peers. "I will do my best," she promised, "not only by joining the Jesus Youth Movement at the university, but also by encouraging others to join as well." Chuenjit also noted that her parish has no well-organized youth group, so she wants to set one up modeled on the lifestyle of the Jesus Youth movement. A Child Watch Project survey by Ramjitti Institute of Thailand Research Fund in 2003 found that young Thais suffer from consumerism's negative effects, becoming more materialistic and easily influenced by adverts. According to the survey, 60 percent were spending time in shopping malls. About 45 percent did not attend church or temple and were increasingly involved in drinking alcohol and premarital sex. About 5 percent reportedly also were addicted to gambling. END (Accompanying photos available with the UCAN Photo Service. Use story code TH02437.1444 or a person's name to search for related photos.) Related UCAN Reports ASIA Young Asians Exhorted To Live Full Life In Christ At Jesus Youth Conference (April 30, 2007) ASIA UCAN Document - Asian Youth Journeying with Jesus in Building a New World (August 16, 1999)