Jerusalem bishop: “Syria sexual violence must end”; Mali conflict exacerbating food crisis; “Repent, fast, lament for your nation” – Sri Lanka bishop; Call for end to discrimination in Egypt
Jerusalem bishop: “Syria sexual violence must end”
Bishop in Jerusalem, Bp Suheil Dawani has spoken out against sexual violence affecting women and children escaping Syria and criticised “archaic attitudes” to women that dominate the region.
In a piece written for ACNS, the Bishop says the crisis in Syria “requires urgent action” and noted that Christians “cannot be silent [witnesses] to the brutal treatment of women and children”.
He wrote: “The UN has reported that 2.5 million people have fled their homes. Many are women and children who are fleeing in fear from the ongoing sexual violence against them. The International Rescue Committee reports that those who finally make it into the refugee camps are also victimized.
“As refugees, women and girls (and boys) remain vulnerable to multiple forms of gender-based violence, and unfortunately few cases are reported due to the feeling of shame or fear of retribution. This crisis requires urgent action.”
Bp Dawani said that a key responsibility for Christians in the region was to change attitudes towards women so that future generations of women avoid years of continued suffering.
He shared some of the work his diocese was doing to “raise awareness, change attitudes, and behaviours that lead to violence.”
Mali conflict exacerbating food crisis
Fighting in Mali is compounding the ongoing food crisis in the Sahel, Christian Aid has warned. The United Nations estimates the number of people displaced by the conflict to be over 200,000.
Christian Aid’s Mali country director, Yacouba Kone, said the conflict and displacement of people were contributing to ever-rising levels of malnutrition. ”The current food crisis has already brought suffering to more than 18 million people across the region, and the more people are forced to flee the mounting military offensive in the north, the more market gardens are being abandoned and the less vegetables are being produced for child nutrition,” he said.
The UN estimates that 4.2 million Malians will need emergency humanitarian assistance this year.
Some Malians have fled to neighbouring countries Burkina Faso and Niger to escape the violence.
Christian Aid is working through partners on the ground to provide humanitarian aid and assistance, including safe drinking water and food.
Kone said: “Any efforts to reduce long-term suffering in Mali must address the region’s entrenched poverty and vulnerability to chronic food crises, by building resilient livelihoods.”
He called for measures to be taken to ensure that Touareg and Arab communities are not targeted by the military because of their ethnicity and unsubstantiated rumours that they are protecting the rebels. ”We are now hearing reports that some Touareg and Arab community members are being attacked by Malian troops who may be seeking revenge for the atrocities committed by the rebels on January 2012 when many Malian soldiers were executed in Aguelhok, a military base in the Kidal Region of eastern Mali,” he explained.
“All parties involved in the conflict must take the necessary measures to prevent harm to civilians, particularly women and children, as well as respecting the right of people in need to humanitarian aid and allowing rapid, safe and unimpeded passage to any agencies providing it.”
“Repent, fast, lament for your nation” – Sri Lanka bishop
The Bishop of Colombo has called members of the Church of Ceylon to fast, pray and lament over the state of the nation of Sri Lanka after what he described as “the complete collapse of the rule of law” there.
Rt. Revd Dhiloraj Canagasabey was writing after the Government impeached Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake over allegations of financial and official misconduct. She denies the allegations and her removal was pronounced unlawful by the courts and condemned by the opposition.
In a pastoral letter sent around the small island nation’s Anglican community, Bp Canagasabey said he wrote “with a heavy heart” about the state of governance in Sri Lanka and added that the Church should not stay silent.
“Such silence will be dishonouring to our Lord and a betrayal of our identity as His people,” he wrote. “I wish to remind you that right from the day of Pentecost, the Church has learnt to say that ‘Jesus is Lord and not Caesar’. Often this has led to suffering and persecution. The Church must always be prepared for this eventuality.”
The bishop said the Church needs to repent for its times of silence and of complicity in injustice. He has therefore called for a Day of Lament on February 3, a Time of Lament at the Cathedral on February 4 and for the Church to use Lent as a time to reflect on “what it means to live as a faithful disciple-community of Jesus in the context of our nation today”.
Call for end to discrimination in Egypt
The head of the Coptic Church in the UK is calling upon Egypt to allow all citizens to live freely according to their beliefs. The statement by Bishop Angaelos marks the second anniversary of the uprising in Cairo’s Tahrir Square.
He urges the Egyptian government to bring an end to violence against Christians and move towards a democracy in which freedom of religion is respected.
Egypt’s minority Christian community has been hit by three attacks in recent weeks.
A building in Fayoum was destroyed by a mob after a rumour emerged that it was going to be used as a church.
In Qena, eight Coptic homes and businesses were attacked by Muslim protesters. Buildings and vehicles were torched and the church of Abu Fam was damaged. The attack was triggered by rumours of a Christian man sexually assaulting a six-year-old Muslim girl, later found to be false.
In Beba, a criminal gang occupied a church building and turned it into a drugs den. Police reportedly failed to intervene.
Bishop Angaelos called for the protection of places of worship and full investigations into the latest attacks.
The recent imprisonment of a mother and her seven children for converting to Christianity also prompted calls for the freedom to change religious beliefs.
“As we approach the second anniversary of the uprising in Tahrir Square, it is unfortunate that these incidents are by no means isolated,” he said.
“They are merely the latest in a continuous stream of discriminatory decisions facing Egyptians, Christians and Muslims alike, who wish to be treated equally, regardless of their religious or political beliefs.
“Considering the significant sacrifice that has been presented over the past two years, even leading to the loss of life, it is time for Egypt to emerge out of the pattern of discriminatory practice, and take on its new identity of a promised democracy that the January 2011 uprising sought to establish.”