Christianity in Cuba

Christianity has played an important role in Cuba's history. Cuba was discovered by Christopher Columbus a few days after he arrived to the New World in 1492. In 1511, colonization began when the Conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar established the Catholic Church in Cuba with the early priest Fray Bartolomé de las Casas known commonly as "the Protector of the Indians". Along with Catholicism, Protestantism came during the same time.
Catholicism was established early while Protestantism came later. "Protestantism did not permanently take hold in Cuba until the nineteenth century, though since the sixteenth century the country had been constantly visited by pirates, corsairs and filibusters, many of whom were Protestants". In Cuba, the roots of Protestantism occurred around the same time as Christianity. The denominations of Catholicism and Protestantism have a significant influence in Cuban history.
Catholicism in Cuba during the colonial period 1498–1898.
In 1512, Roman Catholicism came to Cuba with the Dominicans being the first Catholic priests and the Franciscans coming years later. The indigenous people were murdered as early as 1516: the bishop at the time Fray Bernardo de Mesa used lunar cycles and geographical situation as the reasoning for slavery of the Indians. Eventually the Indigenous Cubans were killed off with many Cubans being descendants of Spanish and African origin. Originally Catholicism catered to the Spanish because the Native Amerindians were killed as opposed to being converted. Pope Leo X (r. 1513-1521) established the Diocese of Baracoa, which included "all of Cuba" and the Spanish possessions of Louisiana and Florida. The name was changed to the Diocese of Santiago de Cuba in 1522.
Catholicism during this period was important because of the engagement in various aspects of life: baptisms, marriages, and funerals. The church fought the buccaneers and combated immorality. Authority of bishops during the colonial period compared to the highest civilian and military authority on the island; Schools and institutions of higher learning were created and administered by Church authorities.
Some of the bishops who were involved in education at this time were Bishop Jerónimo de Valdés (1705–29) and Bishop Pedro Agustín Morell de Santa Cruz (1753–68); the Royal and Pontifical University of Saint Jerome of Havana was inaugurated during Valdes' tenure in 1724. Throughout the Cuban island, the schools of San Ambrosio and San Francisco de Salles in Havana were established by the church from donations and an increase in church revenue. The Catholic Church was pivotal in establishing education as a central pillar of Cuban nationality:
During the early history of Cuba, the Catholic clergy seemed to have been the principal if not the only agents of education. In 1689, the College of San Ambrosio was founded in Havana for the purpose of preparing young men for the priesthood. As early as 1688, the city council of Havana petitioned the royal government to establish a university in that city, in order that young men desirous of pursuing higher studies might not be compelled to go to Europe to do so. After some years of preparation, the present University of Havana was founded in 1728. The rectors, vice rectors, counselors, and secretaries were all Dominicans.
Aside from education, the Catholic Church made other contributions throughout its early years in Cuba. Many historians consider the Golden Age – years 1750 to 1850 – to be of tremendous importance. This period was significant in one aspect because of the increase of clergy. The Catholic Church's golden age in Cuba began with the tenure of Bishop Diego Evelino Hurtado de Compostela along with the first diocesan synod of 1680. The powerful influence in culture and politics, increase of native clergy, along with the multiplication of church building and seminaries marked the golden age.
The diversity of the church characterized the golden years. Of the 90 churches in Cuba at this time, half of them were headed by Native Cuban priests. The Church was accepted in the urban centers because prior to this time the Spanish had used religion as a tool to influence the local Indians for the acquisition of wealth.
Protestants in Cuba during the colonial period 1498–1898.
The earliest accounts of Protestants in Cuba were in the 1500s. Protestants were not warmly welcomed in Cuba because of the Catholic Spanish colonization of Cuba. By the mid-1800s, the majority of Cubans had become more indifferent toward religion, while Spanish domination of the island was steadily gaining support from the Catholic clergy. However, the richest history of Cuban Catholicism during the colonial period occurred in the 1800s. New immigration laws and other changes brought foreigners from various Protestant nations into Cuba for commerce and diplomacy primarily; the abolition of slavery was the agenda for some Protestants secondarily. Protestants living in Cuba had religious beliefs that contended with religious rules of the land, but Protestants accommodated to the colonial regime differently.
While the 19th century placed Cuba in a more prominent position; the late 1800s particularly gave rise to Protestantism in Cuba. The first year of importance was the year 1866. In New York City, a Cuban expatriate named Juaquín de Palma founded the St. James Episcopal Church, with a primarily Cuban congregation. Cuban Protestants were discriminated against and after the Ten Years' War many Cubans were obliged to move to the United States; it was not until 1878 émigrés returned with certain freedoms promised from the Spanish government due to a peace treaty. Subtle changes were produced in 1869 from the declaration of religious tolerance. Reverend Edward Kenney was the first Protestant minister to be given consent to perform religious duties; arriving from the United States, Kenney arrived in 1871 organizing the first Episcopalian mission, but was only allowed to proselytize foreigners due to limitations by colonial authorities.
The most significant years of Protestantism in Cuba were in the year 1882 and 1883. These years are important because of the establishment of Cuban Protestantism:
As with the Anglicans and Methodists, the Baptists found their initial converts working among Cuban exiles in Florida. In 1882, Juaquín de Palma, who became a Baptist in Florida, returned to Cuba as a Bible distributor with the American Bible Society. He was joined in 1883 by colporteurs Alberto J. Díaz and Pedro Duarte, who were Episcopalian laymen. Later in 1883, Diaz established an independent Protestant church in La Havana, which became Iglesia Bautista Getsemaní in 1886 after Diaz became an ordained Baptist minister in 1885 under the Reverend William F. Wood of Key West, Florida, and became affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).
Religious tolerance until 1886 existed only for foreigners until the Episcopal minister Pedro Duarte went directly to the Spanish Crown citing injustices done to him by local authorities. As a result, the Spanish Constitution of 1876 extended to Cuba in 1886.
The difficulties experienced leads and coincides with the next. Protestantism in Cuba was until 1898 Cuban. The foreign presence after Spain contributed to this change:
In 1898 North American intervention brought full religious lawful equality to Cuba. The arrival of large numbers of returning Cuban exiles and foreign missionaries also contributed to a growing number of Protestant churches. The years following the U.S. intervention were years of sway for the North American Mission Boards in Cuba… Their activities were not limited to organizing churches, but many also invested in founding schools and hospitals. The large U.S. missionary presence in Cuba to a certain point eclipsed the original native missionary efforts, and tensions between foreign and local leaders occurred in virtually every Protestant denomination.
The 20th century would be followed by what would be considered the Americanization of Protestantism.


Jacques Du Frische

Jacques Du Frische (1640–1693) was a French Benedictine theologian.


Maha Ganapati Temple of Arizona

Maha Ganapati Temple of Arizona is a Hindu Temple located in Maricopa, Arizona. It is one of many temples that serves the Hindu Population of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. The temple is part of Harvard University Pluralism Project, a project dedicated to cataloging all Religious bodies in the United States.
History.
In 1999, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami of Kauai Aadheenam gifted a 1400 lb, 4 ft tall statue of Ganesh as a Murti for a new Hindu Temple to be constructed in Arizona. In November 2000, The Maha Ganapati Temple of Arizona was officially established as a Non-Profit Organization and recognized as a religious organization. In 2002, 15 acres of land and a double sided trailer in Maricopa was donated to the organization by Gunnela Family. MGT Arizona later held its grand opening ceremony with 500 devotees attending. Between 2002 and 2007, 500,000 dollars was raised for the initial phase of the project. On August 25, 2007, the groundbreaking of the 8000 sq foot temple began. The first phase of building would be estimated to cost 1.5 Million dollars. four Towers were constructed with the highest one reaching 26 feet. Phase 1 finished in May 2008, and a Prana Pratishtha was held for the Murtis installed. In 2010, 250,000 dollars was raised by the 1,000 followers of the temple to construct additional murtis and towers for the temple. In 2011, 4 additional murtis of Hindu deities were installed and in 2012, sculptors were brought in to sculpt Indian art work into the interior and exterior of the building. In 2014, the temple finished sculpting its 4 towers with Indian Art Work. MGT Arizona attended an interfaith dialogue and religious diversity event in Chandler in 2012, reciting a prayer for the attendees. Henry Cejudo attended the event.


Christianity in Abkhazia

Christianity is a main religion in Abkhazia. The history of introduction of Christianity in the present-day Abkhazia can be traced to the 1st century and in 325 the bishop of Pityus participated in the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea. Since the late 9th century, the Orthodox dioceses of Abkhazia were subordinated to the Georgian Orthodox Church, later functioning there as the Catholicosate of Abkhazia.
Eastern Orthodox Church.
The orthodox church in Abkhazia is officially part of the Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church (Tskhum-Apkhazeti Eparchy) with
Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II as its head. After the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, the autocephalous church of Georgia lost the control and jurisdiction over its property in Abkhazia. However, all autocephalous churches of the orthodox faith, including the Russian Orthodox Church and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, recognise Abkhazia as part of the Georgian autocephalous church. The Current head of the orthodox church in Abkhazia is Archbishop Daniel of Tskhum-Apkhazeti Eparchy However, the Georgian Orthodox Church is unable to operate there and most of its clerics as well as the parish have been expelled during the Abkhazian war and in its aftermath.
After the war in Abkhazia, the only remaining Orthodox priest of the Georgian Church, ethnic Abkhaz Vissarion (Appliaa) headed the local Orthodox community. In the following years, the recently consecrated clerics from the neighbouring Russian Maykop Eparchy arrived in Abkhazia and soon engaged in a conflict with Vissarion. Through the mediation of Russian church officials, the two sides managed to reach a power-sharing agreement at Maikop in 2005, and organised themselves into the Eparchy of Abkhazia whose canonical status remains undefined. This failed, however, to settle the disagreement and the eparchy continues to straddle the division. Currently, there are a dozen or so Orthodox clerics in the region, most of whom belong to the Russian Orthodox Church, while the de facto head of the eparchy, Vissarion, nominally remains a subordinate to the Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate.
The Georgian church officials complain that the Russian church interferes in Abkhazia by training and sending in priests loyal to Moscow. The Russian church officials published translations of the Gospels in Abkhazian, which drew protests from the Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church as a violation of Orthodox Church canon law, constituting a meddling in the internal affairs of another Orthodox church and annexation of Georgian Orthodox property in Abkhazia. The Russian Orthodox Church claims that the clerics of Maykop eparchy serve in Abkhazia only temporarily as the local Orthodox believers do not have contacts with the Georgian Orthodox Church.
Armenian Apostolic Church.
Most of the ethnic Armenians living in Abkhazia who form the second largest ethnic group in the region of Abkhazia after the Abkhaz people, forming 20% of the Abkhazian population with 45,000 out of a total of 215,000, belong to the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church in Abkhazia is the third largest Christian denomination and mostly consists of mainly Armenians, Poles, and expatriates living in Abkhazia. The Holy See does not have diplomatic relations with Abkhazia, but has enjoyed two high level visits from the apostolic nuncio.


Cemetery of Prado do Repouso

The Cemetery of Prado do Repouso () is a cemetery in the civil parish of Bonfim, in the Portuguese northern, municipality of Porto.
History.
The lands, today occupied by the cemetery, were part of the bishop's Quinta do Prado in the 16th century. The lands were part of an estate over the river, transformed by D. Frei Marcos of Lisboa, against the interests of the Portuense prelates, in order to shelter sick clerics or those that required respite from their works. Unfortunately, the site was never used for this purpose. The site had a small chapel dedicated to São Tomás, likely associated with bishop D. Tomás de Almeida, in addition to two mills alongside the meadow.
In 1804, D. António de S. José e Castro, founded on the Quinta do Prado the Diocesanal Seminary of Porto. At this time, construction on the church to the invocation of São Victor (today the actually cemetery chapel).
Between 1832 and 1834, during the Liberal Wars, under the initiative of prelate D. João de Magalhães e Avelar, the site was abandoned and the buildings were burned-down during the encirclement of Porto. In 1835, the regency began regulating and prohibiting burials inside churches and private cemeteries, with burials being regulated by the State. On 3 April 1839, bishop D. Manuel de Santa Inês complained that he was not being able to dispose the property. It was selected as a cemetery location during this era, owing to its position outside the urban area, it was already walled-in and landscaped for the purpose, in addition to annexes and ancillary buildings existed around it. The municipal council authorized public works to adapt part of the meadow, cemetery and unfinished seminary lands. The uncompleted church of São Victor, were incorporated into the lands destined for the cemetery and was renamed as the "Capela do Cemitério do Prado do Repouso" ("Chapel of the Cemetery of Prado do Repouso"). The alterations were blessed and the first stone placed by D. Frei Manuel de Santa Inês. In December, the site was inaugurated with the burial of the mortal remains of Francisco de Almada Mendonça (provedor between 1794-1804 of the private chapel of the Misericórdia of Porto.
On 10 December 1896, a petition to construct a western chapel, to be consigned for the christian Order of Carmel.
In 1922, António Maria Leite, made a request to construct the first chapel-tomb for his family.
In 1989, the cemetery celebrated its 150 years of service.
The chapel's interior was restored in 1998, that involved treatment, conservation and restoration of supports and stucco ornamental structures; the mural painting in the chancel and nave; the repairs to cornerstones; the gilding of woods and decorative polychromatic stuccoes; repair to stone pavement and of cast-iron elements and artistic joinery. This also included the consolidation of traditional mortars and paint. Additional repairs were undertaken in 2018, that included works of conservation and restoration in exterior and interior.
Architecture.
The cemetery is located in an isolated urban area, implanted on a plain, delimited in the east by industrial buildings, to the north and west by residential buildings and south by a building of the "Colégio dos Órfãos" ("orphan college").


Dennis Nineham

Dennis Eric Nineham (27 September 1921 – 9 May 2016) was a British theologian and academic, who served as Warden of Keble College, Oxford, from 1969 to 1979, as well as holding chairs in theology at the universities of London, Cambridge, and Bristol.
Early life and education.
Nineham was born on 27 September 1921. He was educated at King Edward VI School, in Southampton, Hampshire, then a grammar school. He studied "Literae Humaniores" (classics) and theology at The Queen's College, Oxford. He graduated from the University of Oxford with a first class honours Bachelor of Arts degree in 1943. He then entered Lincoln Theological College, an Anglican theological college, to undertake a year's training in preparation for the ordained ministry of the Church of England.
Career.
Ordained ministry.
Nineham was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1944 and as a priest in 1945. He then served as Assistant Chaplain at Queen's College, Oxford. In 1946, he was elected a fellow and appointed as the College Chaplain.
During his time at the University of Bristol, Nineham was an honorary canon of Bristol Cathedral.
Academic career.
He was appointed professor of Biblical and historical theology at King's College London in 1954, becoming professor of divinity at the University of London in 1958. In 1964, he was appointed Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, a post held in conjunction with a fellowship at Emmanuel College. He returned to Oxford in 1969, as warden of Keble College, a post that he held until 1979; he was appointed to an honorary fellowship of Keble in the following year, and to an honorary fellowship of Queen's in 1991. Between 1980 and 1986, he was professor of theology and head of the theology department at the University of Bristol; he was also an honorary canon of Bristol Cathedral for this period.
His publications include "The Study of Divinity" (1960), "The Gospel of Saint Mark" (1963), "The Use and Abuse of the Bible" (1976) and "Christianity Mediaeval and Modern" (1993). He edited various theological works, contributed to others, including "The Myth of God Incarnate" (1977), and made a number of television appearances, including as part of the controversial Channel 4 series, "" in 1984.
Family.
His son is Chris Nineham, deputy leader of the Stop The War Coalition.
Later life.
He died on 9 May 2016 at the age of 94.


Muslim News Nigeria

Muslim News Nigeria is a bi-monthly print and daily online Islamic newspaper in Nigeria.
History.
"Muslim News Nigeria" was founded by Rasheed Abubakar, an author, writer and a columnist with "The Daily Independent" in Lagos, Nigeria. It debuted in August 2018. It was established due to the media reportage of Barrister Firdaus Amasa's Hijab saga and several other cases of under-reporting of news about Islam and Muslims. In September 2018, "Muslim News Nigeria" went online with regular Muslim content and in-depth analyses of happenings around the Muslim world. Its website is fast becoming the most frequently visited Muslim news website by majority Muslims, and some non-Muslims.


Vallipuram

Vallipuram (, ) is a village in Vadamarachchi, near Point Pedro in Northern Province, Sri Lanka. The village is an ancient settlement with rich archeological remains. The village is home to the Vishnu temple "Vallipuram Aalvar Kovil."
History.
A 2nd century gold plate carrying a Sinhala Prakrit inscription was found under the foundation of the Vishnu Hindu temple at Vallipuram. It mentions about the establishment of a Vihara in "Nakadiva" by the minister named "Isigiraya" under the ruler King "Vaha" who is identified as King Vasabha (67-111 C.E.). The inscription is important as it confirms that King Vasabha was ruling the whole country including Nakadiva (Nakadiva in Old Sinhala is the equivalent of Pali Nagadipa, whilst the use of the phoneme 'k' to represent 'g' reveals Dravidian influence).
The language and interpretation of the inscription is disputed. According to Senarath Paranavithana, this is an inscription written in Old Sinhalese. Peter Schalk believes that this inscription is in Prakrit bearing Dravidian influences and that the name "Nakadiva" is a fiefdom corresponding to modern Jaffna Peninsula, which was ruled under the minister Isikiraya ('raya' being a Tamil form of the word raja, and the place name 'Badakara' deriving from the Dravidian 'northern coast').
The exact details of the temple complex are not known, and the famous Vallipuram Buddha statue from the 3rd–4th century AD built in the "Amaravathi" style was found under the Vallipuram temple. This cultural exchange between the Jaffna peninsula and Andhra Pradesh occurred at the height of trade in the Sangam period, continuing when the Telugu Satavahana dynasty was at the height of its power from 230 BC right through when its 17th monarch Hāla (20-24 AD) married a princess from the island. Professor Peter Schalk (University of Uppsala), writes "Vallipuram has very rich archaeological remains that point at an early settlement. It was probably an emporium in the first centuries AD. […]. The Buddha statue found here was given to King of Thailand by the then British Governor Henry Blake in 1906.


The Angelus (Irish broadcast)

The Angelus is an Irish radio and television programme, first broadcast in 1950, of the sound of an Angelus bell ringing for one minute. On radio it is broadcast at 12pm and 6pm every day. On television, it is only broadcast at 6pm, immediately before the main evening news. Since 2009, the programme on television no longer includes Catholic imagery and the Angelus prayer itself is never broadcast.
The bells were recorded at St Mary's Pro-Cathedral, although initially broadcast live.
Radio Éireann first broadcast "The Angelus" on 15 August 1950. The Secretary of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, Leon Ó Broin, and the Archbishop of Dublin, John Charles McQuaid, had discussed the original idea in the late 1940s.
The Catholic broadcast has sometimes been challenged, while some non-Catholic faith leaders have called for its continuation, notably the Church of Ireland (although less prominent than in the Roman Catholic church the Angelus is also part of the Anglican/Episcopal tradition) and the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Archibishop Eames of the Church of Ireland welcomed the new version in 2009. The secretary of the mosque in Clonskeagh and the Chief Rabbi supported keeping the broadcast.
Television format.
Televised programming began at Telefís Éireann's launch. Images shown were pictures of the Annunciation. More recently, it showed "a number of people of varying gender and ages pause to pray at the sound of the bell".
2009 relaunch.
From 21 September 2009, RTÉ Television reformatted the broadcast before . It features seven different editions, with a different person shown in each one. Featured people include a chemist from Finglas, a mother from Sixmilebridge, grandparents feeding swans in Shannon, a fisherman from Enniscorthy and an office worker from Zambia at her office near the Phoenix Park. The one-minute feature attracts an average audience of 318,000. It was developed by Kairos Communications.
2015 revamp.
From 2015, a new form of the Angelus, "The People's Angelus", are transmitted on Fridays, produced by ordinary people, artists, and aspiring filmmakers. Angelus films produced by Kairos are transmitted on the other days of the week.


Shia Islam in Bangladesh

Shia Muslims are a large minority in Bangladesh, with roughly 2% of the population being Shia. Many Bangladeshi Shi'a Muslims, belong to the Bihari community. Even though there are only small numbers of Shi'as, the observance commemorating the martyrdom of Ali's sons, Hasan and Husayn, are still widely observed by the nation's Sunni community; highlighting the historical influence that the Shi'ites had in Bengal.
Distribution.
Among the Shias, the Dawoodi Bohra community is concentrated in Chittagong as well as the Nizari Ismaili community also found in Dhaka. The Hussaini Dalan in Bakhshibazar, Dhaka is the largest Shia masjid and the main Hussainiya of the country. There are numerous Imambaras and Shia mosques across Dhaka in places such as Adabar, Paltan, Mohammadpur, Farashganj and Azimpur. Twelver communities reside in the northeastern Sylhet Division in places such as Kulaura and Rajtila, and have ties with the Prithimpassa family. In Bhandaria, Firozpur, there is the Twin Mosque of Bhelai Chokdar which is a relic of Shia interactions in southern Bangladesh. In contrast, the Shalbari Mosque in Thakurgaon, northern Bangladesh, dates as late as 1888. There are also imambaras in Manikganj, Kishoreganj, Austagram and Saidpur.
History.
Most of the Twelvers migrated to South Asia to prosper and obtain high positions in various Sultanates and later Mughal Empire. Many were also rebels and nobles who lost royal favour in Persia. The Mughals also preferred to employ foreign Muslim officials that had no local interests and thus were loyal to the emperor. All the Nawabs of Bengal happened to be Shia Muslims.
During the Sultanate era, Sakhi Salamat, a Shia nobleman from Isfahan, settled in the village of Prithimpassa in Kulaura in 1499. His son, Ismail Khan Lodhi, was granted numerous jagirs and the Prithimpassa family thereon became one of the principal families of Greater Sylhet belonging to the erstwhile feudal nobility of eastern Bengal.
Mughal era.
The oldest Shia imambara in the country was the Bibi Ka Rauza in Farashganj, Dhaka, constructed in 1608 by Amir Khan. The building is not fully extant though. During the reign of emperor Jahangir, a Shi'ite by the name of Ibrahim Khan Fath-i-Jang was given the Subahdari (governorship) of Bengal in 1617 and so he set off for Dhaka, bringing many fellow Shi'ites alongside him.
The Sunni governor of Mughal Bengal Shah Shuja's mother, two wives and teacher were all Shi'ites. So many of Shuja's courtiers were Shia such that a saying became prevalent in Dhaka that Shuja had brought with him 300 Shi'ites whom he got settled in different parts of Bengal. Although a staunch Sunni, his rivals in Delhi even started to spread rumours that Shuja had converted to Shi'ism. It was during his term in 1642, that the naval chief Sayyid Murad constructed the Hussaini Dalan in Dhaka.
The next two governors of Mughal Bengal, Mir Jumla II and Shaista Khan, also belonged to the Shia faith.
Mir Sayyid Shakrullah al-Husayni of Najaf was one of the Shia noblemen brought by Shuja, and he was the ancestor of Nawab Sayyid Chottan Saheb, who had a large estate in Abul Hasnat Road in Dhaka. The estate contains the Mohammadi Begum Imambara, which was built in 1707.
From 1717 until 1880, three successive Nawab dynasties – the Nasiri, Afshar and Najafi – ruled over Bengal, and all belonged to the Shia faith.
Murshid Quli Khan was originally born into a poor Deccani Hindu family, before being sold into slavery and bought by Haji Shafi, a Persian merchant from Isfahan who had converted him to Shia Islam. He later worked his way up, eventually becoming the first of the Nawabs of Bengal and founding the Nasiri dynasty. He transferred Bengal's capital from Jahangirnagar (Dhaka) to Murshidabad in present-day India.
The second dynasty, the Afshar, ruled from 1740 to 1757 and was founded by the Shia-born Alivardi Khan. Siraj ud-Daulah, the last of the Ashfar and the most well-known of the Nawabs, was killed in the Battle of Plassey in 1757 by the British East India Company. He was succeeded by Shia-born Mir Jafar who founded the third and final Nawab dynasty of Bengal, the Najafi.
Colonial era.
Mir Ashraf Ali (d. 1829), a devout Shi'ite from Shiraz, migrated to Dhaka in the 18th century where he gained prominence as a landlord and courtier to the Naib Nazims of Dhaka. With properties spreading across Dhaka, Comilla, Barisal, Mymensingh and Chittagong; Ali became the wealthiest person in eastern Bengal in his time, with hundreds of employed farmers and numerous charitable donations towards the city of Dhaka. In response to Shah Abdul Aziz's famous criticism on the Twelver ideology, Ali sent a large sum of money to Iraq in return for a response to the criticism by the senior Shi'ite clerics there. It is unknown whether a response was given.
In 1799, Agha Muhammad Reza, a Mughal Shia nobleman in Sylhet of Iranian origin rebelled against the East India Company. Gaining support from thousands of peasants after claiming to be a Sufi saint, Reza successfully invaded the nearby Kachari Kingdom. Later proclaiming himself as the Mahdi (promised messiah) and twelfth imam, he was captured and imprisoned in Calcutta.
In 1861, the Bibi Ka Rauza Imambara in Farashganj, Dhaka was renovated by RM Doshanji. In the 19th century, descendants of the Shia zamindar family of Sitalpur in Purnia, Bihar migrated to the village of Sindurna in Thakurgaon in modern-day Bangladesh. Shaykh Muhammad Raj of this family built the Shalbari Mosque for the Shia community in the village in 1888, and the site remains a popular tourist attraction. In 1891, the Mir Yaqub Imambara was constructed in 1 Hussaini Dalan Road, Dhaka. It was refurbished in 2004 by the Shia Anjuman-e-Husayni.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the Quaid-e-Azam ("the Great Leader"), the founder of the Dominion of Pakistan (which Bangladesh was a part of until 1971), was born into an Ismaili Shia family although later in life he followed Twelver Shia Islam.


Sandy McCutcheon

Robert Hamish McCutcheon (born 1947), known as Sandy McCutcheon is an Australian author, playwright, actor, journalist and broadcaster.
Biography.
McCutcheon was born Brian David Parry in Christchurch, New Zealand, though he did not learn this until 1997, aged 50, when his adoption papers were discovered. When he was nearly three, his parents divorced and he was adopted by another family, who renamed him as Robert, nicknamed Sandy. His adoptive parents denied that he was adopted and told him his early childhood memories were the product of his imagination. As an adult, he spent several years trying to trace his family in Europe, before finding relatives living in New Zealand. During the search he met his 30-year-old daughter Yvonne for the first time, who he had fathered in London when he was 20. He also discovered that his birth mother had been adopted.
He moved to Australia in 1970 and now lives in Fez, Morocco with his wife, photographer Suzanna Clarke. He is involved in the Woodford Folk Festival, the Festival of Sufi Culture (in Fez) and the Festival of World Sacred Music (in Fez). He has had four children from three marriages, as well as Yvonne.
Until late 2006, McCutcheon hosted talkback radio program "Australia Talks Back", since renamed "Australia Talks", on ABC Radio National . "Australia Talks Back" was the only continent-wide talkback radio program, as well as gathering listeners from around the world through the internet and Radio Australia shortwave broadcasts. It ran for an hour every weekday and featured discussion of a particular topic every day, reviewing the week's topics on Friday. Since leaving the ABC he has returned to his career as a writer and public speaker.
McCutcheon's earlier work included presenting ABC's Double Jay, later Triple J, now an Australia-wide radio station. Before that he worked at radio stations in Townsville and Hobart.
McCutcheon has produced radio documentaries in Bosnia, China, Finland, Malaysia, Mozambique, Singapore, South Africa, Sudan (North and South) and Yugoslavia.
McCutcheon has won Australian radio awards and been recognised at the New York International Radio Festival.
McCutcheon has been awarded the International Kalevala Medal for services to Finnish culture (for his work on the Kalevala). He has worked in Finland on a scholarship, and in particular, at the Finnish Broadcasting Company.
McCutcheon has written 22 plays for the theatre. He won the Samuel Weisberg Playwriting Award in 1991 for the best Jewish play of the year for "Night Train", as he had for a long time believed himself to be Jewish, before finding out the truth about his ancestral past.
McCutcheon founded the Illusion Farm, based in the Tasmania mountains, a Buddhist centre providing care for people in need, free of charge. It has accommodated more than 3,000 people during its operation. The Illusion Circus Theatre Company has also been based on the farm.
Bibliography.
McCutcheon has written a number of bestselling novels. His first, "In Wolf's Clothing" (1997), was the runner-up in the 1995 HarperCollins National Fiction Prize out of 400 novels. His other novels include
"Black Widow" is based on events following the September 1, 2004 terrorist attack on a Russian school in the southern town of Beslan.
Other books by McCutcheon are "Blik!" (2002), an illustrated book for children and "Quirky Questions" (2000) New edition of "More Quirky Questions" (2005).
McCutcheon has also written many short stories and poems. His memoir, "The Magician's Son", published in 2005 by Penguin, is an autobiographical work. The title is taken from a dream he had about finding his birth father, in which he discovered a magician's trunk in an attic. When he found out who his birth parents were, he learned that his father had in fact been an amateur magician.


Islam in Bahrain

Islam is the state religion in Bahrain. Due to an influx of immigrants and guest workers from non-Muslim countries, such as India, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, the overall percentage of Muslims in the country has declined since the late 20th century. Bahrain's 2010 census indicated that 70.2% of the population is Muslim. The last official census (1941) to include sectarian identification reported 52% (88,298 citizens) as Shia and 48 per cent as Sunni of the Muslim population.
History.
Prior to Islam, the inhabitants of Qatar and Bahrain practiced Arabian paganism, worshipping idols. Islam swept the entire Arabian region in the 7th century. Muhammad sent his first envoy Al-Ala'a Al-Hadrami to Munzir ibn Sawa Al Tamimi, the ruler of the historical region of Bahrain, which extended the coast from Kuwait to the south of Qatar including Al-Hasa, Qatif, and the Bahrain Islands, in the year 628 AD, inviting him to Islam. Munzir announced his conversion to Islam and all the Arab inhabitants of Bahrain and Qatar including some Persians living in Qatar also became Muslim, heralding the beginning of the Islamic era in Bahrain.
The origins of Shia Islam in Bahrain can be traced back to 656-661 AD, the caliphate reign of Ali ibn Abi Talib. The prophet Muhammed appointed Aban Ibn Sa'id Al As () as governor of Bahrain during his lifetime. Aban was a major supporter of Ali's right to the caliphate, a position that was endorsed by the inhabitants of Bahrain including the influential Bani Abdul Qays tribe. The Khamis Mosque is believed to be the oldest mosque in Bahrain, with its origin dating back to the reign of Caliph Umar II.
The Ismaili Shia sect known at the Qarmatians seized Bahrain in 899 AD, making it their stronghold and base of operations. They raided Baghdad and in 930 sacked Mecca and Medina, desecrating the Zamzam Well with the bodies of Hajj pilgrim and taking the Black Stone with them back to Bahrain where it remained for twenty years. The Qarmatians were eventually defeated by their Ismaili counterparts, the Abbasids in 976 and afterwards their power waned.
The defeat of the Qarmatian state saw the gradual wane of their revolutionary brand of Ismaili Islam. Instead, under a process encouraged by Sunni rulers over the next four hundred years, Twelver Shia Islam became entrenched. According to historian Juan Cole, Sunnis favoured the quietist Twelver branch of Shi'ism over the Qarmatians and promoted its development in Bahrain. In the 13th Century, there arose what was termed the 'Bahrain School', which integrated themes of philosophy and mysticism into orthodox Twelver practise. The school produced theologians such as Sheikh Kamal al-Din Ibn Sa’adah al Bahrani (d. 1242), Sheikh Jamal al-Din ‘Ali ---
ibn Sulayman al-Bahrani (d. 1271), and perhaps most famously Sheikh Maitham Al Bahrani (d. 1280).
Today.
Unofficial sources, such as the Library of Congress Country Studies, and "The New York Times", estimate sectarian identification to be approximately 45% Sunni and 55% Shia. An official Bahraini document revealed that 51% of the country's citizens are Sunnis, while the Shiite population has declined to 49% of the Muslim population.
The country observes the Muslim feasts of Eid al-Adha, Eid al-Fitr, the Islamic Prophet Muhammad's birthday (Mawlid), and the Islamic New Year as national holidays.
"Political liberalisation" under King Hamad has seen Islamist parties contest Bahrain's elections and become a dominant force in parliament. Radical Sunni Islamist parties, the Salafi Asalah and the Muslim Brotherhood affiliated Al-Menbar Islamic Society are two of the largest parties in parliament, while the Shia Al Wefaq was expected to become the dominating party after 2006's general election having boycotted the 2002 poll. In the 2006 election Wefaq received the backing of the Islamic Scholars Council which helped it win seventeen of the eighteen seats it contested. In the 2010 election, they increased their representation by one seat, winning all the constituencies they contested, to take 18 of the 40 available parliamentary seats. Since then, Shias have no representatives in the Bahraini rubber stamp parliament.
The government has made concerted efforts to erode the Shiite citizen majority and tip the country's demographic balance in favor of the Sunni minority, mostly by recruiting foreign-born Sunnis to serve in the security forces and become citizens. Meanwhile, hundreds of Bahrainis have had their citizenship revoked in recent years, including a number of Shiite leaders and activists. Since 2011, the government has maintained a heavy security presence in primarily Shiite villages. Security personnel restrict the movements of Shiite citizens and periodically destroy their property.


Feliks Suk

Feliks Suk (December 30, 1845 in Petelinek near Blagovica, Slovenia – April 8, 1915 in Zagreb) was Croatian university professor and rector of the University of Zagreb.
It was Zagreb archbishop and cardinal Juraj Haulik who enabled young Suk a study of theology in Innsbruck. He was ordained for a priest in 1868. He received his Ph.D. in 1870. He conducted various jobs in the Zagreb Archdiocese, before he became a professor of moral theology at the newly established Royal University of Franz Joseph I. He served as a dean of the Faculty of Theology in two mandates. In the academic year 1882/1883 he served as a rector of the University of Zagreb, and the following academic year he served as a prorector.
He contributed to the periodicals "Katolički list" and "Hrvatski učitelj", and authored several high school textbooks on Catholic apologetics and morality.
In his rectorship mandate the university has moved its headquarters from the Katarina's square to its today's building, back then at the very outskirts of the city in a region called "Sajmište". The building originally built for a hospital in 1859 has been adapted in 1882 for the needs of university teaching. The solemn opening ceremony was held on November 5, 1882.


Knights of the Apocalypse

The Knights of the Apocalypse was a secret society created in Italy in 1693. It was founded by Agostino Gabrino, the son of a merchant of Brescia to defend the Catholic Church against the expected Antichrist. The organization was accused by contemporaries of having political motives.
Gabrino was responsible for two notable disruptions of church ceremonies in 1693. One occurred on Palm Sunday 1693, when Gabrino rushed the altar of St Peter's at Rome with a sword. He yelled "Ego sum Rex Gloriae" ("I am king of glory") as he attacked the altar, a response to the choir's chants of "Quis est iste Rex Gloriae?" ("Who was that king of Glory?"). He also disturbed public worship at the Church of the Holy Savior. Though Gabrino was treated as a madman and confined in a madhouse, the society flourished until one member, a woodcutter, denounced it to the Inquisition, leading to the arrest of eighty knights.
Though chiefly mechanics, tradesmen and labourers, members always carried their swords, even when at work. They also wore a star on their breasts with seven rays, a tail, and surrounded by a golden thread forming a circle representing the globe. The tail of the star represented the sword seen by St. John in the Apocalypse. Gabrino styled himself monarch of the Holy Trinity. He was credited by his enemies with a desire to introduce polygamy and has been accused of an intended rebellion against the papal government. His knights were instructed to only marry pure virgins.
A search of social media websites will reveal more than one contemporary order of chivalry which bears the name “Knights of the Apocalypse” and which claims to be carrying on the charism of Gabrino’s original organization.


Oxford Mission Church

Oxford Mission Epiphany Church, commonly known as Oxford Mission Church is an Anglican church in Barisal, a southern city in Bangladesh. It is one of the oldest and arguably the second largest church in Asia by land area.
History.
In the early 18th century, the ancient river port city Barisal attracted many Christian missionaries. Oxford Mission, an England-based Anglican missionary started its journey in this region from at the end of the 19th century and formed Brotherhood of the Epiphany in 1895. In 1902, a Sisterhood was formed at Barisal under the guidance of Father Strong to work alongside the Brotherhood. The missionary opened an English boarding school, Christian youth hostels, an orphanage, a primary school and a medical centre in its compound at Bogra Road. The work of the sisters was very broad in scope, including evangelism, medical work, educational activity amongst women under the leadership of Edith Langridge. Later a branch house was formed at Jobarpar, Agailjhara thirty miles north of the town.
The Epiphany Church was established in 1903 based on a sketch of Sister Edith and inaugurated on 26 January that year. Father E. L. Strong, chief of the brotherhood had overseen the completion of the church's design, final shape and construction through a second phase in 1907. Frederick Douglass served as the engineer. The church was built on 35 acres of land surrounded by high wall and rows of palm trees.
The church has been preserved as a cultural heritage and survived many natural disasters occurred in the country.
Architecture.
The structure of the church reflects Greek architectural style. It appears to be a five-storied building from the outside, it actually has a single floor with a large prayer hall. There are many doors on three sides, 40 archways and numerous corridors around the church. The large cross on the main altar was brought from Bethlehem, Palestine. The interior has been designed with wood carvings and the floor including the baptism bath basin decorated with marble tiles. Another notable attraction of the Oxford Mission Church is the red brick bell tower and the giant bell it houses. The bell is rung seven times every day five minutes before prayers. The bell tower also houses the church's office room.
There are 13 small and large ponds and Oxford Mission High School, hospital, library, students' hostel and living quarters of the father and sisters inside the compound.


Dongxiangs

The Dongxiang people (autonym: "Sarta" or "Santa" (撒尔塔); , Xiao'erjing: دْوݣسِيْاݣذُ) are one of 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. Most of the Dongxiang live in the Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture and surrounding areas of Gansu Province in Northwestern China, half of them in Dongxiang Autonomous County, which is part of Linxia. According to the 2010 census, their population numbers 621,500, although research has found that the number is inflated due to Hui identifying themselves as Dongxiang for the census, in order to benefit from minority policies.
Origin and development.
The Dongxiang are closely related to other Mongolic peoples like the Monguor and Bonan. Scholars speculate that their identity as an independent ethnic group arose through contact with Central Asians, due to whom the Dongxiang converted to Sunni Islam in the 13th century.
They are believed to be descendants of Mongolian troops posted in the Hezhou area by Genghis Khan (1162-1227 AD) during his journey westward, mixed with Sarts from Central Asia. Another possibility is that they could be a mixture of many peoples including Mongolian, Han and Tibetan groups. Another theory states the Dongxiang's origin lies in the thirteenth century when Mongol soldiers were stationed to garrison the Linxia and Western Gansu region during the Mongol's conquests of Northern China.
The American Asiatic Association published an account of the Dongxiang's origins in the "Asia, Volume 40". A Muslim Mongol, Ma Chuanyuan, who was the supermagistrate of five districts, was interviewed and gave a story on his people's origins. The conversion to Islam by a clan descended from Genghis Khan angered their relatives, who drove them all the way to Eastern Linxia. This occurred at the twilight of the Yuan dynasty. East Linxia was described as a land of "thorns and yellow earth". The author estimated a number of 100,000 Mongolian Muslims. They spoke Mongolian but were all illiterate. The account described them as a community of one hundred thousand, Mongol by race, Islam by religion and Chinese by culture. The majority of them were monolingual.
Dongxiang were also known as Santa (San-t'a) people, it was reported that many of them served in the army of the Hui General Ma Fuxiang. It was even said that Ma Fuxiang himself was of Santa descent, who had assimilated into the Hui community.
Their autonym, "sarta", may also provide a contradictory clue to their origin: a similar word "Sart" was formerly used in Central Asia to refer to Arab traders, later to the local (mostly) Turkic-speaking city dwellers. Their official name of Dōngxiāng meaning "eastern villages" stems from the fact that their settlements are east of the major Han Chinese settlements.
Like other Muslims in China, the Dongxiang served extensively in the Chinese military. It was said that they and the Salars were given to "eating rations", a reference to military service.
Hui, Baoan and Dongxiang troops served under Generals Ma Fulu and Ma Fuxiang in the Boxer Rebellion, defeating the invading Eight Nation Alliance at the Battle of Langfang. Ma Fulu along with 100 Dongxiang and Hui troops died in fierce combat at Zhengyang Gate in Beijing against the Alliance forces as they fought to the death to hold the Alliance at bay.
Hui, Baoan, Dongxiang, Salar and Tibetan troops served under Ma Biao in the Second Sino-Japanese War against the Japanese.
Intermarriage.
The Dongxiang have Mongol, Han Chinese, Hui and Tibetan surnames. Dongxiang with Han Chinese surnames such as Wang, Kang, Zhang, Gao and Huang claim descent from Han Chinese. Surnames such as Ma and Mu are clearly of Hui origin.
Some Dongxiang have said that, in the rare instances that they do marry with other people, it is only with Han and Hui, but not Tibetans.
Economy.
The base of the economy of Dongxiang is agriculture. The main products are potatoes, corn, barley, millet and wheat. They are also recognized craftsmen, specializing in the elaboration of traditional carpets.
Culture.
Common Dongxiang cuisine includes the use of a potato mash that is used for noodles, snacks, alcoholic drinks and more.
Traditional Dongxiang dress for men includes buttoned robes and a broad waistband. These waistbands are sometimes used to hang knives, snuff bottles, or small bags on them. A vest over a white shirt, trousers and a beret like cap makes up the rest of the traditional outfit. Seasonal clothing like sheepskin coats are also worn during the winter. Dongxiang women wear embroidered outfits which include wide sleeved shirts and trousers. Older women wear kerchiefs and younger women tend to wear bright decorated cotton caps and silk veils. On special occasions, women wear embroidered shoes with a medium heel.
Language and education.
The Dongxiang speak the Dongxiang language, a member of the Mongolic family. The language has distinct features resembling archaic Mongolian and has many foreign loan words borrowed from Arabic, Chinese, Persian, and a few Turkic languages. The Dongxiang people also have a rich tradition of oral literature and use the Arabic alphabet.
As a result of the language shift, some 20,000 people in several villages in the Northeastern Dongxiang County now speak the so-called "Tangwang language": a creolized version of Mandarin Chinese with a strong Dongxiang influence, in particular in its grammar.
Government statistics show that the Dongxiang are among the poorest and least literate of China's minorities, with most Dongxiang having completed only an average of 1.1 years of schooling, a problem aggravated by the lack of a written language.
In 2004, the Ford Foundation provided US$30,000 in grant money for a pilot project to promote bilingual education in Mandarin and Dongxiang, in an effort to reduce school drop-out rates. The project is credited with the publication of a Dongxiang-Chinese bilingual dictionary as well as recent rises in test scores.
Genetics.
Distribution of Y-chromosome haplogroups in Dongxiang:
O=24.29(O2=18.69,O1a=1.87,O1b=3.73)
J=16.82
R1=16.82(R1a=14.02,R1b=2.8)
R2=9.35
C=6.54
G=5.61
N=5.6
D=4.67
E=3.74
Others=6.56
In another study in 2010 found that the majority of the Dongxiang belonged to Haplogroup R1a (R1a : 54%).


Roza (fasting)


BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Toronto

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Etobicoke, Toronto, Ontario, Canada is a traditional Hindu place of worship that was built by the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha. The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, which is headed by Mahant Swami Maharaj, is a global spiritual organization within the Swaminarayan branch of Hinduism. The mandir was built in 18 months and consists of 24,000 pieces of hand-carved Italian carrara marble, Turkish limestone and Indian pink stone. The mandir is the largest of its kind in Canada and was constructed according to guidelines outlined in ancient Hindu scriptures. The grounds spread over 18 acres and in addition to the mandir, include a haveli and the Heritage Museum. The mandir is open daily to visitors and for worship. In July 2017, the temple celebrated its 10-year anniversary.
Mandir and daily rituals.
The temple is a type of 'Shikarbaddha' mandir, built according to principles laid out in the Shilpa Shastras, Hindu texts prescribing standards of sacred architecture. Within the mandir, murtis (sacred images of the deities) have been installed in different shrines. The central shrine holds the murti of Swaminarayan, with Gunatitanand Swami to his left, together worshipped as Akshar-Purushottam Maharaj. Similarly, different shrines hold murtis of major ancient Hindu deities such as Radha and Krishna, Sita and Rama, Shiva and Parvati, Vishnu and Lakshmi, Ganesha, Hunuman as well as the lineage of BAPS gurus who are Swaminarayan's spiritual successors.
Once the divine has been invoked in a murti, it becomes an embodiment of the Divine. Accordingly, Swaminarayan swamis (Hindu monks) offer devotional worship to the deities throughout the day. Before dawn, they awaken the deities by singing morning hymns (prabhatiya). The deities are then bathed and offered food and garments depending on the time of the day and season. Food that has been offered to the deities is considered sanctified. These holy offerings are distributed to the devotees as prasadam. Throughout the day, aarti, a ritual where devotees sing the glory of Swaminarayan while a lighted wick is circulated before the murtis, is performed five times a day and named mangala aarti, shanagar aarti, rajabhoga aarti, sandhya aarti and shayana aarti, respectively. During midday, lunch is offered. In the evening, dinner is offered. Finally, the swamis put the murtis to rest by adorning them with night garments.
Haveli.
The mandir's cultural center is referred to as the haveli because of its traditional Indian architectural style. The haveli is defined by an intricately carved wooden façade. Inside the haveli is a courtyard surrounded by teak and rosewood columns. The columns are characterized by motifs ranging from mythological stories, the sun and moon, and animals such as peacocks and elephants. The cultural center serves various functions. The assembly hall provides space for weekly congregations. Classrooms are used for youth cultural, religious and educational activities, which include music lessons, Hindu scripture classes and career development seminars. A full-size gymnasium is used for youth sports activities and dining after Sunday evening assemblies. A food shop provides visitors and members with an assortment of vegetarian snacks. There is a living quarters for the swamis who perform daily rituals in the mandir.
Heritage Museum.
The Heritage Museum houses the Understanding Hindu Dharma Exhibition, which aims to provide visitors with a foundation of the key tenets of Hinduism. It walks visitors through a culture and faith with origins in antiquity, beginning with an explanation of the origins of Hinduism and continuing to an explanation of the role of Hinduism today. It also showcases the role that Indo-Canadians have played in developments in the fields of art, architecture, science, democracy, education, culture, pluralism and spiritual values.
Construction.
On 23 July 2000, in the presence of Pramukh Swami Maharaj, devotees performed the shilanyas, or first stone-laying, ceremony on the future site of the Toronto shikarbaddh mandir. Construction continued in various phases, beginning with the haveli and culminating in the opening on the shikharbaddh mandir. The haveli was officially opened on 18 July 2004. At that time, the congregation held a Vishvashanti Mahayagna for world peace and family unity. Community leaders and representatives of various faith-based organizations were present for the event.
Before the haveli was built, the congregation held weekly assemblies at a hari mandir in Etobicoke, Toronto.
The final phase of construction was completed in 2007. The official opening of the mandir was held on 22 July 2007 in the presence of Pramukh Swami Maharaj. Then-Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper, then-Premier of Ontario Dalton McGuinty and then-Mayor of Toronto David Miller, were in attendance at the opening.
The opening of the mandir was the culminating event in a three-day festival. The festival included a nagar yatra, or parade of the deities and devotees, through Toronto that displayed traditional Indian folk dances and music, in addition to a ceremony that brought together devotees to pray for world peace.
Construction of the complex benefited largely from donations and volunteer efforts. This service is viewed by contributing members as a form of devotion. BAPS devotees believe that seva, or "selfless service," can be offered physically, monetarily or through prayer. Seva is understood by devotees to be service volunteered to the community while holding God in remembrance.
Estimated to be built with a total cost of $40 million the temple is an architectural wonder. Its walls, pillars and ceiling consist of intricately crafted designs and statues as per ancient Hindu traditions from India. On a sunny day it looks like a sparkling crystal palace. During construction all 24,000 of its parts were first shipped to India, where they were carved and polished by skilled craftsmen then they were all numbered and shipped to Toronto, where more than 400 volunteers helped to assemble them bringing the temple to life.
In all 434 pieces were used to make up the ceiling of the front entrance alone. The temple is made following ancient Indian Vedic techniques with no steel skeleton holding it up, all of its walls are load-bearing.
The construction of the temple was completed relatively quickly transforming the barren field into a temple. The first stones were purchased less than three years before its inauguration but the actual construction time was only 18 months, it was funded entirely by donations.
Events.
In July 2017, the 10th anniversary of the mandir was celebrated in the presence of Mahant Swami Maharaj, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Toronto Mayor John Tory.
Community and fundraising.
Annual gala.
The BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir of Toronto previously held a gala each year to raise awareness, funds and support for various charities. Beneficiaries have included the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, the Heart and Stroke Foundation and charities that supported rebuilding efforts in light of natural disasters that occurred in Haiti and Japan.
Walkathons.
Alongside BAPS centres throughout North America, the BAPS mandir in Toronto holds an annual walkathon in support of various charities. Participants work to raise funds for BAPS Charities initiatives and local beneficiaries. In 2010, BAPS Charities Canada announced a pledge of $100,000 over five years for the SickKids Research and Learning Tower in Toronto.
International Women's Day celebrations.
The mandir hosts an annual conference in March in support of International Women's Day. Members of the community gather for the conference, to share ideas for the positive development of future generations of women. On 30 March 2013, the 6th annual conference was held. The theme was "Timeless Traditions: Celebrate the Past and Cultivate the Future". The conference focused on understanding and communicating the glory of Hindu traditions and preserving them in order to help nurture future generations.
In 2011, the conference was themed, "Honoring the Past, Envisioning the Future." The program highlighted the role of women in India's history and the present opportunities and challenges that face females in the Indian diaspora. The conference also commemorated the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day.
In 2010, the conference, themed "Nurturing Families, Shaping Communities", aimed to highlight the fundamental role women play in shaping Canada. The Honorable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, spoke about Canadian Government initiatives that support women and their families.
Health fairs and lectures.
BAPS Charities organizes an annual health fair and related lectures throughout the year. BAPS Charities (formerly BAPS Care International) is a humanitarian service organization that originated from BAPS with a focus on serving society. These events are free and open to the public and promote early detection and prevention techniques to support the wellness of communities. The 7th annual Health Fair was held on 14 October 2012. Various community organizations such as the Ontario Dental Association, Sick Kids Foundation, William Osler Health System, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, South Asian Diabetes Association and the Alzheimer's Association contributed to the event.
Doors Open Toronto.
From 2005 to 2009, the mandir participated in the annually held event, Doors Open Toronto. This two-day event is intended to allow the public an opportunity to visit and learn about architecturally, historically, culturally and socially significant buildings in Toronto. There are over 100 such buildings on display annually. During the period in which the mandir participated, volunteers provided guided tours throughout the mandir and museum.
COVID-19 Pandemic.
During the COVID-19 global pandemic, BAPS Charities has provided relief and assistance worldwide. On 14 April 2021, BAPS Charities opened a vaccination clinic in conjunction with the William Osler Health System and Toronto Public Health at the mandir. US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy praised BAPS Charities for holding vaccination clinics at mandirs. Regarding the elderly, Murthy noted easier accessibility at the temples “surrounded by trusted friends in familiar settings than it may have been for some of them to get vaccinated at an unfamiliar location.”


Christianity in Afghanistan

Christians have historically had a small community in Afghanistan; there are currently no reliable estimates of its population. The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan does not recognize any Afghan citizen as being Christian, except many expatriates (although,
Rula Ghani, the country's First Lady since 2014, is a Maronite Christian from Lebanon.). Afghan citizens are not legally permitted to convert to Christianity; although there are no explicit laws that forbid evangelizing by non-Muslims, many authorities and most of society view its toleration as contrary to the practice of Islam. There is only one legally recognized Christian church building in Afghanistan, the Catholic chapel at the Italian Embassy which has been operational since the 1930s.
Current status.
Current policy.
The Constitution of Afghanistan allows the practice of religions other than Islam, as long as it is within the legal framework of Islamic laws and does not threaten the Islamic religion. However Muslims who change their faith to Christianity are subject to societal and official pressure, which may lead to confiscation of property, imprisonment, or death. Several Afghan Christians have been arrested for practicing their faith, likely due to the influence of hardliners in contradiction of constitutional rights. While such cases are rare, it has been noted that the cases required international involvement for them to be freed.
There are also Christian religious facilities at the foreign military bases, such as an Eastern Orthodox church at the Romanian base in Kandahar.
Closet Christians.
Despite the legal restrictions, many sources claim that there is a secret underground church of Afghan Christians living in Afghanistan. The US state department has stated that estimates of the size of this group range from 500 to 8000 individuals. Estimates to the size of the Afghan Christian community in Afghanistan however are not reliable. Due to the hostile legal environment Afghan Christians practice their faith secretly in private homes. The complete Bible is available online in Dari, and the New Testament is available in Pashto. Printed versions can also be purchased outside of the country.
Christian converts.
There are a number of Afghan Christians (both converts and their descendants) outside the country, including Christian communities in India, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Austria, Finland, and Germany.
History.
The Apostle Thomas and early Christianity.
According to the Acts of the Apostles () in the Bible ethnic Jews and converts to Judaism from the Parthian Empire (which included parts of western Afghanistan) were present at Pentecost. According to Eusebius' record, the apostles Thomas and Bartholomew were assigned to Parthia.
Legend based on the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas and other ancient documents suggests that Saint Thomas preached in Bactria, which is today northern Afghanistan. An early third-century Syriac work known as the "Acts of Thomas" connects the apostle's ministry with two kings, one in the north and the other in the south. According to the "Acts", Thomas was at first reluctant to accept this mission, but the Lord appeared to him in a night vision and compelled him to accompany an Indian merchant, Abbanes (or Habban), to his native place in northwest India. There, Thomas found himself in the service of the Indo-Parthian (Southern Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Northern India) King, Gondophares. The Apostle's ministry resulted in many conversions throughout the kingdom, including the king and his brother.
Bardaisan, writing in about 196, speaks of Christians throughout Media, Parthia and Bactria and, according to Tertullian (c.160–230), there were already a number of bishoprics within the Persian Empire by 220. By the time of the establishment of the Second Persian Empire (AD 226), there were bishops of the Church of the East in northwest India, Afghanistan and Baluchistan, with laymen and clergy alike engaging in missionary activity.
The Church of the East.
In 409, the Church of the East (also sometimes called the Nestorian Church) received state recognition from King Yazdegerd I (reigned 399–409), of the Iranian Sassanid Empire which ruled what is now Afghanistan from 224 to 579.
In 424, Bishop Afrid of Sakastan, an area which covered southern Afghanistan including Zaranj and Kandahar, attended the Synod of Dadyeshu. This synod was one of the most important councils of the Church of the East and determined that there would be no appeal of their disciplinary or theological problems to any other power, especially not to any church council in the Roman Empire.
The year 424 also marks the establishment of a bishop in Herat. In the 6th century, Herat was see of a Metropolitan See the Apostolic Church of the East, and from the 9th century Herat was also the see of the Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan. The significance of the Christian community in Herat can be seen in that till today there is a district outside of the city named Injil, the Arabic/Dari/Pashto word for Gospel. The Christian community was present in Herat until at least 1310.
The Apostolic Church of the East established bishops in nine cities in Afghanistan including Herat (424–1310), Farah (544–1057), Zaranj (544), Bushanj (585), Badghis (585) Kandahar, and Balkh. There are also ruins of a Nestorian convent from the 6th–7th centuries a short distance from Panj, Tajikistan on the north bank of the Amu Darya very close to the Afghan border, near Kunduz. The complex was discovered and identified by Soviet archeologists in 1967. It consists of dozens of small rooms carved into a rock formation.
Ahmed Tekuder, also known as Sultan Ahmad (reigned 1282–1284) was the sultan of the Ilkhan Empire, a Mongol Empire which stretched from eastern Turkey to Pakistan and covered most of Afghanistan. Tekuder was born Nicholas Tekuder Khan as a Nestorian Christian; however, Tekuder later embraced Islam and changed his name to Ahmed Tekuder. When Tekuder assumed the throne in 1282, he turned the Ilkhan empire into a sultanate. Tekudar zealously propagated his new faith and sternly required his ranking offices to do the same. The Ilkhan Empire ultimately adopted Islam as a state religion in 1295. The Church of the East was almost completely eradicated across Afghanistan and Persia during the reign of Timur (1336–1405).
Early Jesuit explorers.
In 1581 and 1582 respectively, the Jesuit and Spanish Montesserat and the Portuguese Bento de Góis were warmly welcomed by the Islamic Emperor Akbar, but there was no lasting presence by the Jesuits in the country.
The Armenian Apostolic Church.
There were Armenian merchants living in Kabul as early as 1667 who were in contact with the Jesuits in Mughal (modern day India). It is unclear if these Armenian merchants were Christians but their presence suggests an Armenian community in Kabul in the 17th century. Kabul was under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Armenian Apostolic Church Perso-Indian diocese in New Julfa, Esfahan (modern day Iran), which sent Armenian priests to the community; however, no Armenian priest came after 1830.
In 1755, Jesuit missionary to Lahore Joseph Tiefenthaler reported that Sultan Ahmad Shah Bahadur took several Armenian gun makers from Lahore to Kabul. Anglican missionary Joseph Wolff preached to their descendants in Kabul in Persian in 1832; by his account, the community numbered about 23 people.
 In 1839, when Lord Keane marched to Kabul, the Chaplain, the Rev. G. Pigott, baptised two of the children at the Armenian church. And in 1842, the Rev. J. N. Allen, Chaplain to General William Nott's force, baptized three others.
The only reported baptism of an ethnic Afghan in the Armenian Church was said to be a robber who broke into the church through the roof and fell three times while attempting to leave with the valuable silver vessels stored there. When he was discovered, he begged for mercy and later asked to be baptized. The Armenian church building near Bala Hissar was destroyed during the Second Anglo-Afghan War by British troops; the community received compensation from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office for their loss, but the church was never rebuilt.
As late as 1870, British reports showed 18 Armenian Christians remaining in Kabul. In 1896, Abdur Rahman Khan, Emir of Afghanistan, even sent a letter to the Armenian community at Calcutta, India (now Kolkata), asking that they send ten or twelve families to Kabul to "relieve the loneliness" of their fellow Armenians, whose numbers had continued to dwindle. However, despite an initial reply of interest, in the end, none of the Armenians of Calcutta accepted the offer. The following year, the final remnants of the Armenians were expelled after a letter from Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II to the Afghan ruler questioning the loyalty of the Armenians.
The Armenians of Kabul took refuge in Peshawar. It is worth mentioning that these refugees carried with them their religious books and ancient manuscripts. An article on this issue in the Englishman (Calcutta) dated 11 February 1907 stated:
“These people in the time of the late Ameer Abdul Rahman had dwindled down to ten families. They were, for reasons unknown, banished to Peshawar and brought down with them a collection of manuscripts said to be of immense antiquity. Indeed, they are so old that none of the families possessing them are able to read them… In any case an examination by experts of the manuscripts now said to be in Peshawar, should yield some valuable results. The families themselves are unaware of the history of the first settlement in Kabul, except that it dates back to the very earliest times.”
Armenian Archbishop Sahak Ayvadian, after this publication went to Peshawar for a pastoral visit to these Armenians as well as to examine the books and manuscripts. On his return to Calcutta he presented some books to the Armenian Church Library, which he had obtained from the refugees.
20th century onwards.
The only legally recognized church in Afghanistan today is in the Italian embassy. Italy was the first country to recognize Afghanistan's independence in 1919, and the Afghan government asked how it could thank Italy. Rome requested the right to build a Catholic chapel, which was being requested by international technicians then living in the Afghan capital. A clause giving Italy the right to build a chapel within its embassy was included in the Italian-Afghan treaty of 1921, and that same year the Barnabites arrived to start giving pastoral care. The actual pastoral work began in 1933 when the chapel international technicians had asked for was built. In the 1950s, the simple cement chapel was finished.
From 1990 to 1994, Father Giuseppe Moretti served as the only Roman Catholic priest in Afghanistan, but he was forced to leave in 1994 after being hit with shrapnel when the Italian embassy was attacked amidst the civil war, and had to return to Italy. After 1994, Little Sisters of Jesus were the only Catholic religious workers allowed to remain in Afghanistan, as they had been there since 1955 and their work was renowned. An official from President Mohammed Najibullah's government in 1992 visited Moretti for planning a new church compound, but nothing came out of it as Najibullah was shortly afterwards deposed by the rebels during the conflict.
In 1959, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower visited Afghanistan. The Islamic Center of Washington had recently been built in Washington, DC for the Muslim diplomats there and President Eisenhower requested permission from King Zahir Shah to construct a Protestant church in Kabul on a reciprocal basis for the use of the diplomatic corp and expatriate community in Afghanistan. Christians from all around the world contributed to its construction. At its dedication, the cornerstone which was carved in Afghan alabaster marble read:
"To the glory of God 'Who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood' this building is dedicated as 'a house of prayer for all nations' in the reign of H.M. Zahir Shah, May 17, 1970 A.D., 'Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Cornerstone'." However the church building however was destroyed 17 June 1973, during the republican coup d'état by Mohammed Daoud Khan against the monarchy. Since then, no place of worship has been authorized for Protestant Christians.
Christians were persecuted after the Taliban came to power in the mid-1990s. The number of converts to Christianity increased as the U.S. presence increased after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Most of the Christian converts lived in urban areas, so the threat from the Taliban was minimal. But many Christian converts started fleeing Afghanistan (mostly to India) around 2005, fearing their identities might become public. A 2015 study estimated some 3,300 believers in Christ from a Muslim background living in the country.


Pagode de Vincennes

The Pagode du bois de Vincennes is the seat of the founded by Jean Sainteny who was the manager of the institute. It is located in a former building of the exposition coloniale de 1931, designed by the architect Louis-Hippolyte Boileau. On this 8 000 m² site on the edge of the lac Daumesnil are located two buildings of remarkable architecture. The most important one, the former house of Cameroon, was restored in 1977 and transformed in a pagoda as a place of worship. The second is the former house of Togo is slated for restoration by the City of Paris. It will contain a library for texts on the various Buddhist traditions.
The Pagode de Vincennes is used by Buddhist schools of the Parisian region and has no religious leader. The pagoda is a place of common worship; it shelters the biggest Buddha of Europe, covered with gold leaf and measuring, including its seat, more than 9 meters high. The Pagode hosts relics of the historical Buddha since 2008.
A Tibetan buddhist temple named Kagyu-Dzong exists in front of the Pagode de Vincennes.
Access.
The Pagode du bois de Vincennes, is located 40, route de ceinture du Lac-Daumesnil in the 12th arrondissement of Paris.