Chhath

Chhath is an ancient Hindu Vedic festival historically native to the Indian subcontinent, more specifically, the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh and the Madhesh region of Nepal. The Chhath Puja is dedicated to the Solar deity (Surya) in order to thank him for bestowing the bounties of life on earth and to request the granting of certain wishes. This festival is observed by Biharis & Nepalese along with their diaspora.
The festival does not involve idolatry and is dedicated to worship Lord Surya (the Sun deity). ' "Chhathi Maiya" ' is the mother goddess who provides strength and support to the poor. She is worshipped as ' "goddess of the festival" '.The Sun is offered arghya(offering/homage) in the evening of the first day and in the morning of the second day. And the rituals are rigorous and are observed over a period of four days. They include holy bathing, fasting and abstaining from drinking water (Vratta), standing in water for long periods of time, and offering prasad (prayer offerings) and arghya to the setting and rising sun. Some devotees also perform a prostration march as they head for the river banks.
Environmentalists have claimed that the festival of Chhath is one of the most eco-friendly religious festivals that should be used to spread "the message of nature conservation". Moreover, it's arguably one of few Hindu festivals that transcend the rigid caste system, which emerged in the post-Vedic period, to touch upon the ideas of "equality, fraternity, unity and integrity. Every devotee—elite or middle class (and caste)—prepares almost similar Prasad and other items to offer to the Almighty. All the devotees without any distinction in caste, colour or economy, arrive at the bank of rivers or ponds for extending prayers."
Although the festival is observed most elaborately in Madhesh (southern) region of Nepal and Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand and UP, it is also more prevalent in areas where migrants from those areas have a presence. It is celebrated in all Northern regions and major Northern urban centers in India. The festival is celebrated in the regions including but not exclusive to the northeast region of India, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Rajasthan Mumbai, Mauritius, Fiji, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, other parts of the Caribbean, United States, United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Macau, Japan and Indonesia.
Chhath Puja, also known as Surya Shashthi is celebrated on Kartik Shukla Shashthi. This festival is celebrated after 6 days of Diwali and mainly celebrated in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand with great devotion. On Chhath Puja, worshiping Sun God and Chhathi maiya helps you gain health, wealth and happiness. In the last few years, Chhath Pooja has got a special significance as a folk festival. This is the reason why the festival is celebrated with great pomp and show.
Significance of Chhath Puja & Chhathi Maiya.
The Chhath Puja is dedicated to the Sun God. The sun is the god visible to every being, is the basis of life of all creatures on earth Along with the Sun God, Chhathi Maiya is also worshipped on this day. According to Vedic Astrology, Chhathi maiya or Chhathi mata protects the offspring and provides longevity to them.
In the Hindu religion, the Shashthi Devi has also been known as Manas Daughter of Brahma ji. In the Puranas, she is also said to be the mother Katyayani, who is worshiped on Navratri on the Shashti date. Shashthi Devi is said to be Chhath Maiya in the local language of Bihar-Jharkhand-UP.
As per legends, Chhath Puja is being performed from early Vedic period by sages who would fast for days and perform the puja with mantras from Rigveda. It is believed that Chhath Puja was also performed by Karna, the sun of Lord Surya and the king of Anga desh, which is the modern day Bhagalpur in Bihar. According to another legend, Pandavas and Draupadi also performed the Puja to overcome obstacles in their lives and gain their lost kingdom.
For the people from Bihar-UP-Jharkhand and other close by areas, Chhath Puja is considered as Mahaparva.
The Festival of Chhath Puja.
Chhath Puja is a folk festival that lasted four days. This is a four-day festival, which starts with Kartik Shukla Chaturthi and ends with Kartik Shukla Saptami.
Nahaye Khaye (first day).
This is the first day of Chhath Puja. This means that after bathing, the house is cleaned and food after keeping it in front of the God is eaten to protect the mind from the vengeful tendency.
Kharna (Second Day).
Kharna is the second day of Chhath Puja. Kharna means the fast of the whole day. On this day, the devotees are not allowed to drink even a single drop of water. In the evening, they can eat gur ki kheer (jaggery kheer), fruits and chapati (Bread) full of ghee.
Sandhya Arghya (Third Day).
On the third day of Chhath puja, an arghya is offered to the sun god during the Kartik Shukla Shashthi. In the evening, a bamboo basket is decorated with fruits, thekua and rice laddus, after which devotees offer an arghya to the sun with their families. At the time of Arghya, water and milk is offered to Sun God and the Chhathi Maiya is worshiped from a soop filled with prasad. After the worship of Sun God, Shashthi Devi songs are sung in the night and the vrat katha is heard.
Usha Arghya (Fourth Day).
On the last day of Chhath puja in the morning, an arghya is offered to the Sun God. On this day, before sunrise, the devotees have to go to the riverbank to offer an arghya to the rising sun. After this, the protection of the child from Chhathi maiya and the happiness of the entire family is sought for peace. After worship, devotees drink sharbat and raw milk, and eat a little prasad in order to break one's fast which is called Paran or Parana.
Chhath Puja Vidhi.
Get all the samagri before the Chhath puja and offer an arghya to Sun God:
●  1 large bamboo baskets, 3 soop made of bamboo or brass, plate, milk and glass
●  Rice, red vermilion, lamp, coconut, turmeric, sugarcane, suthani, vegetable and sweet potato
●  Pear, big lemons, honey, paan, whole herd, caravans, camphor, sandalwood and dessert
●  As prasad, take thekua, malpua, kheer-puri, semolina pudding, rice ladoos.
Chhath Puja Arghya Vidhi.
Place the above Chhath puja samagri in the bamboo basket. Put the whole prasad in soop and burn the lamp in the soop. Then, all the women stand in knee deep water with traditional soop in their hands to offer an arghya to the sun.
Legend Associated with Chhath Puja.
The Chhathi Maiya is worshiped on the Chhath festival, which is also mentioned in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana. According to a legend, King Priyavrat, son of First Manu Swayambhu, had no children. Because of this, he used to be very sad. Maharishi Kashyap asked him to do a yajna. According to Maharishis orders, he performed a yajna for a son. After this, Queen Malini gave birth to a son but unfortunately the baby was born dead. King and other family members were very sad because of this. Only then a craft seen in the sky, where Mata Shashthi was sitting. When the king prayed to her, then she introduced herself and said that - I am the manas daughter of Lord Brahma, Shashthi Devi. I protect all the children of the world and give the blessings of children to all childless parents.
After this, Goddess blessed the lifeless child with her hands, so that he was alive. The king was very pleased with the grace of Goddess and he worshiped the goddess Shashthi Devi. It is believed that after this puja, this festival is celebrated worldwide.
Religious and Cultural Significance of Chhath Puja.
Chhath Puja is a festival of religious and cultural importance. This is the only festival in which the Sun is worshipped and offered an arghya. Arghya is offered in the evening and in the morning to the setting and rising sun respectively. The worship of the sun in the Hindu religion is of great importance. He is the only God whom we can see on a regular basis. In the Vedas, the Sun God is called the soul of the world. The light of the sun has the ability to destroy many diseases. With the auspicious effect of the sun, the person gets health, wealth and self-confidence. In Vedic astrology, the sun is said to be the factor of soul, father, ancestor, respect and high government services. On the occasion of Chhath Puja, 'Chhathi Maiya' is also worshipped and hailed. It is said doing this Puja brings fortunes, well- being for the children, pleasure and desire. Culturally, the main feature of this festival is the simplicity of tradition, love for purity and nature.
History.
Chhath is a Vedic ritual dedicated to Hindu solar deity Surya, and goddess Shashthi (also called Chhathi Maiyya). It has also been mentioned in both the major Indian epics - In Ramayana, when Rama and Sita returned Ayodhya, then people celebrated Deepawali, and on its sixth day Ramrajya was established. On this day Rama and Sita kept fast and Surya Shashthi/Chhath Puja was performed by Sita. Hence, she was blessed with Luv and Kush as their sons. While in the Mahabharata, Chhath Puja was performed by Kunti after they escaped from Lakshagrih.
Rituals and traditions.
The main worshipers, called (from Sanskrit "parv", meaning "occasion" or "festival"), are usually women. However, many men also observe this festival as Chhath is not a gender-specific festival. The pray for the well-being of their family, and for the prosperity of their offspring. In some communities, once a family member starts performing Chhath Puja, it is their compulsory duty to perform it every year and to pass it on to the following generations. The festival is skipped only if there happens to be a death in the family that year. If the person stops performing the ritual on any particular year, it stops permanently and one cannot resume it. In other communities, this is not mandatory.
Chhath Puja is a four-day event. Entire house, its surrounding and pathways to the Ghaat is thoroughly cleaned. It starts with
The prasad offerings include sweets, Kheer, Thekua and fruits (mainly sugarcane, sweet lime and banana) offered in small bamboo soop winnows. The food is strictly vegetarian and is cooked without salt, onions or garlic. Emphasis is put on maintaining the purity of the food.
Sandhya Arghya (evening offerings).
This day is spent preparing the prasad (offerings)at home. On the eve of this day, the entire household accompanies the Vratins to a riverbank, pond or a common large water body to make the offerings (Arghya) to the setting sun. It is during this phase of Chhath Puja that the devotees offer prayers to the just setting sun. The occasion is almost a carnival. Besides the Vratins, there are friends and family, and numerous participants and onlookers, all willing to help and receive the blessings of the worshipper. The folk songs are sung on the evening of Chhath.
After returning from ghat to home the vratins perform the ritual of kosi bharai. In this ritual the vratis along with other family members involve to perform all the rituals regarding kosi bharai. They took 5 to 7 sugarcanes and they tied them together to form mandap and beneath the shed of that mandap 12 to 24 earthen lamps are burnt and offerings like thekua and other seasonal fruits offered there.. The same ritual is repeated in the ghat next morning in between 3:00 am to 4:00 am and afterwards the vratis offers arghya or offerings to the rising sun.


Hsin Pei

Hsin Pei (; born March 13, 1970) was the seventh and eighth term abbot and director of the Fo Guang Shan, an international Chinese Buddhist order based in Taiwan. The youngest abbot ever elected to the order, Hsin Pei was elected by the members of Fo Guang Shan worldwide in 2004 and succeeded retiring abbot Hsin Ting in 2005. As abbot of the Order, Hsin Pei is the second highest monastic in the order, and is second in line to the position of head teacher. His term ended in March 2013. Hsin Pei currently resides in the United States in order to improve his English.


Islam in Guinea

Islam is the main religion in Guinea, followed by an estimated 85% of the population as of 2013. "Most are Sunnis who follow the Maliki legal tradition and Qadiri and Tijani Sufi orders."
History.
Islam spread from its birthplace in the Arabian Peninsula to Africa. Sundiata Keita (c. 1217 – c. 1255), the founder of the Mali Empire (which encompassed part of present-day Guinea as well as other modern nations), was not a Muslim, but by 1300, his successors were. The tenth ruler of the empire, Musa I (c. 1280 – c. 1337), made it the state religion.
Fouta Djallon, a highland region of Guinea, has been a stronghold of Islam since the late 17th century. The Imamate of Futa Jallon, a Muslim theocratic state ruled by the almami, was founded around 1725.
Eventually, the area of present-day Guinea came under colonial rule, and French Guinea was established in 1891, but that had little effect on the spread of the religion. In the 20th century, the Ahmadiyya movement was introduced into the country from Pakistan.
After Guinea achieved independence from France in 1958, Ahmed Sékou Touré, its Marxist first president, sought to reduce Islam's influence, but as his popularity declined, in the 1970s he worked "to co-opt Muslim institutions to legitimize his rule." Touré had the Grand Mosque built in the capital city of Conakry, with funding from Saudi King Fahd; it opened in 1982. It is the largest mosque in West Africa, with an inner hall that can hold 10,000.
Education.
The compulsory education curriculum does not include religious studies, but there are numerous Islamic schools throughout the country, particularly in Fouta Djallon. Some madrasas are financially supported by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Gulf states.


David Wenham (theologian)

David Wenham (born 1945) is a British theologian and Anglican clergyman, who is the author of several books on the New Testament.
Early life and education.
David Wenham was born in 1945, the son of theologian John Wenham. He was brought up in Durham and Bristol. He studied theology at Pembroke College, Cambridge, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1967; as per tradition, his BA was later promoted to a Master of Arts (MA Cantab) degree. He undertook doctoral research under F. F. Bruce at the University of Manchester, completing his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1970.
He is a brother of Gordon Wenham.
Career.
Academic career.
After becoming the Theological Students' Secretary with the UCCF he taught at Union Biblical Seminary in India before returning to become the Director of Tyndale House's Gospels Research Project. Whilst in Cambridge he completed part-time ordination training at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, before moving to the staff of Wycliffe Hall in the University of Oxford. He was the tutor in New Testament at Wycliffe Hall from 1983 to 2007 and served under four different principals. He was also dean (2002 to 2005) and vice principal (2005 to 2006).
In 2007, he was appointed as Senior Tutor in New Testament at Trinity College, Bristol. His brother Gordon Wenham also lectures there on a part-time basis. From 2008 to 2012, he was also vice principal of the college. Since 2012, he has been a part-time tutor in the New Testament.
He is particularly interested in questions to do with the origins and historical reliability of the gospels. He is involved in helping people to understand the first century context of Jesus and the early church, and to get students to be intelligently and responsibly excited about the New Testament (and equipped to teach it to others). He has written many publications including "The Parables of Jesus" (IVP), a guide to the teaching of Jesus and his most recent book "Paul and Jesus: the true story" (SPCK/Eerdmans) an introduction to Paul, looking at questions of history and theology in the book of Acts, Paul's letters and the gospels.
Ordained ministry.
In 1981, Wenham began part-time training at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, an Evangelical Anglican theological college, in preparation for ordained ministry. He was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1984 and as a priest in 1985. From 1996 to 2002, he was a non-stipendiary minister (NSM) in the Benefice of Shelswell in the Diocese of Oxford. From 2003 to 2007, he was an NSM at St Michael's Church, Cumnor. between 2007 and 2013, he concentrated on his academic career and did not hold any dedicated ministry positions. He returned to St Michael's Church, Cumnor in 2013, and serves as a NSM in his semi-retirement.
Personal life.
David is married to Clare and they have two adult sons.


Alice Guerin Crist

Alice Guerin Crist (1876–1941) was an Australian poet, author and journalist.
Early life.
Crist was born in Clare Castle, Ireland on 6 February 1876 to Patrick and Winifred (née Rohan or Rouhan) Guerin. When she was two years old, the family migrated to Queensland, where her father taught in rural schools, including as head teacher of Tent Hill Upper school in May 1880.
Career.
Crist's writing career began before she reached her teens. Her first short story was published in Brisbane newspaper, "The Queenslander", in December 1887, two months before her 12th birthday. She wrote "Elsie In Fairyland" 12 months later for the "Christmas Supplement" of "The Queenslander", published on 22 December 1888. In November the following year, she wrote "The Three Sisters", which was serialised across two issues of the same paper.
From 1927 Crist received payment for her contributions to the Brisbane-based "Catholic Advocate".
In 1929, a journalist wrote in the Adelaide "Southern Cross" that "Mrs Crist has already gained a reputation in Queensland akin to that of "John O'Brien", for her poems depicting Irish-Australian life in the bush".
Crist was awarded the King George V's jubilee medal in 1935 and King George VI's coronation medal in 1937. A wing of the Holy Spirit Hospital in Brisbane was named in her honour in 1953.
Personal.
Crist married Joseph Christ in Queensland on 4 October 1902. He changed his surname to Crist by deed poll in 1913.
Crist died of tuberculosis on 13 June 1941 in hospital in Toowoomba, Queensland. Her husband, three daughters and two sons all survived her.


Antonin Cloche

Antonin Cloche (1628–1720) was the Master of the Order of Preachers from 1686 to 1720.
Early biography.
Antonin Cloche was from a rich French family.
Formation.
Cloche entered the Dominican Order in the Province of Toulouse.
Career.
Under the masterships of Juan Tomás de Rocaberti and Antonio de Monroy Cloche served as the master's envoy to the Kingdom of France.
Cloche was unanimously elected master at the Dominican chapter held in 1686 at Rome after the death of the previous master de Monroy.
In 1696, Cloche started the process for the canonisation of Pope Pius V and soon had a magnificent sarcophagus made for him in the Sistine Chapel in Santa Maria Maggiore by the sculptor Pierre Le Gros the Younger.
Shortly before the death of his friend Cardinal Girolamo Casanate in 1700, Cloche set out to build a library for the substantial collection of books he was to leave to the Dominicans. The Biblioteca Casanatense, attached to the Convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome, was inaugurated in 1701. Already in 1717 it transpired that the library was too small, so Cloche had an extension built from 1719 but did not live to see its completion in 1721.
As master, he was a proponent of popular preaching along the lines of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament. Jansenism and Gallicanism continued spreading in the French order during his mastership. He lived as a great lord, hosting many ecclesiastical dignitaries at his country house in San Pastore.
He died in 1720 aged 92. In his honour, in 1721 his relief portrait by Bernardino Cametti was placed in old entrance to the Biblioteca Casanatense (now no longer part of the library and only accessible through the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva).
Patron of the arts.
Cloche was eager to promote the status of the Dominicans by means of art. His sculptor of choice was Le Gros who was a rising star in 1697-98 when he produced the "Sarcophagus for Pope Pius V". It was probably Cloche's secretary, the painter Frère Baptiste Monnoyer, a friend of Le Gros' from student days in Paris, who acted as a go-between.
Following Casanate's death, Le Gros was immediately commissioned to create the cardinal's tomb in the Lateran Basilica (1700–1703) and subsequently his honorary statue in the Biblioteca Casanatense (1706–1708).
When Pope Clement XI offered the many niches in Saint Peter's to the religious orders to erect a statue to their founders, Cloche jumped at the opportunity and commissioned the "Statue of Saint Dominic" from Le Gros (1702–1706). No other order saw the necessity to hurry, which made "Saint Dominic" the very first and for decades the only monumental statue of a founder in Saint Peter's.


Baba Reshat

Reshat Bardhi or Dedebaba Hajji Reshat () (March 4, 1935 – April 2, 2011) was an Albanian religious leader, "kryegjysh" of the Bektashi Sufi order from 1991 to 2011.
Life.
Dede Reshat was born on 4 March 1935 in village of Lusën, in the region of the northern Albanian town of Kukës. In 1944, as the destruction of war raged around him, Dede Reshat moved to Tirana with his family. It was there that he received both his secular as well as Islamic religion education.
When he was 14 years old, Dede Reshat visited the Mother Tekke of the Bektashi Sufi Order (asitâne-i madhe) and from that time took up residence there. Four years later, at the age of eighteen, he was initiated as a dervish, and served as rehber in the ceremonies that took place on the sacred premises of the Mother Tekke.
Between 1957 and 1967, Dede Reshat was placed under house arrest by the communist government along with Dedebaba Ahmed Myftar in a small tekke near Drizar, Mallakastra. In the ten years of exile, this tekke served as the unofficial Mother Tekke of the Bektashi community. Believers would come here illegally from all over Albania and Yugoslavia.
With the closure of all houses of worship and the prohibition of religion by the communists in 1967 (which lasted until 1990), Dede Reshat was forcibly assigned work on a state-run farm, where he was continually harassed, both psychologically and physically, by state security officers. Meanwhile, his residence in Tirana was turned into an illegal center for keeping Bektashism alive.
Along with a group of devout Bektashi believers Dede Reshat reopened the Mother Tekke of the Bektashi Sufi Order on March 22, 1991, the day of the festival of Sultan Nevruz. During the communist period, the building had been used as state-run home for the elderly.
In November 1991, Dede Reshat made the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca together with the first Albanian pilgrims to go in a generation. There he was received by senior Saudi religious authorities and having made the pilgrimage took the title al-Hajj (or Haxhi).
In February 1992 Dede Reshat travelled to the US to visit the Bektashi community of Detroit, where he was received by Baba Rexheb and senior clerics of other faiths. Baba Rexheb was responsible for establishing the first Bektashi Tekke in America in 1954 and for keeping Bektashism alive during the dark days of communism.
In May 1993 Dede Reshat was received by the late head of Turkey's Bektashi community Bedri Noyan Dede, who organized meetings with senior Bektashi religious leaders in Istanbul and Izmir.
The 6th World Bektashi Congress that was held in 1993 unanimously elected Dede Reshat to the head the Mother Tekke of the Bektashi Sufi Order, and thus he was given the title Dedebaba.
In August of that same year Dede Reshat visited the tekke/museum of Haji Bektash Veli in Turkey, where thousands of believers from the Asian parts of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkestan, and the Middle East came to greet him. The mayor of the town of Hacıbektaş received Dede Reshat with a special lunch of honor.
On every religious holiday from 1991 and until his death Dede Reshat received Albanian's presidents, prime ministers, speakers of the parliament, as well as ministers and ambassadors of foreign states.
In 1994 and 1995 Dede Reshat visited the Islamic Republic of Iran, where he was received by the highest leader of the Ahl al-Bayt Foundation, Mr. Mir Hosseini and senior religious leaders from Iran, India and Kuwait. In March 2001 Dede Reshat was invited to a special audience with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, where both men discussed their resistance to communism.
In August 2002, Dede Reshat again travelled to Haji Bektashi in Turkey, where he met with the then Prime Minister of Turkey, Bulent Ecevit, who congratulated him on his role in preserving the Bektash way.
In October 2002 Dede Reshat took part in the International Conference of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which was held in Azerbaijan. Dede Reshat spoke on behalf of Bektashis worldwide. One year later he was invited to the Vatican to take part in the canonisation ceremony for Mother Teresa, along with other religious leaders from around the world. Dede Reshat was again by Pope John Paul II and other high Catholic religious authorities.
In February 2004 Dede Reshat also took part in the World Conference for Peace and Tolerance which was organized by Partiarkati Ekumenal and the Apel Ndërgjegjes Foundation. His words on their work received a standing ovation. In April 2004 Dede Reshat took part in a symposium held in Germany on Alevis and Bektashis in Germany. There he greeted participants on behalf of the Bektashi community.
On the occasion of the 7th World Bektashi Congress that was held in October 2005 in Tirana, Dede Reshat hosted the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey, Atilla Koç, as well as the mayors of the Turkish towns of Nevşehir andHacıbektaş. In December 2005 Dede Reshat was welcomed in Prishtina at thecongress of the Albanian World League. He was received by Kosovo's Minister of Culture, Mr. Astrit Haraçia.
In May 2006 Dede Reshat received the President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, at the Mother Tekke in Tirana. Among other things the Cardinal said, “Your excellency is the Bektashi Pope!”
In June 2006 Dede Reshat hosted Turkey's Parliament Speaker, Mr. Bülent Arınç at the Mother Tekke in Tirana. He presented Dede Reshat with a plaque from the Turkish Parliament honoring his outstanding service in spreading peace and goodwill. In August 2006, Dede Reshat participated in the eighth World Conference of Religions for Peace held in Kyoto, Japan. There he met with some of the most prominent religious personalities in the world.
In July 2007, Dede Reshat was received in Pristina by Bernard Kouchner, the French minister of foreign affairs. ON the occasion of the rebuilding of the Bektashi tekke in Gjakova. Dede Reshat was hosted by the Head of UN Acting Administration in Kosovo, Joachim Rücker.
In October 2007, at the head a Bektashi delegation, Dede Reshat was received in Istanbul by the highest Islamic authority in Turkey, Imam Ali Bardakoğlu, as well as the mufti of Istanbul, Imam Mustafa Çağrıcı.
In November 2007 Dede Reshat participated in the World Conference on Inter-Religious and Inter-Civilization Dialogue held in Ohrid, Macedonia. He was heartily welcomed to this conference and received there by Nikola Gruevski, Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia.
In June 2008, Dede Reshat was invited to Ankara by the supreme mufti of the Republic of Turkey, Imam Ali Bardakoğlu. There he attended the artistic ceremony of the Sufi music ensemble and prayer in the various mosques of Ankara. He was also received by leading Islamic theologians.
Dede Reshat was decorated with the “Beacon of Democracy” medal and Golden Naim Frasheri award by the presidents of the Republic of Albania, and was an honorary resident of the cities of Tirana, Kruja, Kukës, Berat, Kavaja, Bulqiza, Gjirokastra, Mallakastra and others.
In September 2008 Dede Reshat hosted a visit by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. On October 13, 2009, Dede Reshat hosted a visit to the Mother Tekke by Noël Kinsella, Speaker of the Canadian Senate, during a visit to Tirana.
Dede Reshat was a spiritual guide to thousands of Bektashis around the world.
Bardhi underwent two heart surgeries in the United States, the first in 2000 and the second in 2004. After months of battling illness and exhaustion, al-Hajj Dedebaba Reshat Bardhi died shortly after 2:00 pm on 2 April 2011 in Tirana, at the age of 76.


Giani Gurbachan Singh

Giani Gurbachan Singh (born on 6 April 1948 at Chakk Baja in Muktsar, Punjab, was the 30th Jathedar of Akal Takht.
Elevation as Jathedar of Akal Takht.
Singh joined Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) as a Sewadar at Muktsar. He served 36 years at SGPC beginning in 1972 and became head priest at Amritsar before becoming Jathedar on 6 August 2008.
Issues.
On 5 December 2011, Jathedars of all five Takhts including Jathedar of Akal Takht, Giani Gurbachan Singh awarded Panth Rattan Fakhr-e-Qaum (literally "Jewel of the community, pride of the nation") to Chief Minister of Punjab, Parkash Singh Badal. He was awarded this title at Akal Takht for his service towards the Sikh Nation by creating many memorials pertaining to Sikhi such as Virasat-e-Khalsa, besides being imprisoned for long time and having faced atrocities during various Akali movements. A Sarbat Khalsa held by Sikh organisations on 10 November 2015 stated that it was withdrawing the award due to allegations of Civil Rights Violations and failure to recognize the oppression faced by the Sikhs of Punjab.
In October 2015, the Panj Pyare of Akal Takht (Bhai Satnam Singh Khanda, Bhai Mangal Singh, Bhai Tarlok Singh, Bhai Satnam Singh and Bhai Major Singh) issued a summon to the Jathedars of the five Takhats (Giani Gurbachan Singh, Giani Mal Singh, Giani Gurmukh Singh, Giani Iqbal Singh, Giani Ram Singh) to clarify their position on the pardoning of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for imitation of the 10th Sikh Guru. After the Jathedars refused to recognize the summon, the Panj Pyare of Akal Takht directed the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to relieve the Jathedars from their duties. The SGPC ignored the Gurmata and suspended the Panj Pyare from Akal Takht.
A Sarbat Khalsa convened by radical Sikh organisations appointed Jagtar Singh Hawara as the jathedar of Akal Takht. SGPC President Avtar Singh Makkar however stated that its convening was against the principles of Sikhism and its decisions were null and void. He added that the removal of jathedars came under Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925 and no one could challenge the SGPC's authority.
On 18 October 2018, Gurbachan Singh resigned from his post and the search for the next Jathedar was underway.


Henry Hussey (pastor)

Henry Hussey (27 August 1825 – 6 May 1903) was a pastor in the colonial days of South Australia, closely associated with the Christian Church on Bentham Street along with pastors Abbott, Finlayson and Playford. He was the author of several influential books on religious themes, and a memoir.
History.
Hussey was born in Wimborne, Dorsetshire or Kennington, London, the second son of George Edward Hussey of Poole, Dorset, who claimed Norman descent, and Catherine Hussey, née Burt.
Hussey was educated at a dame school in a house once occupied by the poet William Cowper, and was first employed as office boy for a firm of brewers.
In March 1839 George and Catherine Hussey and four of their children left for South Australia aboard "Asia", arriving at Holdfast Bay on 16 July. The two eldest children, George Edward and Mary Ann, if surviving, do not appear on the ship's passenger list.
The family, with hundreds of others, camped at "Emigration Square" on the parklands west of Hindley Street, Adelaide, later found accommodation on Hindley and Rundle streets.
Business.
Hussey found work selling bread door-to-door, as an office boy, on coastal shipping and other endeavours. In 1840 he moved with his father to Port Adelaide, and in August 1841 found employment as a compositor with the printer George Dehane, working on his short-lived newspaper "The Adelaide Independent and Cabinet of Amusement".
He tried country life for a while, but returned to Dehane's printery, where he was involved in production of the first number of John Stephens' "The Adelaide Observer" (1 July 1843).
His father ran a "bazaar" selling small luxuries, coupled with a land agency, on Hindley Street, at that time Adelaide's premier shopping strip, sharing the premises with his wife Catherine, who started a millinery business. He had plans to move his place of business to the newly developing Port Adelaide, but died in September of the following year. Mrs Hussey's business flourished, and she built new premises on King William Street, between Rundle and Grenfell, in August 1844.
By 1844 Hussey was an ardent church-goer, attending the (Anglican) Trinity Church, adjacent to Dehane's printery. He left Dehane and joined the staff of the General Post Office, delivering letters to the east side of the city, but after a few months returned again to the print shop.
In 1850 he was able to branch out on his own, and in January 1851 printed the first issue of "The Church Intelligencer and Christian Gleaner", a subscription monthly edited by Archdeacon Hale and the Revs. W. J. Woodcock and W. H. Coombs. This publication ceased in April 1852, at a time of recession brought about by the rush to the goldfields of Victoria. Hussey took over printing and publication of "The Register", up to that time handled by William Kyffin Thomas, commencing with the issue of 11 February 1852.
Kyffin Thomas returned to the newspaper early in the new year (he had been at the goldfields).
Hussey returned to job printing in July 1853 from premises on King William Street, opposite the Southern Cross Hotel. In 1854 he took on
J. T. Shawyer as partner David Gall was admitted to the partnership in July 1855, trading as Hussey, Shawyer and Gall on King William Street, "near Green's Exchange", which may have been the same premises at 47 King William Street later described as "adjacent Green's Auction Mart", "at the end of a long passage".
Shawyer left in 1856 to open his own printery on Gawler Place, and Hussey and Gall continued to March 1857.
In December 1853 his mother sold her premises on King William Street to F. H. Faulding for £1,000 and reopened on O'Connell Street, North Adelaide. She apportioned her windfall gains to her children; Henry used his share to purchase further blocks of land: one on Victoria Square, one on Wellington Square, one at Goolwa, and one at Port Elliot.
From January to December 1854 Hussey (or Hussey & Shawyer) published "The South Australian Sunday School Magazine"
In July 1858 he published the first number of the monthly "quarto" "The Christian Advocate and Southern Observer". At some stage Gall took over publication and the quarter beginning July 1859 may have been its last.
Rather than retire from business altogether, Hussey accepted a position in the Government Printing Office.
In 1866 George Fife Angas, a wealthy pastoralist and member of Hussey's church, offered him a position as his private secretary, succeeding William Ramage Lawson, who had embarked on a career in journalism.
Among his duties was the selection and collection of personal papers for a biography of the great man.
He also assisted him in founding the Bushman's Home, opened on the south-east corner of Whitmore Square, a building previously the city residence of Judge Cooper, in May 1870/
Religion.
Although already a regular churchgoer, Hussey's interest in religion quickened around the time he started at Dehane's printery on Morphett Street and became involved with the nearby Trinity Church.
From 1844, at age 18, to 1851 he conducted Bible classes for children of the church.
He was at Holy Trinity during the incumbency of Colonial Chaplain C. B. Howard and James Farrell, a pre-millenarian, who may have ignited his preoccupation with the Second Coming and Scriptural prophesies.
He moved to North Adelaide, and started a Sunday School at Christ Church on 23 December 1849.
In March 1853 he was licensed as a lay reader by Bishop Short.
He was invited to a preliminary meeting held 8 February 1853 to start a local chapter of the Young Men's Christian Association (now YMCA) by Charles Henry Goode. (Goode was one of its first members in London, and a close acquaintance of founder George Williams.) The formation meeting, held four months later, was addressed by W. Roby Fletcher.
In April 1854 Hussey left the printing business in the hands of his partner, John Thomas Shawyer (1825–1895), and left on a trip to the United States, visiting Tahiti and Panama on the way.
He had previously had misgivings about the baptism of children, and while in the United States he came under the influence of the "Disciples of Christ", whose tenets included adult baptism by total immersion. He was baptised by its founder Alexander Campbell (1788–1866) at Bethany, Virginia on 6 August 1854.
He continued to England, where he prepared his book "The Australian Colonies" for publication.
On his return to South Australia after more than a year's absence, he lectured at the Bible Christian Church, whose views on baptism were similar to his own, at their chapel in Franklin Street (later known as Maughan Church).
He attracted some followers in the districts south of Adelaide such as McLaren Vale, and baptised them in local rivers.
He frequently preached at the "Christian Church" (closely allied with the "Disciples of Christ" or "Christian Disciples Church"), which had a chapel in Bentham Street, founded October 1848, whose pastor was Thomas Playford.
They built another church in Grote Street around 1857, greatly enlarged in 1873.
A dispute arose in the church, and Hussey and others broke away, and for a time met in J. L. Young's schoolroom on Gawler Place. The nature of the controversy is not known, but a common source of disagreement was the use of certain musical instruments in church: some arguing that only activities mentioned in Scripture were allowed, others that what is not forbidden may be permissible.
He was one of many Protestant leaders who decried the failure of the Marriage Bill before the House in December 1866, its failure being applauded by the Catholic hierarchy.
He was secretary to the committee formed for drafting the second Marriage Bill, which passed both houses in December 1867.
Hussey was involved in the elections of 1871, when he helped return John Pickering to the seat of West Torrens.
He once declared himself a candidate for public office (Encounter Bay in 1875) but dropped out after faring poorly at a public debate. It has been asserted that he withdrew following criticism from some fellow-religionists.
Hussey was a regular contributor to "The Protestant Advocate", an anti-Catholic weekly which ran from 1870 to 1879, edited by John Griffiths and published by the proprietor James Heath Lewis (c. 1816 – 6 December 1890)
In 1871 Griffiths resigned his position on principle, but later returned to the paper.
In 1872 the "Protestant Advocate" published a series of libels on the Sisters of St Joseph, for which Lewis was jailed for six months.
Hussey acted as editor for six months, and it could have been during either of those disruptions.
Then in March 1877 the paper published a report that the wife of Rev. Samuel Green had turned Catholic, a falsehood that again landed the publisher in court. Lewis blamed Griffiths.
Green (died 1904) was an Anglican minister with high church leanings. His wife, the former Ellen Elizabeth Bayfield, was a daughter of (Anglican) Rev. Edward Bayfield (c. 1815–1857). Both men having had charge of St Paul's Church, Port Adelaide.
In January 1867, with the health of pastor Thomas Playford failing, Hussey accepted the position of his assistant at the Bentham Street Church.
In 1873, following the death of Playford, Hussey took over the pulpit, which he managed without financial reward until 27 January 1891, when he retired, although he did make a brief comeback in 1893 following some dissension in the congregation.
He started a monthly "Gospel of the Kingdom" in July 1878, which became the "Australian Quarterly Journal of Prophecy" in July 1879 last issue January 1895. This publication had no connection to Horatius Bonar's "Journal of Prophecy".
In 1884 he founded the "Adelaide Bible Hall", a commercial outlet for Bibles, hymn books, etc., at the corner of Flinders and Freeman streets, still operating in 1891.
Final illness and death.
Hussey had been confined to bed at his residence in Hackney.
On Tuesday afternoon 5 May 1903 he had a seizure leading to total paralysis and died at midnight.
His remains were buried at West Terrace Cemetery, as were those of his wife Agnes and daughter Agnes Mary, alongside the grave of his father George Ernest and his wife Catharine (so spelled), and may be viewed here and here.
Bibliography.
Edwin Hodder (1837–1904) wrote "George Fife Angas: Father and founder of South Australia " about the famous colonist (1789–1879) who, "inter alia" was the instrument of German settlement in South Australia, published in England in 1891 (not 1893) by Hodder & Stoughton. Authorised by the Angas family, it used information from Hussey's diary as well as Angas's papers, selected and passed to Hodder by Hussey. None of the newspaper reviews, the most extensive being that in the "Register", mentioned Hussey's contribution.
Hodder, whose family relationship to London publishers Jackson, Walford & Hodder, and Hodder & Stoughton is not clear, was a prolific author of historical, biographical and (Protestant) religious works, also wrote the two-volume "The History of South Australia from its Foundation to the Year of its Jubilee. With a Chronological Summary of all the Principal Events of Interest up to date". (1893, two volumes) This work has been described as having Hussey's entry to the Gawler Institute's 1860 "History of South Australia" competition as its nucleus.
Family.
George Edward Hussey (7 November 1792 – 8 September 1842), born in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, married Catherine Burt (c. 1793 – 8 June 1874) on 14 February 1821 in London. "left wife and four children"; Catherine Frances was "only daughter" so no Mary Ann
The four children who came out to Australia aboard "Asia" in 1839 were:


National Council of Churches of Burundi

The National Council of Churches of Burundi (Conseil national des Eglises du Burundi) is a Christian ecumenical organization founded in Burundi in 1989. It is a member of the World Council of Churches and the Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa.


Zhu Zixing

In Chinese Buddhism, Zhu Zixing is described as the first Chinese to be ordained and become a Buddhist via contact with others on the Silk Road. Zhu first went to central Asia in 260 to investigate Buddhism, long before other Chinese monks and travelers reached India to study Buddhism.


Raymond Bonal

Raymond Bonal (1600–1653) was a founder of the Congregation of the Priests of St. Mary (Bonalists), a French order active in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.


Islam in Mali

Muslims currently make up approximately 95 percent of the population of Mali. The majority of Muslims in Mali are Malikite Sunni, influenced with Sufism. Ahmadiyya and Shia branches are also present.
History.
During the 9th century, Muslim Berber and Tuareg merchants brought Islam southward into West Africa. Islam also spread in the region by the founders of Sufi brotherhoods (tariqah). Conversion to Islam linked the West African savannah through belief in one God and similar new forms of political, social and artistic accoutrements. Cities including Timbuktu, Gao and Kano soon became international centers of Islamic learning.
The most significant of the Mali kings was Mansa Musa (1312–1337), who expanded Mali influence over the large Niger city-states of Timbuktu, Gao, and Djenné. Mansa Musa was a devout Muslim who was reported to have built various major mosques throughout the Mali sphere of influence; his gold-laden pilgrimage to Mecca made him a well-known figure in the historical record.
Muslims in Mali.
Islam as practiced in the country until recently was reported to be relatively tolerant and adapted to local conditions. Women participated in economic and political activity, engaged in social interaction, and generally did not wear veils. Islam in Mali has absorbed mystical elements, ancestor veneration and the African Traditional Religion that still thrive. Many aspects of Malian traditional society encourage norms consistent with democratic citizenship, including tolerance, trust, pluralism, the separation of powers and the accountability of the leader to the governed.
Relations between the Muslim majority and the Christian and other religious minorities—including practitioners of African Traditional Religion were reported to be generally stable until recently, although there have been several cases of instability and tension in the past. It is relatively common to find adherents of a variety of faiths within the same family. Many followers of one religion usually attend religious ceremonies of other religions, especially weddings, baptisms, and funerals.
Since the 2012 imposition of Sharia rule in northern parts of the country, persecution of Christians in the north increased significantly and was described as severe by Open Doors which publishes the Christian persecution index; Mali appears as number 7 in the 2013 index list.
Implementation of Sharia in the rebel-controlled north included banning of music, cutting off of hands or feet of thieves, stoning of adulterers and public whipping of smokers, alcohol drinkers and women who are not properly dressed. In 2012, several Islamic sites in Mali were destroyed or damaged by vigilante activists linked to Al Qaeda which claimed that the sites represented "idol worship".
There are foreign Islamic preachers that operate in the north of the country, while mosques associated with Dawa (an Islamist group) are located in Kidal, Mopti, and Bamako. The organization Dawa has gained adherents among the Bellah, who were once the slaves of the Tuareg nobles, and also among unemployed youth. The interest these groups have in Dawa is based on a desire to dissociate themselves from their former masters, and to find a source of income for the youth. The Dawa sect has a strong influence in Kidal, while the Wahabi movement has been reported to be steadily growing in Timbuktu. The country's traditional approach to Islam is relatively moderate, as reflected in the ancient manuscripts from the former University of Timbuktu.
In August 2003, a conflict erupted in the village of Yerere in Western Mali when traditional Sunni practitioners attacked Wahhabi Sunnis, who were building an authorized mosque.
Other foreign missionary groups are Christian groups that are based in Europe and engaged in development work, primarily the provision of health care and education.
Status of religious freedom.
The constitution provides for freedom of religion and does not permit any form of religious discrimination or intolerance by the government or individual persons. There is no state religion as the constitution defines the country as a secular state and allows for religious practices that do not pose a threat to social stability and peace.
The government requires that all public associations, including religious associations, register with the government. However, registration confers no tax preference and no other legal benefits, and failure to register is not penalized in practice. Traditional indigenous religions are not required to register.
A number of foreign missionary groups operate in the country without government interference. Both Muslims and non-Muslims are allowed to convert people freely.
The family law, including laws pertaining to divorce, marriage, and inheritance, are based on a mixture of local tradition and Islamic law and practice.
During presidential elections held in April and May 2002, the Government and political parties emphasized the secularity of the state. A few days prior to the elections, a radical Islamic leader called on Muslims to vote for former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. The High Council of Islam, the most senior Islamic body in the country, severely criticized the statement and reminded all citizens to vote for the candidate of their choice.
In January 2002, the High Council was created to coordinate religious affairs for the entire Muslim community and standardize the quality of preaching in mosques. All Muslim groups in the country currently recognize its authorize.
Extremism.
Extremist worshippers of Islam have been responsible for some reprehensible acts in Mali, most notably what has been nicknamed the Battle of Gao, in which an extremist Muslim group, Ansar Dine began to destroy various World Heritage Sites. The most significant of these was the mausoleum of Sidi Mahmoud Ben Amar and in mausoleums around the capital, including that of Sidi Yahya, militants broke in and destroyed tombs.
Many towns in Mali are falling victim to extremist groups’ implementation of Sharia law, by which many African cultures and enjoyments have been denied. A recent report in The Guardian revealed that extremist groups have banned music in certain regions and were known to turn up randomly in villages, armed with weaponry, to burn musical instruments and musical items on bonfires. One guitarist was threatened that his fingers would be chopped off if he ever showed his face in one town again.
On 18 May 2017, a man and a woman were stoned to death for living maritally without being married. According to officials, the extremists first dig two holes, one for man and other for women, and the couple were buried up to their necks and then four extremists started throwing stones on them and continued throwing until they died from their wounds. Public were invited to take part in this stoning. The couple were accused of violating Islamic law by living together without marriage.


Islam in El Salvador

There is a small Muslim community in El Salvador, largely consisting of Yemeni Arabs. However, the majority of the Palestinian Arab population in the country are Christian. It is estimated that there are about 1000-1500 Muslims in El Salvador
There is an Islamic Cultural Association operated by the Shia community, named "Fatimah Az-Zahra". They published the first Islamic magazine in Central America: "Revista Biblioteca Islámica". Additionally, they are credited with providing the first and only Islamic library dedicated to spreading Islamic culture in the country. Ahmadiyya Muslim Community also exists in the country.
Background.
20th-century immigration.
The arrival of families emigrating from Arab countries (Syria, Lebanon and Palestine) primarily occurred during the early 20th century. However, the majority of these Middle Eastern immigrants were Christian - of the few Muslim families, little or nothing has been documented.
Centers.
In 1994, the first center of Islamic worship was inaugurated in El Salvador, named "Centro Islámico Árabe Salvadoreño", founded in the capital city of San Salvador by a group of Salvadoran nationals and individuals of Palestinian ancestry. In 2004, a second mosque was inaugurated in the capital by Shiites, they named it "Fátimah Az-Zahra", in honor of Fatimah, the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad from his first wife Khadija. They began diffusing Islamic literature through the Internet, inaugurating the country's first Islamic Website that includes the publication of a quarterly magazine and that currently counts more than 100 digitized Islamic books. In 2007, a third mosque, called the "Mezquita Dar-Ibrahim", was inaugurated in San Salvador.
The Islamic Centers are generally involved in performing the Friday congregational prayers known as "Salaat-al-Jummah", distributing literature, charitable activities, online propagation and donating informative materials on Islam to various religious and cultural institutions throughout the country. For example, the "Fátimah Az-Zahra" Islamic Center provides introductory classes on Islamic doctrine and history. These classes, which are open to the general public, are not solely religious in nature: courses in foreign languages and efforts to improve adult literacy are also offered.


Festivities of Our Lady of the Remedies

Festivities of Our Lady of the Remedies () is a festival that takes place in the northern Colombian city of Riohacha, Department of La Guajira. The festival takes place between January 20 to February 9 of each year. The events vary from "corralejas", street parties to horse races.
The festivities celebrates a legend of the Virgin Mary which dates back to Monday May 14, 1663. Riohacha was apparently subject to a tsunami-like wave, and tradition says the Virgin helped in calming down the inhabitants.


Bete (priest)

The Bete were the traditional priestly class in Fiji. The "kalou-vu" (Ancestor-Gods) were believed to speak through the Bete.


Islam in Suriname

According to the official data, the Muslim population of Suriname represents about 13.9 percent of the country's total population as of 2012, which is the highest percentages of Muslims on the South American continent. Though the majority belong to the Sunni interpretation of Islam and some syncretic sects such as Sufism and Javanese Kejawèn.
Some speculate that Muslims first came to Suriname as slaves from West Africa and then were converted to Christianity over time, even though there is little proof for these speculations. The ancestors of the actual Muslim population came to the country as indentured laborers from South Asia and Indonesia, from whom today most Muslims in Suriname are descended.
Because Islam came to Suriname with immigrants from Indonesia (Java) and South Asia (today India, Pakistan and Bangladesh), who brought their local form of Islam to Suriname, it is strongly influenced by these regions. Apart from descent, most Surinamese Muslims also share the same culture and speak the same languages. Suriname has a small number of Afghan Muslims and their native-born children.
Demographics.
There are 75,053 Muslims in Suriname, according to the 2012 census. This number is up from 66,307 Muslims in 2004. However, the share of Muslims declined from 19.6% to 13.9% in the last half-century. The main reason for the declining share of Muslims in Suriname is the mass conversion of Ahmadi Muslims of Javanese descent to Christianity in the last years. Between 1971 and 2012 the share of
Christianity among ethnic Javanese people grew from 9% to 21% (+12%), while that of Javanese Muslims decreased from 85% to 67% (-18%). The share of Muslims of Indo-Surinamese descent decreased from 17% to 13% in the same period (-4%), mainly because of emigration to the Netherlands and declining fertility rates. The share of Muslims among Maroon people doubled from 0.1% to 0.2%.
Most Muslims in Suriname are non-denominational Muslims (53%), followed by Sunnis (28%) and Ahmadiyya (19%).
Ethnic groups.
Islam is the main religion among Javanese Surinamese people (67%) and the second largest religion among Indo-Surinamese people (13%) and multiracial people (8%).
Geographical distribution.
Commewijne District has the highest share of Muslims (mostly Javanese Surinamese), followed by Nickerie District and Wanica District (mostly Indo-Surinamese).
International.
Suriname (since 1996) and Guyana (since 1998) are the only countries in the Americas which are member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.


Vicariate of Solidarity

The Vicariate of Solidarity (La Vicaría de la Solidaridad) was a human rights organization in Chile during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
Background.
On a military junta toppled Chilean President Salvador Allende in a coup d'état and installed General Augusto Pinochet as head of the new regime. This was a dictatorial, authoritarian regime which trampled on human rights with the use of torture, disappearances, illegal and secret arrest, and extrajudicial killings. Thousands were being detained, and hundreds killed by the regime. It was in this context, that the first opposition to the Pinochet regime appeared.
The first organized resistance to emerge was in 1973 with the establishment of the Committee of Cooperation for Peace in Chile, or Comité Pro Paz. An ecumenical organization with the support of many religious communities in Chile, the Committee for Peace was active from 1973 to late 1975, until the Pinochet regime demanded its dissolution.
At the same time as the government was arresting its lawyers, Pinochet wrote to Cardinal Raul Silva Henriquez on 11 November 1975 claiming that the Committee was being "used by Marxist-Leninists" to cause an appearance of division between the government and the Roman Catholic Church, and used this as an excuse to demand its dissolution. The Cardinal was obliged to accede to this request, and shut down the Committee.
Introduction.
The Vicariate of Solidarity was an agency of the Chilean Catholic Church under the Archdiocese of Santiago. At the request of Cardinal Raul Silva Enriquez, the vicariate's first director, it was set up by Pope Paul VI in 1976 to stop the abduction and ill treatment of Chilean citizens by the government. It ceased operation in 1992, after the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet had fallen.
From there, the Vicariate of Solidarity was formed as an integral part of the Church that would assume legal defense and human rights issues. The Vicariate began operating on January 1, 1976 as a part of the Catholic Church but only had jurisdiction in Santiago. It continued the work begun by the peace commission and aimed to be a voice against Augusto Pinochet's arbitrary military dictatorship. It stood against the persecution of Chilean citizens and took care of the families of 'desaparecidos' – people who had been disappeared by the government. It received funds from international organizations and collated valuable information during the years of the military regime.
People used secret passages to enter the Vicariate from the adjacent Cathedral to avoid being discovered and although the organization was supposed to be protected from government victimization as an agency of the Catholic Church in Chile, government agents attacked the Vicariate in 1976.
During the fourteen years of its existence, the Vicariate provided a variety of services to the Chilean people including spiritual support, legal services, employment opportunities and health care. The Vicariate received a number of awards for its work in the defense of human rights, including the 1986 Prince of Asturias Award for Peace.
Activity.
Through its work under its various directors, the Vicariate became a symbol for the struggle for human rights in Chile. The organization strove to end the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet through a number of ways. It took an aggressive stance for human rights in the face of the dictatorship's blatant disregard for human rights. Over fourteen years, the Vicariate provided legal services for over 250,000 people and opened many legal cases in the defense of accused individuals to decry abuse. Between 1975 and 1979, it is documented to have provided a combination of legal, nutritional and occupational services to about 700,000 Chileans with the aid of international funding.
The Vicariate's records of over 19,000 cases of human rights abuse were used in the years after Chile's return to democracy by the Chilean truth commission. It has provided the largest information base for human rights in the country.
The Vicariate funded anti-Pinochet artwork known as "arpilleras" and established arpillera workshops where this art could be made. This was one of the few avenues for self-expression in Chile and many women who had 'disappeared' family members came to the workshops to express themselves. The Vicariate carried on funding these workshops until 1992, after Chile had returned to a democracy. It was responsible for providing supplies (fabric, thread etc.), a meeting venue and buying the finished products from the "arpilleristas" (the manufacturers) to sell them abroad. The tradition of Arpilleras has continued to flourish despite Chile's transition back to democracy.
The Vicariate of Solidarity published a biweekly magazine with a circulation of about 33,000 called "Solidaridad". "Solidaridad", while also an evangelical tool, reported statistics on everything from unemployment and malnutrition. "Solidaridad" also documented statistics on individuals who had been arrested or disappeared by the regime. It denounced the human rights abuse by the regime. It contained 24 pages and was free. The Vicariate was composed of departments, which were responsible for implementing its various services and programs.
The Vicariate also published books and brochures. Its activities were deemed hostile toward the government and led to the prosecution, exile, imprisonment and even murder of people associated with it. Jose Manuel Parada, the head of the Department of Analysis of the Vicariate was kidnapped on the street along with a schoolteacher named Manuel Guerrero on March 28, 1985. Their dead bodies were found five days later in a criminal case known as the Caso degollados.
Guiding principles.
When not much was being done to combat the human rights violations occurring in Chile, the Vicariate of Solidarity stood up in defense of human rights, with the belief that they were integral teachings of the Christian gospel and therefore part of the Church's to protect in the world. According to its records, "the fundamental inspiration for the Vicariate is the Word of the Lord in its totality, but especially as found in the parable of the Good Samaritan as written in St Luke 10: 25-37." The pastoral principles of the organization at its inception were Solidarity, Witness, Preference for the Poor, Human Rights, A Central Ministry, Integral View of Human Rights and Promotion and Defense. The Vicariate does not discriminate based on religion, however, and its services apply to those of all faiths whose rights have been violated. In return, it does not ask for any benefits, ideological or organizational. In 1981, a committee met to highlight the main characteristics of the Vicariate as an institution of the Church. The report they came up with in the end emphasized:
"- Its promotion and defense of human rights, understood integrally, but with special preference for the poor."
"- The promotional nature of its solidarity work, which implies a strong role as an educator for justice."
"- Its witness as the Church incarnate, the Church in the world."
"- Its condition as a sacrament of communion, a prophetic sign of contradiction, and a voice of the voiceless."
"- The special way it combines hierarchy and laity, with an ecumenical and pluralistic spirit these being the signs of a missionary Church carrying out a "frontier" ministry."
Leadership and structure.
Legal Department.
The Legal Department within the Vicariate is responsible for the defense and promotion of human rights, which is carried out through two means: the legal route and public denunciation. It follows a couple of guidelines to keep it in check, as well as so those who seek its help know whether or not it will be able to provide it to them. First, it abides by the fact that "the right to life is sacred, and predominates over any other consideration". Second, only those who ask for assistance will be given it. Third, the principal criterion of gaining the assistance of the Vicariate is that the person who is requesting aid has been the victim of a human rights violation. Fourth, the Vicariate does not provide legal defense aid for common crimes or "behavior affecting the human rights of innocent third parties". People seeking help for these issues will be directed to an alternative legal service, however. Lastly, the truth is always adhered to, due to the nature of what is being defended, and also to protect the reputation of the Vicariate's proceedings. Some characteristic features of the Vicariate are legal action that is free, the right to an intransigent defense, prompt and efficient representation, solidary representation, professional and scientific rigor, educational perspective, historical legacy, activities derived from the absence of democracy, and security of legal aid.
Department of Zones.
The Department of Zones is concerned with spreading the benefits of the Vicariate to those who would not usually be reached by help. The help provided generally includes projects assisting the poor and marginalized who have been victims of human rights violations in the various pastoral zones that comprise the Archdiocese. The Department coordinates zone teams and the provision of certain services designed to improve zones while saving resources. It works with the Church of Santiago to organize and coordinate support for people who have been affected by problems such as unemployment, hunger, health housing, education, and others. The Department follows the guidelines indicated by the Council in Apostolicam Actuositatem No. 8, which states that it will "Respond to demands for justice before all else so that these demands are not confused with those of charity; suppress the causes, and not only the effects, of evil and organize relief in such a way that those who receive it are progressively liberated from external dependency, thereby becoming more and more sufficient unto themselves."
Department of the Magazine "Solidaridad".
This department is responsible for the bi-weekly publication of the magazine "Solidaridad", which is used as an evangelizing tool of the Church of Santiago. The magazine is also a testimony to the all of the services the Vicariate offers, and is used as a form of social communication through the church to inform people freely, objectively, opportunely and truthfully, in a manner that was not being provided by other media sources during the coup. It is referred to by the Church as "the voice of those without voice." The magazine attempts to "oppose ideological manipulation, transculturation, and the propaganda of materialism" to educate readers on what it considers the true values of justice, liberty, peace, truth and solidarity views to be.
The magazine has nine sections: Editorial, National, Main Reports, The Church in the World, Culture, Workers, Young World, The Past Two Weeks, and Short Notices, along with an insert titled "Let's Learn in Solidarity."
Department of Solidary Education.
This department was created on May 2, 1983 to ensure that the Vicariate's activities, both individual and collective, obtain an educational perspective whenever possible.
Support Department.
This department's main focus is supporting the other departments in the Vicariate with Documentation, Publication, and Administration.
The Documentation Center contains national and foreign material concerning the Church and human rights. It serves both the Vicariate and other religious, academic, journalistic and research institutions.
The Publications Unit edits the material the Vicariate needs to work.
The Administration Unit is responsible for all administrative duties, including upkeep and maintenance, equipment and installations, and safety. It distributes publications, magazines and carries other general duties. It is also in charge of organizing special events.
The Finance Department.
This department consists of two Units: The Projects Unit and the Accounts and Budgets Unit. Overall, the criteria regarding finances is conservative, with the objective of minimizing possible financial risk.
Structure.
The Vicariate is structured in the following way: at its head is the Vicar, who has the Vicar's Council and Executive Secretary under him. The Executive Secretary controls all of the Departments, as well as the Council of Department Heads, the Personnel Unit and the Public Relations Unit.
Key leaders.
Cardinal Raúl Silva Henríquez: founder.
Cardinal Juan Francisco Fresno
Vicar of Santiago Rev. Juan de Castro
Bibliography.
1. http://www.cetri.be/spip.php?article911
2. http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-2451.html
3. https://web.archive.org/web/20111203182424/http://memoryandjustice.org/about/history/
4.http://diario.latercera.com/2011/07/31/01/contenido/santiago/32-78478-9-los-tuneles-secretos-de-la-vicaria-de-la-solidaridad.shtml
5. http://www.memoriachilena.cl/temas/dest.asp?id=vicariaparada
6. http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=9373&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
7.http://www.remember-chile.org.uk/inside/HRQ83-05-04f.htm
8. http://www.archivovicaria.cl/archivos/VS4b4dd251d964a_13012010_1101am.pdf


Cornelius Wilson

Cornelius Joshua Wilson served as Anglican Bishop of Costa Rica from 1978–2001.
Born in Siquirres, of Limón on November 2th, 1932, the fourth of eight children born to parents Eliazar Mclean and Teresa Wilson of Afro-Caribbean origin. He starts primary school in Escuela Justo Facio of Siquirres and concludes it in the Escuela General Tomas Guardia School of Limon. His high school studies were in the Colegio de Limón. Mr. Wilson married Eulalia Cole on April 19,1952.


Israeli Canadians

Israeli Canadians (, ) are Canadian citizens of Israeli descent or Israel-born people who reside in Canada. According to the 2011 Census there were 15,010 Canadians who claimed full or partial Israeli ancestry, although it is estimated that as many as 30,000 Israelis live in Canada, making it home to one of the largest Israeli diaspora groups in the world.
According to the 2016 Population Group Reference Guide published by Statistics Canada, those who trace their ancestry to present-day Israel or the greater Levant are classified as West Asian origin and visible minorities, provided they do not specify another European write-in response.
History.
Many Israeli Jews emigrated to Canada throughout the period of the declaration of the state of Israel and until today. Today, the descendants of these people are known as Israeli Canadians.
Israelis began migrating to Canada shortly after the founding of the state of Israel in 1948. Thus, during the 1950s and early 1960s, began the first wave of Israeli immigration to Canada when many Israelis emigrated to that country. A second wave of immigration began in the 1970s and has continued ever since. The number of Israeli immigrants in Canada is not known with certainty, as estimates vary between 20,000 and 30,000 Israeli settled in Canada during that decade. Therefore, the actual number of Israeli immigrants in Canada is an issue that has been hotly debated since 1980. Thus, many Israeli Canadians had previously established in other countries.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Israeli immigration to Canada was increasing in large numbers for a couple of reasons. These include the ongoing Arab–Israeli conflict, Israel's connection to North American culture, as well as new economic and educational opportunities in Canada.


George Gregory (British writer)

The Rev. George Gregory (14 April 1754 – 12 March 1808) was an English writer, scholar, and preacher in the 18th and early 19th-century Britain. He held a Doctor of Divinity degree.
Life.
The son of a clergyman, Gregory was born in Ireland but moved to Liverpool upon his father's death in 1766. He studied at the University of Edinburgh and was ordained into the Anglican Church in 1776. He served as a curate in Liverpool while also contributing to periodicals and magazines. He moved to London in 1782 where he was curate at St. Giles, Cripplegate. He went on to carry out the curacy and lectureship of St. Botolph's, the lectureship of St. Luke's, one of the weekly lectureships of St Antholin's, and a small prebend in St. Paul's, which he relinquished for the rectory of Stapleford in Hertfordshire. He occasionally preached at the Foundling Hospital.
He died suddenly after a brief illness on 12 March 1808. At the time of his death he held the positions of the Domestic Chaplain to the Bishop of Landaff, Prebendary of St. Paul's, Vicar of West Ham, and Lecturer at St. Giles.
Works.
Gregory is best known for his literary compilations and writings. In 1782–1783, he helped compile a book of excerpts from other authors called "Beauties" which sold well. His first original lengthy work, in 1785, was "Essays, Historical and Moral" and was published anonymously. The success of this work led to a second edition in 1788 in which he revealed his identity as the author of the first edition. In 1787, he published a volume of sermons. He is often cited for his translation of Bishop Robert Lowth's "Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews", also published in 1787. He published numerous other scholarly and scientific works under his name and contributed to other writings and compilations but without credit.


Missionary Families of Christ

The Missionary Families of Christ (MFC) is a Philippine-based Catholic charismatic lay community that emphasizes individual renewal, family life renewal, Church renewal, societal renewal and evangelization. MFC is a missionary body, and the families and individuals that make up this association are to strive to be instruments of the Holy Spirit in renewing the face of the earth.
7 Core Values.
The community's Core Values describe who they are and what they are called to do in the world. They provide parameters and constant guideposts in their moving on in their life and mission.
History.
Missionary Families of Christ is the new name, mission and vision of the former CFC-FFL. CFC-FFL came about in 2007 through the initiative of leaders and members of Couples for Christ-Global Missions Foundation (CFC-GMFI), it is led by one of the first sixteen couples of Couples for Christ - Frank Padilla. It is recognized in various archdioceses and dioceses around the Philippines and has a number of international affiliations.
CFC-FFL originally started as a restoration movement within CFC; this was led by the Easter Group. The movement began on April 8, 2007, following the dissemination of then CFC Director Francisco Padilla's paper "CFC and GK – 3: At the Crossroads on our Journey of Hope and Joy," which argued that, among other things, CFC's identity and presence in Gawad Kalinga (GK) is being suppressed.
On June 22, 2007, the CFC Elders Assembly was held to elect the members of the CFC International Council and the Board of Elders. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) recommended that the elections be postponed in favor of further dialogue with the Easter Group. The Elders Assembly declined the recommendation, and proceeded with the election. The Easter group argued that by declining the recommendation of the CBCP, CFC has disobeyed the Roman Catholic Church. This event and continuing disagreements regarding Gawad Kalinga galvanized the Easter Group to separate, and form the Couples for Christ Foundation for Family and Life.
The group was established on August 1, 2007, when Bishop Gabriel Reyes, the bishop of Antipolo, officially recognized it as a private association of the faithful in his diocese. CFC FFL's break-away from GMFI was officially declared after their leaders met with Philippine bishops on August 28, 2007.
On October 6, 2019, CFC-FFL officially changed its name to Missionary Families of Christ, as the new name now describes and encompasses the mission and vision of the community.
Organization.
According to MFC statutes, members of MFC are organized into cell groups called a Household. A group of Households form a larger grouping, and such larger groupings form an even larger grouping, forming a pyramidal structure.
Within MFC are various Sections that represent the different members of the family. Each Section is equally important as the other. Sections such as "MFC Couples", "MFC Kids", "MFC Youth", "MFC Singles" (for unmarried adults below the age of 40), "MFC Handmaids" (for women above 40), and "MFC Servants" (for men above 40).
In 2012, as a response to the call to New Evangelization, MFC spearheaded the Live Christ, Share Christ Mission (LCSC) whose goal in to mainstream Catholic lay evangelization. The pillars of LCSC are the Live Pure Movement, Live Life, No One In Need Movement and Live the Word.
Servant General.
The International MFC Community is headed by the Servant General, Frank Padilla.
The Servant General (SG) acts as the keeper of the charism and exercises overall leadership and governance of the life and mission of the worldwide community.
Servant Leaders of MFC.
In the Philippines, it is led by the Servant Council: made up of 7 members chosen by the SG for a term of 2 years, with the Country Servant as first among equals.
2013–2015: The Servant Leadership was composed of the Servant General, the Country Servant of the Philippines, the Body of Counselors to the CoS, and the Apostolic Board (advisory board to the SG).
2012: The Servant Leadership was composed of the Servant General, the Country Servant of the Philippines and the Body of Counselors to the CoS.
2008–2011: The Servant Leadership was composed of the Servant General and the Body of Counselors.
National Coordinators of Sections.
There are 6 Sections in MFC: Couples, Singles, Youth, Kids, Handmaids and Servants. Each equally important to the life and mission of the community. Prior to MFC, the 5 Sections (Singles, Youth, Kids, Handmaids and Servants) were part of the Family Ministries. In the chart, the Coordinator under MFC Couples are the ones in charge of the Young Couples (YC).
International.
Americas.
MFC is present in Canada, USA, Ecuador, Argentina, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and the Cayman Islands.
MFC Canada is sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto. It is located in Scarborough, an eastern end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The ministries serve Catholics around British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario with the majority residing in the Greater Toronto Area such as Brampton, Hamilton, Mississauga, Markham, and a few others.
Europe.
MFC is present in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, Netherlands, UK, France, Monaco, Spain, Azerbaijan, Greece, Italy, Turkey, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia.
Africa.
MFC is present in Botswana, Malawi, Nigeria, Ghana, DRCongo, Tanzania, Cameroon and Uganda.
Middle East.
MFC is present in Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE
Asia.
MFC is present in Cambodia, China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, India and Vietnam.
Oceania.
MFC is present in Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea