The persecution of Mariam Yahya Ibrahim - Nashville Prayer | Examiner.com

 

eight months pregnant, Mariam was arrested on February 7, 2014, with her 20-month old son, and was placed in a women's prison where she was shackled to a wall. Yes, you heard correctly! Mariam and her 20-month old son was forced into prison, and the son is not allowed to be with his father, Daniel Wani (Mariam's husband), or be raised by him because he is a Christian. Mariam was charged with "adultery" because she simply married a man that was a Christian. Mariam was also charged with apostasy. Apostasy is the rejection in word or deed of one's former religion by a person who was previously a follower of Islam. Now, keep in mind that Mariam was abandoned by her Muslim father. According to the Sudan's Public Order Criminal Code, Mariam is a Muslim by default because she was born in Sudan. Since Mariam is considered a Muslim by default, her marriage to her Christian husband is considered illegal; not valid in the eyes of the Sudan Courts. Some Muslims abide by a strict Islamic law that does not allow marriages between Muslim women and non-Muslim men.

Due to Mariam being charged with apostasy, she has been sentenced to receiving 100 lashes as punishment for converting to Christianity. During Mariam's court proceeding, she was ordered by the courts to abandon her adopted Christian faith and return to Islam. Mariam was given three days to renounce her Christian faith, but she refused. Her argument was that she had been a Christian all her life, and that she could not rescind her beliefs. During the hearing, Judge Abbas al Khalifa asked Mariam if she would return to Islam; Mariam refused. She responded by saying, "I am a Christian." The court then ordered for her to spend the remainder of her pregnancy in prison, and after she delivers her baby, she will be punished to receive 100 lashes and hung to death.

If that wasn't bizarre enough, there is more! Daniel Wani, Mariam's husband, is an U.S citizen. He resides in New Hampshire, and has been a U.S. citizen since 2005. Legally, his 20- month old son is a U.S citizen but they have been denied help by the U.S government, as well as the U.S Embassy in Sudan. Daniel Wani was in the process of bringing his wife and son to the United States, but Mariam was arrested before this could take place.

Mariam gave birth to her daughter, Maya, on May 27, 2014 in the hospital wing at Omdurman Federal Women's Prison in North Khartoum, Sudan. The Sharia court has postponed her sentence to be carried out in two years in order to give her time to recover from childbirth, and to wean baby Maya.

Read more of the story by clicking on the following:  The persecution of Mariam Yahya Ibrahim - Nashville Prayer | Examiner.com

In Sudan, a woman named Meriam was sentenced to death earlier this month. Before she's hanged, the court decreed, she will be lashed 100 times, making her death agonizing as well as cruel. You see, Meriam married an American Christian -- and for that, she'll face a horrible fate.
I signed a petition asking Sudan to free Meriam. Will you sign it, too?
http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/Aiwkw/zOW5/cxDHx

Meriam has spent the last few weeks shackled to the floor of a prison, where her son, Martin, is also trapped. Adultery and violation of faith should not be considered crimes at all, let alone acts worthy of the death penalty. Human rights groups are calling this a breach of international human rights law.
It is absolutely imperative that Meriam be set free immediately. If you agree, will you sign this petition, too?
http://www.care 2.com/go/z/e/Aiwkw/zOW5/cxDHx

Weekly Contribution for the weekend of May25, 2014

 

No change in Total Parish Pledge

Dr. Miller is now St. James’ Principal

Pope Francis’s rollicking plane ride home: Rule of celibate priests ‘always open’ to change

 

So when Francis finally climbed aboard his plane Monday night to return to Rome, a Vatican spokesman told reporters to keep the questions short. The pope had to rest.

But 77-year-old Francis, looking alert, was having none of that. And in what turned into one of the more freewheeling exchanges of Francis’s 15 months as pontiff, he took an hour of questions that touched on sexual assault victims, celibate priests and whether he had plans for retirement. Both the candor and the impromptu nature with which he responded are likely to expand his growing reputation as the most tolerant, iconoclastic pope of the past 40 years.

Read more by clicking on the following:  Pope Francis’s rollicking plane ride home: Rule of celibate priests ‘always open’ to change

Rockford Diocese priest charged with public indecency - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

Updated May 23, 2014 at 3:44 PM

ROCKFORD — A priest serving in the Catholic Diocese of Rockford was arrested today and charged with public indecency.

The arrest stems from an incident the evening of March 27. Winnebago County Sheriff’s deputies were sent to the Road Ranger gas station, 4980 S. Main St., for a call of a man who had exposed himself to an employee.

The clerk told deputies the man exposed himself while in the store and while parked outside in a vehicle, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office. There were other employees and customers present at the time of the incident.

The suspect fled before police arrived, but witnesses were able to remember his license place number.

An investigation continued, and an arrest warrant was obtained today for the arrest of Aaron R. Brodeski, 44. Brodeski most recently had been assigned to Holy Cross Catholic Church in Batavia.

Read the entire article by clicking on the following:  Rockford Diocese priest charged with public indecency - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Weekly Contribution for the weekend of May18, 2014

 

Total Parish Pledges decreased by $2.000.

Weekly Contribution for the weekend of May11, 2014

Two additional families; $1,010 additional pledged.

Weekly Contribution for the weekend of May 4, 2014

 

Number of Families pledged increases by one.   Total pledged increase by $25.

St James Principal and School Secretary leave abruptly

Both left their assignments without warning.  Their departure was not anticipated based upon Father Geary’s From the Pastor’s Desk of May 4 and February 16. No reason for the change of retirement date was given.

Click on the photocopy to enlarge.

May 4, 2014

See second to last paragraph.

 

February 16, 2014

See third and fourth paragraph.

Crackdown on US nuns continues under Pope Francis - The Washington Post

 

Mueller made the remarks in a meeting last Wednesday with the group’s leaders in Rome. He apologized repeatedly for speaking so bluntly, while reminding the sisters their organization held its status within the church only through Vatican approval.

“The LCWR, as a canonical entity dependent on the Holy See, has a profound obligation to the promotion of that faith as the essential foundation of religious life,” Mueller said, according to a copy of his speech posted Monday on the Vatican website. “We are looking for a clearer expression of that ecclesial vision and more substantive signs of collaboration.”

The nuns’ group said in a brief statement Monday that the meeting with Mueller and his staff was “respectful and engaging,” but the sisters would not comment further. The cardinal’s remarks were first reported by The National Catholic Reporter…..

The Leadership Conference, which represents about 80 percent of U.S. nuns, plans to give its outstanding leadership award to Sister Elizabeth Johnson, a Fordham University theologian and author of “Quest for the Living God.” U.S. bishops said the book contained “misrepresentations” and doctrinal errors, but Johnson has defended her work. Mueller didn’t mention Johnson by name, but said the choice of honoree will be “seen as a rather open provocation.”

Read more by clicking on the following:  Crackdown on US nuns continues under Pope Francis - The Washington Post

Arguments scheduled in lawsuit over archdiocese cemetery funds

 

 

By Annysa Johnson of the Journal Sentinel

Oral arguments in a lawsuit involving the Archdiocese of Milwaukee's cemetery trust funds — and two other related cases — have been scheduled for June 2 before the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The lawsuit was filed as part of the Archdiocese's bankruptcy.

At issue is whether forcing the archdiocese to tap its $60 million cemetery trust to fund a bankruptcy settlement would violate its free exercise of religion under the First Amendment and the 1993 federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Susan V. Kelley ruled it would not. But U.S. District Judge Rudolph T. Randa overturned that decision. This is an appeal of Randa's ruling.

Also on June 2, the court will hear oral arguments on:

■ Whether Randa's purchase of plots in the archdiocese's cemeteries and the fact that he has numerous relatives buried in them constitute a conflict of interest that would bar him from ruling on issues related to the cemetery trust lawsuit.

■ Whether Kelley erred in prohibiting a sex abuse victim with a claim in the bankruptcy from submitting information from the mediation process he entered into with the archdiocese. The survivor, who was molested by the late Father Lawrence Murphy at St. John's School for the Deaf in the 1970s, alleges that the archdiocese misrepresented, among other things, its financial position when it offered him an $80,000 settlement.

Read more from Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/arguments-scheduled-in-lawsuit-over-archdiocese-cemetery-funds-b99263163z1-258024941.html#ixzz30wA4qotq
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