** NEPAL Catholics Pray and Persevere Amid Continuing Turmoil In Nepal
KATHMANDU (UCAN) -- In a country traumatized by the ongoing conflict between
Maoist insurgents and government forces, the Catholic Church tries to
maintain a spirit of hope.
"Although Feb. 13 marked the 10th anniversary of the Maoist uprising in
Nepal, it was a sort of unofficial day for prayer for our Church," Monsignor
Anthony Sharma told UCA News. "We continue to pray, grow and serve without
having lost any hope. We try to change what we can," added the Jesuit
monsignor, head of the Catholic Church of Nepal.
The Maoists have been fighting since 1996 to replace Nepal's constitutional
monarchy with a communist republic.
Monsignor Sharma, 68, has led Nepal's Catholic Church since 1984, just after
it became an independent mission. He has been apostolic prefect since the
mission was raised to a prefecture in 1996.
"The last 10 years of seeing people suffer around me has been a lesson in
spiritual uplift. They still have hope in their eyes and seem to accept
God's hand in shaping their lives, even amidst so much suffering. They seem
to have borne the sufferings with the hope that their pain will bring a
better future for their children," he said.
Monsignor Sharma knows Nepal's King Gyanendra Shah from when the king was a
student at St. Joseph's School in Darjeeling, India, where the monsignor,
the first ethnic Nepalese Jesuit priest, was principal. Asked about the
king's rule, he responded: "Some Christians may be praying that our Hindu
Nepal becomes a secular country soon, but we should take note that
Christians in countries that are labeled secular are not necessarily free
from persecution."
On Feb. 1, 2005, King Gyanendra declared a state of emergency and dismissed
the country's elected government, saying he was forced to step in after the
government failed to contain the Maoist insurgency. He did away with press
freedom and curtailed other civil rights. Political leaders have been jailed
and political parties dismantled. The country's first general election since
1999 was held Feb. 8, but the low turnout was seen as a further setback for
the monarch.
Father Justin Lepcha, parish priest in Kathmandu, told UCA News that people
who are not Christians often seem puzzled when he tells them that he prays
both for the Maoists and the king. "They are surprised to hear that we see
leaders who do not even believe in God as worth praying for," he said.
People of various religions, however, are praying for an end to 10 years of
fighting that is said to have claimed more than 14,000 lives.
On Feb. 14, a local interreligious meeting was held to offer prayers for
those killed since a three-month cease-fire ended Jan. 2. The meeting was
sponsored by Shanti Shanti Sang (SSS), affiliated with the worldwide United
Religions Initiative. It is estimated that at least 200 people have been
killed in the country in bombings, night raids and crossfire since Jan. 1.
A booklet titled "Prayers for Peace," published by the Nepal Jesuit Society
and containing prayers from various religions, was given out to participants
at the meeting.
The main Buddhist SSS representative, Venerable Anand, told UCA News that
another group, Interreligious Peace Committee Nepal, met Feb. 11 with Ian
Martin, resident representative for the United Nations Commission for Human
Rights. The group urged that the United Nations "try harder" to mediate the
ongoing conflict and put pressure on political leaders to talk.
Earlier, as battles raged in some towns, Catholic institutions throughout
the country closed Feb. 3-9 due to a nationwide strike the Maoists called.
Some Catholics said they used the strike days "for Jesus." Couples for
Christ groups held meetings and marriage anniversary celebrations, and a
retreat for girls of the Mary Ward School was organized. According to Jesuit
Father Paul Kizhakekala, a teacher at St. Xavier's School in Kathmandu,
devotions and night vigils in the capital and in Godavari, on the edge of
the Kathmandu valley, during the strike drew many Catholics.
On the night of Feb. 1, a force of 4,000 Maoist rebels stormed the town of
Tansen, about 180 kilometers west of Kathmandu. UCA News spoke with Sister
Bernard Kurien, local superior there of the Sisters of Charity of Sts.
Capitanio and Gerosa, on Feb. 15. "Even after two weeks the road down south
toward Bhairahawa, near Lumbini, is still closed. Ours is one of the few
private phones working in Tansen today," she said.
The nun recounted that the Maoist attack started just after midnight. The
Maoists shot from the rooftops of private homes and destroyed historic
government buildings. After the attack, they fled to surrounding hills,
before daybreak. According to Sister Kurien, the Maoists considered the
attack a victory since "there were hardly any civilian deaths." She added
that people fear a second attack "to wipe out what remains of the Royal Army
barracks."
The school her sisters run reopened on Feb. 14, despite fears of renewed
attacks on Feb. 17 and 22, which did not materialize.
Not only is the Church trying to maintain its services amid a climate of
violence and fear, but it is even expanding them.
Nazareth Sister Rosita Kavilpurayidathil, who for six years has been
training village women in Surkhet, almost 400 kilometers northwest of the
capital, told UCA News a convent has been completed and a women's training
center would try be inaugurated in April. The complex, which belongs to the
Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, marks an important milestone for Nepal, as
there has been no permanent Catholic mission in the western part of the
country until now.
Across the country in Dharan, 220 kilometers southeast of Kathmandu, the
Nazareth Sisters are in the process of taking over a home for poor boys that
was founded by a British Army officer. Before he died last year, the man,
who was not a Catholic, asked another congregation of nuns to take over the
home.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEPAL Violence, High Prices, Drought Intensify Somber Lenten Mood
KATHMANDU (UCAN) -- The usual transition to a more somber mood at the
beginning of Lent is not happening this year for many Catholics in Nepal,
where the worsening political and economic situation has cast a long shadow.
"I feel I do not need to think of doing any penance. Reading the local news
every morning is enough," Ganesh Parajuli, told UCA News after attending the
Ash Wednesday service at Kathmandu's Assumption Church the evening of March
1.
With local media reporting daily on abductions, beatings, torture and rape
by both military personnel and Maoist insurgents, Parajuli said, it is easy
to "feel the suffering of Jesus on the cross."
Ten years of fighting between Maoists and government forces is said to have
claimed more than 14,000 lives. The insurgency aims to replace Nepal's
constitutional monarchy with a communist republic. The death toll in the
first two months of this year is estimated at more than 200.
According to Gyan Rai, who leads Couples for Christ in Nepal and is a pilot
for a privately owned domestic airline, air tickets to many places are not
easily available. "We are tired flying planes full of passengers late into
the evenings, since people find traveling by road risky," he told UCA News.
Meanwhile, bus fares all over Nepal went up by 25 percent during the last
week of February due to the sharp rise in fuel prices. Kerosene went from 38
rupees (US$0.59) to 48 rupees a liter, and cooking gas now costs more than
1,000 rupees a cylinder.
Rumors that Maoists will call an indefinite strike from mid-March have sent
prices spiraling. Some Catholics "joke" that high prices and shortages will
help them with their Lenten fasting and abstinence.
Besides the Maoist insurgency, politics in Nepal has been in turmoil since
King Gyanendra Shah dissolved the government, disbanded political parties
and had political leaders arrested in February 2005. An upsurge in "illegal"
protests around the first anniversary resulted in more arrests.
Adding to the political chaos is a lengthening drought. Most of the country
has received no rain since October. Water for washing and even drinking is
getting scarce in Kathmandu, were people now line up in the middle of the
night to wash clothes at the city's traditional stone waterspouts. Local
media are reporting the current dry spell as the longest in Nepal in 100
years.
The principal of St. Xavier high school in Kathmandu, Jesuit Father Bill
Robins, who treks several times a year in the Himalayan mountains, told UCA
News, "The Sherpas up on the hills were not able to plant potatoes as there
is no moisture."
The fall in water levels at hydroelectric dams also means less electricity.
As with the price hikes for food, the Lenten "joke" is that the daily
three-hour power cuts across Nepal will help Catholics cut down on movies
and television, in addition to other sacrifices they might consider for
Lent.
Joking aside, however, many Catholics told UCA News that their greatest
concern remains the Maoist insurgency.
Nazareth Sister Teresa Madaserry is running her latest empowerment training
for village women. "There are so many blockades or booby-trapped bombs
placed along the roads that only 14 participants have arrived for this
session we started two weeks ago," she said. More than two dozen women were
registered for the six-month course in the capital.
Some of her trainees are young women whose husbands have died or disappeared
amid the conflict. She said most women widowed by the conflict do not get
any compensation either from the government or the Maoists. Moreover, some
do not know for sure if their husbands are alive or dead.
Nazareth Sister Cecelia Simick, who works as a nurse in a rehabilitation
center for mental patients in Kathmandu, told UCA News, "The ongoing
conflict and hopes of it getting resolved are affecting the mental health of
people."
According to the nun, there is an increase in suicide among all ages as well
as more acute cases of depression. "Around 30 percent of the country's
population is said to be suffering from some sort of mental disorder," she
said, adding that there are only 30 psychiatrists in the country.
"Professionals and even students want to leave the country in the hope of
finding a more peaceful and predictable place to work or study," she
observed.
Parents of a 6-year-old told UCA News their child drew a battle tank with
the Nepalese flag in his catechism notebook while they attended weekend Mass
at Assumption Church. Small camouflaged tanks have been visible on a few of
the capital's main streets since the beginning of February.
