News from the Orient – June 7, 2024

This week’s News from the Orient:

Elections in India

On Tuesday, June 4th, the BJP, the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, won the Indian legislative elections. This victory has caused concern among the country’s Christians. Since coming to power in 2014, the nationalist Prime Minister's policies have aimed to transform India into a Hindu nation. Discrimination, assaults, and acts of vandalism against Christian and Muslim places of worship are common. Today, Christians make up 2.3% of India's population, totaling 27 to 30 million faithful. Among them, 2,330 are currently imprisoned and represent nearly half of the Christians incarcerated worldwide due to their faith.

Solemnity of Corpus Christi in the East

On Thursday, May 30th, numerous celebrations were organized in the East for the Feast of Corpus Christi. Catholics and Orthodox Christians in the city of Zahle, Lebanon, gathered for a unified procession. They marched through the streets of the city, praying and singing. The Patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Youssef Al-Absi, attended the event. Young people and scouts also organized a torchlight march. In Iraq, a Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Mirkis at the Cathedral of Kirkuk, followed by a procession of the Blessed Sacrament led by the cathedral’s parish priest. The following morning, 28 children from all over Kirkuk celebrated their first communion.

The Martyrs of Damascus Soon to be Saints

The Pope has paved the way for the canonization of the "Martyrs of Damascus," eight Franciscan friars and three Maronite laypeople, killed out of hatred for the faith in Damascus in 1860. They were beatified on October 10, 1926, nearly 100 years ago. This martyrdom occurred in the context of Christian persecution by the Druze in Mount Lebanon and Syria. On the night between July 9th and 10th, 1860, a Druze commando infiltrated the Franciscan convent in the Christian quarter of Bab-Touma and massacred the Christians. Before killing the eleven victims, the assailants asked them to renounce the Christian faith, which they refused.