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New Developments on Stories Featured in Catholic World Report
Equal treatment in the womb
Ads encourage parents to welcome girls
In July, the government of India’s Delhi state ran a series of newspaper advertisements with the caption “Don’t Kill Me,” along with the photograph of a young girl. The ads were a desperate bid to awaken public awareness against the rampant abortion of unborn girls.
“When boy and girl are equal, why this?” asks the advertisement referring to the incidence of sex-selection abortion, which has reached alarming proportions in India. Beneath the caption are two photographs side by side—one of an unborn child in a womb (with the caption “I am a petal closed within”) and the other of the baby girl (with the caption “let me blossom”).
Further, the advertisement outlines the criminal provisions of the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and & Prevention of Misuse) Act of 1994, which provides for up to three years imprisonment for sex-determination tests that are performed with the motive of eliminating unwanted girl babies.
The advertisement follows a recent federal Supreme Court order that state governments should carry out public-awareness campaigns against female feticide. The national census has revealed that the sex ratio among children below 6 years in several areas has declined to less than 800 girls for every 1,000 boys. Following the census findings, the federal government announced several measures to curb sex-selection abortions, which are motivated by a preference for sons sanctioned by Hindu beliefs and reinforced by exorbitant dowry demands that weigh heavily on the parents of young women.
Another government monopoly
Presidential control on voter information
Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi has demanded that the Catholic Church and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) stop conducting voter education, a requirement that has invited criticisms from leaders across the country.
The president’s remarks comes as the country prepares to rewrite the constitution after years of wrangling and a general election expected in less than a year. Observers say that voter education became controversial when the Kenyan constitutional review commission, which came about from a merger between religious groups and a parliament select group, started collecting the views of Kenyans at the grassroots against the will of the government.
In July, the president said that the country’s future depended on decisions by politicians, not the Church and NGOs; he argued that neither of those institutions has a political mandate from the citizens of Kenya. The president said that the Church and NGOs were allowing themselves to be manipulated by foreign donors. Those donors, he added, would like to tailor Kenya’s government policies to their own private interests. “No donor has the right to decide the destiny of Kenya,” he complained. “This is total contempt of Kenyans and their right to chart their destiny by electing their own leaders.”
Once again, the president cautioned Church leaders against preaching politics from the pulpit, challenging those who are interested in partisan politics to leave the Church and enter directly into the campaign process. “Even Christ said give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. If a religious leader wants to contest a political seat, let him quit the Church and seek the people’s mandate like others,” he said.
Responding to the president’s assertions, Archbishop Raphael N’dingi Mwana’a Nzeki of Nairobi said the Church would not abandon civic education during the constitutional review process. “We must be involved in the constitutional review because people must be educated on their rights.” He added: “The president has the right to express his opinion. This should, however, not be taken to mean that his suggestions are binding.”
However the chairman of the NGO Council, Odour Ogwen, acknowledged that the president’s remarks would make it difficult for the Church and NGOs to implement their civic education programs. “It will not surprise us if the administration starts breaking up civic education workshops and seminars,” he said.
CWR’s Offspring
Second Spring emerges as an independent journal
For several years—from 1992 to 1999—readers of CWR looked forward to the quarterly appearance of a special 8-page feature entitled “Second Spring.” Combining insightful essays with beautiful illustrations (some by famous masters, others their own acquaintances), editors Stratford and Léonie Caldecott encouraged readers to reflect on the interplay between Christian faith and contemporary culture.
In 1994 the Caldecotts founded the Center for Faith and Culture, now under the auspices of Plater College at Oxford. Last year they introduced a web site, also entitled Second Spring. And now—joined in their editorial work by Philip and Carol Zaleski—they have unveiled the first issue of a new journal with the same name: Second Spring.
In an introductory editorial, Second Spring notes that the gap between faith and culture must be overcome not simply by recovering the treasures of the past, but by finding new inspiration “within a new cultural moment.” The new journal is dedicated entirely to that quest.
The first issue of Second Spring includes articles by Archbishop Charles Chaput, OFM Cap, John Saward, Kenneth Brook, Francis Etheredge, and each of the editors. Interested readers may find more information about Second Spring at the following Internet site: www.secondspring.co.uk
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