Thursday, July 29, 2010

MTANZANIA ATEULIWA BALOZI WA VATICAN

Source: http://tzlivenews.com/blogs/blog/4033-mtanzania-wa-kwanza-balozi-wa-papa.html?fontstyle=f-larger



Mtanzania wa kwanza balozi wa Papa

Saturday, 20 March 2010 04:00

MAKAO makuu ya Kanisa Katoliki duniani Vatican, jana yalimweka wakfu rasmi Mtanzania wa kwanza Monsinyori Novatus Rugambwa kuwa Balozi wa Baba Mtakatifu na Askofu mkuu katika nchi za Angola na Sao Tome na Principe huku Rais Jakaya Kikwete akituma salamu za pongezi.

Monsinyori Rugambwa amesimikwa kushika daraja la uaskofu jana mchana mjini Vatican katika Ibada ya misa takatifu maalum iliyoongozwa na Mwadhama Kardinali Tarcisio Bertone, Katibu wa Baba Mtakatifu, iliyofanyika katika Kanisa Kuu la Mtakatifu Petro.

Kuwekwa wakfu kwa Askofu monsinyori Rugambwa kuwa balozi katika nchi hizo kunafuatia uteuzi wa kiongozi wa kanisa hilo duniani Papa Benedikto wa XVI, ambapo Rais Kikwete katika salamu zake ameuelezea uteuzi huo kuwa umetokana na utumishi wake uliotukuka kwa kanisa hilo na pia ni heshima kwa Tanzania.

“Baba Askofu, nimepokea kwa furaha nyingi na faraja kubwa habari za uteuzi wako wa kuwa Askofu Mkuu wa Kanisa Katoliki na Balozi wa Papa katika nchi za Angola, na Sao Tome na Principe,†alisema Rais Kikwete katika salamu hizo kupitia Kurugenzi ya Mawasiliano Ikulu jana.

Kwa mujibu wa Ikulu Rais Kikwete alisema, “Kwa niaba ya Watanzania wenzako, kwa niaba ya Serikali yangu nami binafsi, napenda kukupongeza sana kwa uteuzi huo. Uteuzi huo ni heshima kwa nchi yako, ni heshima kwa Watanzania wenzako na ni matokeo ya utumishi wako uliotukuka katika Kanisa. Ni nafasi unayoistahili.â€

Aidha katika salamu hizo Rais Kikwete amemtakia Askofu Rugambwa kila la heri katika utumishi wake huo mpya na kumhakikishia kuwa Watanzania wapo pamoja naye katika sala ili Mungu amjalie nguvu na afya njema aweze kumudu nafasi hizo.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

GAY PRIESTS IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH EXPOSED

Catholic church embarrassed by gay priests revelations

Vatican on defensive again after magazine exposes priests visiting gay clubs and bars and having sex.


* John Hooper in Rome
* The Guardian, Saturday 24 July 2010


The Catholic church, already reeling from a string of clerical sex abuse scandals, is facing new embarrassment after an Italian magazine published an investigation into what it termed the double life of gay priests in Rome.

Using hidden cameras, the weekly Panorama, owned by Italy's prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, captured priests visiting gay clubs and bars and having sex. The Vatican does not condemn homosexuals, but it teaches that gay sex is "intrinsically disordered". In one of his earliest moves, pope Benedict barred actively gay men from studying for the priesthood.

The diocese of Rome lashed out at the prime minister's magazine, saying its aim was "to create scandal [and] defame all priests". But it also urged gay clerics to leave both the closet and the priesthood.

It said, "Consistency would require that they come into the open", but that they "ought not to have become priests".

The semi-official papal daily, L'Osservatore Romano, made no reference to the affair. Vatican Radio reported it briefly.

One priest, a Frenchman in his 30s identified as Father Paul, attended a party at which there were two male prostitutes then said Mass the following morning before driving them to the airport, Panorama reported. A photo on its website claimed to show the priest in his dog collar but without his trousers with a gay man who acted as decoy for the magazine. In other shots, priests were shown apparently kissing Panorama's collaborator.

A member of the clergy quoted by the magazine put the proportion of gay priests in the Italian capital at "98%". The Rome diocese insisted the vast majority of priests in the city were "models of morality for all", while adding that the number of gay clergyman was "small, but not to be written off as isolated cases". A review eight years ago of research on the American church concluded that between a quarter and a half of seminarians and priests there were homosexual.

A former Italian MP and gay activist, Franco Grillini, said: "If all the gays in the Catholic church were to leave it at once – something we would very much like – they would cause it serious operational problems."

Another well-known spokesman for the gay community, Aurelio Mancuso, condemned Panorama's investigation as a "horrible political and cultural operation", but agreed that if priests in Rome were to follow the advice given to them in yesterday's statement, it would "paralyse" the diocese.

In March, the pope's own household was rocked by scandal when court documents revealed a Vatican chorister had procured male prostitutes for a papal gentleman-in-waiting.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

HA!!! HATUA YA KUONDOA MITAFARUKU UINGEREZA

POPE TO BE PROTECTED FROM ARREST IN UK - POSTED ON 24/7/2010.

The Government has moved to prevent the possibility of an arrest warrant being issued against the Pope during his state visit this autumn. Skip related content
Related photos / videos
Pope To Be Protected From Arrest On UK Visit Enlarge photo

More photos: Crime
Related content


Sky News understands that Whitehall officials have been "seriously concerned" that campaigners would use international criminal rules to try to detain the Pontiff while he is in the UK.

Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson QC were among those campaigners reported to be looking at the options for bringing a private prosecution in relation to the Pope's alleged cover-up of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Now Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has proposed changes to the rules on universal jurisdiction, a law that allows individuals to be prosecuted in the UK for serious offences such as war crimes, crimes against humanity and torture even if they were carried out abroad.

The plans would mean the Director of Public Prosecutions would need to give his consent to any arrest warrant issued under universal jurisdiction.

This would effectively mean taking that power out of the hands of the courts.

Ministers say the current rules are open to abuse because the evidence required to get a warrant is far below the threshold that would be needed to bring a prosecution.

This has meant the rules are often used by those who wish to make a political statement or to cause embarrassment.

The most recent attempt to obtain an arrest warrant for a foreign dignitary was ahead of the visit by former Israeli defence minister Tzipi Livni who cancelled her trip at the last minute to avoid embarrassment.

"Our commitment to our international obligations and to ensuring that there is no impunity for those accused of crimes of universal jurisdiction is unwavering," Mr Clarke said.

"It is important, however, that universal jurisdiction cases should be proceeded with in this country only on the basis of solid evidence that is likely to lead to a successful prosecution - otherwise there is a risk of damaging our ability to help in conflict resolution or to pursue a coherent foreign policy.

"The Government has concluded, after careful consideration, that it would be appropriate to require the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions before an arrest warrant can be issued to a private prosecutor in respect of an offence of universal jurisdiction."

The state visit this September will be the first visit by a Pope to the UK since 1982.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

SYRIA BANS FACE VEILS AT UNIVERSITIES

Posted here on 21/7/2010 from BBC.

Syria bans face veils at universities


Female students wearing a full face veil will be barred from Syrian university campuses, the country's minister of higher education has said.

Ghiyath Barakat was reported to have said that the practice ran counter to the academic values and traditions of Syrian universities.

His ruling, published on the All4Syria website, was said to be in response to requests from students and parents.

The issue of full face veils has caused controversy in other countries.


Kinda al-Shammat Law professor, Damascus

Kinda al-Shammat, a law professor and women's rights activist in Damascus, welcomed the decision and said it was in line with the Syrian belief in moderation.

"We have never gone to the extreme left or the extreme right," she told Al-Arabiya TV.
Secular identity

However the BBC's Lina Sinjab in Damascus says the ruling could be a sign that Syrian Society is becoming more conservative.

"In recent years, Syria has witnessed an Islamic revival with more and more women wearing the Hijab," she reports.

"This decision could be seen as a step by the government to enforce its secular identity."

In 2009, Egypt's then foremost Muslim cleric, Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, barred female students from wearing the full-face veil at the al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam's centre of learning and scholarship.

He also upset other Muslim scholars by saying French Muslims should obey any law that France might enact banning the veil.

Earlier this month, France's lower house of parliament overwhelmingly approved a bill that would ban wearing the Islamic full veil in public.

It must be ratified by the Senate in September to become law.

Belgium's lower house of parliament has also passed a bill to ban clothing that hides a person's identity in public places, although it does not specifically refer to full-face Islamic veils.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

TERRORISM IS NOT A MUSLIM MONOPOLY

THE TERRORISM IS NOT A MUSLIM MONOPOLY, POSTED HERE ON 13/7/2010.

Very good analysis by non-Muslim journalist

Publication: The Times Of India Mumbai;
Date: Jul 23, 2006;

SWAMINATHAN S ANKLESARIA AIYAR

‘‘All Muslims may not be terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims.’’ This comment , frequently heard after the Mumbai bomb blasts implies that terrorism is a Muslim specialty, if not a monopoly. The facts are very different.

First, there is nothing new about terrorism. In 1881, anarchists killed the Russian Tsar Alexander II and 21 bystanders. In 1901, anarchists killed US President McKinley as well as King Humbert I of Italy . World War I started in 1914 when anarchists killed Archduke Ferdinand of Austria . These terrorist attacks were not Muslim.

Terrorism is generally defined as the killing of civilians for political reasons. Going by this definition, the British Raj referred to Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad and many other Indian freedom fighters as terrorists. These were Hindu and Sikh rather than Muslim.

Guerrilla fighters from Mao Zedong to Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro killed civilians during their revolutionary campaigns. They too were called terrorists until they triumphed. Nothing Muslim about them.

In Palestine , after World War II, Jewish groups (the Haganah, Irgun and Stern Gang) fought for the creation of a Jewish state, bombing hotels and installations and killing civilians. The British, who then governed Palestine , rightly called these Jewish groups terrorists. Many of these terrorists later became leaders of independent Israel — Moshe Dayan, Yitzhak Rabin, Menachem Begin, Ariel Sharon. Ironically, these former terrorists then lambasted terrorism, applying this label only to Arabs fighting for the very same nationhood that the Jews had fought for earlier.

In Germany in 1968-92, the Baader-Meinhoff Gang killed dozens, including the head of Treuhand, the German privatisation agency. In Italy , the Red Brigades kidnapped and killed Aldo Moro, former prime minister.

The Japanese Red Army was an Asian version of this. Japan was also the home of Aum Shinrikyo, a Buddhist cult that tried to kill thousands in the Tokyo metro system using nerve gas in 1995.

In Europe , the Irish Republican Army has been a Catholic terrorist organisation for almost a century. Spain and France face a terrorist challenge from ETA, the Basque terrorist organisation.

Africa is ravaged by so much civil war and internal strife that few people even bother to check which groups can be labelled terrorist. They stretch across the continent. Possibly the most notorious is the

Lord’s Salvation Army in Uganda , a Christian outfit that uses children as warriors.

In Sri Lanka , the Tamil Tigers have long constituted one of the most vicious and formidable terrorist groups in the world. They were the first to train children as terrorists. They happen to be Hindus. Suicide bombing is widely associated with Muslim Palestinians and Iraqis, but the Tamil Tigers were the first to use this tactic on a large scale. One such suicide bomber assassinated Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.

In India , the militants in Kashmir are Muslim. But they are only one of several militant groups. The Punjab militants, led by Bhindranwale, were Sikhs. The United Liberation Front of Assam is a Hindu terrorist group that targets Muslims rather than the other way round. Tripura has witnessed the rise and fall of several terrorist groups, and so have Bodo strongholds in Assam . Christian Mizos mounted an insurrection for decades, and Christian Nagas are still heading militant groups.

But most important of all are the Maoist terrorist groups that now exist in no less than 150 out of India ’s 600 districts. They have attacked police stations, and killed and razed entire villages that oppose them. These are secular terrorists (like the Baader Meinhof Gang or Red Brigades). In terms of membership and area controlled, secular terrorists are far ahead of Muslim terrorists.

In sum, terrorism is certainly not a Muslim monopoly. There are or have been terrorist groups among Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, and even Buddhists. Secular terrorists (anarchists, Maoists) have been the biggest killers.

Why then is there such a widespread impression that most or all terrorist groups are Muslim? I see two reasons. First, the Indian elite keenly follows the western media, and the West feels under attack from Islamic groups. Catholic Irish terrorists have killed far more people in Britain than Muslims, yet the subway bombings in London and Madrid are what Europeans remember today. The Baader Meinhof Gang, IRA and Red Brigades no longer pose much of a threat, but after 9/11 Americans and Europeans fear that they could be hit anywhere anytime. So they focus attention on Islamic militancy. They pay little notice to other forms of terrorism in Africa, Sri Lanka or India : these pose no threat to the West.

Within India , Maoists pose a far greater threat than Muslim militants in 150 districts, one-third of India ’s area. But major cities feel threatened only by Muslim groups. So the national elite and media focus overwhelmingly on Muslim terrorism. The elite are hardly aware that this is an elite phenomenon.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]






Messages in this topic (1)



1. Since tyrants will always be marginally more cruel to win any power struggle, how can the good people win without surpassing the tyrant's cruelty?
2. Why are War & Famine found mainly in countries with straight-line borders?

Responsibility:
The person who posts narrative takes all responsibility for own opinions. Each contributor agrees he/she posted the item in the hope of advancing understanding and friendship amongst all readers of EAcircle. The views of contributors are their own and not of EAcircle.

Join EAcircle Email Discussion:
from http://www.YahooGroups.com or email to Affilica @ HotMail dot com)

Reply Emails:
Your email to be sent direct to EAcircle@YahooGroups.com
Attachments are automatically discarded by programming to preclude spread of virus. Put your text in the body of your email.

Heritage Website http://www.EAcircle.org (Travelog, Old Photos)

Best ticket deals to East Africa and other countries from http://www.cruxton.com

Tax/Business problem? Send your enquiry to accounatants and lawyers http://www.AFFILICA.com

Search back issues and archives:
Call up www.YahooGroups.com - Click on My Groups - Click on EAcircle - Click on Messages - Put search in box there.
========
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its labourers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron" (Dwight D Eisenhower).

UCHAGUZI WA MWANAFUNZI - KATI YA HIJABU NA MASOMO YA UDAKITARI

30 June 2010 12:14, kajiru taluka wrote:



Bitter choice; to take off her hijab or give up her dream of a medical career

Cairo, February 28: One year before graduation to become a doctor, Turkish medical student Fatma Orgel was put in a bitter choice; to take off her hijab or give up her dream of a medical career.
“I could either not finish my degree, or go to another country to study,” Orgel told The Sydney Morning Herald Saturday, February 27.
One year before Orgel’s graduation, Turkey enacted a law in 1999 banning hijab on campus.
The legislation left the young Turkish student torn apart between her aspiration of becoming a doctor and her hijab, an obligatory code of dress.
“When the ban came into force my parents saw their dreams of me becoming a doctor disappearing,” Orgel, now 35, recalled.
“They begged me to take off the headscarf and keep going to university.”
But, Orgel, who grew up in a traditional family to a religious teacher and a housewife in the south-west city of Antalya, could not think of taking off her veil.
Eventually, she took the hard decision of going abroad to Hungary to complete her medical studies.
“I said no,” she recalled.
“In the end I was lucky and I found a way to continue my studies, but most others cannot do this.”
Completing her studies, Orgel returned to Turkey to stumble with the hijab ban in government offices, leaving her with no option but to leave the country for London for working as doctor.
“I worked there for 12 months and I forgot I was even wearing the headscarf,” she said.
“No one cared. I kept having to tell myself that I was wearing it, even though I was working in a big state hospital.”
Hijab has long been a highly divisive issue in the overwhelmingly Muslim but secular Turkey.
It has been banned in public buildings, universities, schools and government buildings since shortly after a 1980 military coup.
In February 2008, the parliament voted to overturn the ban on wearing the headscarf on campus, but the decision was later overturned by the High Court on the ground it infringed the country's secularist principles.
Why
Orgel says that lots of misunderstanding are prevailing in secular Turkey about hijab and modernization.
“The Turkish nation always looks to the West, to Europe, and believes that banning the headscarf is a step towards modernization,” she said.
The Turkish doctor said that the ban discriminates against hijab-clad women who want to abide by the Islamic teachings.
“The real effect is the opposite,” said Orgel.
“It means that women who observe the Qur’an are barred from a university education.”
The hijab ban also denies Turkish women who are aspiring to escape a lower socio-economic class the opportunity.
“When Islam is viewed from the outside, many see the scarf as the symbol of repression, that we are being forced to do this against our will,” she said.
“I made the decision when I was around 15 that I would wear the headscarf.
It became part of my spirituality, part of my perception of life.”
Orgel is now a member of the executive board of AKDER, a human rights organization that fights discrimination against Muslim women.
“Why is wearing the headscarf not my decision?” Dr Orgel asks.
“If I decide to wear the headscarf, then I should be able to wear it. Why should I not be free to make my own decisions?

Sunday, July 4, 2010

MALUMBANO YA MAHAKAMA YA KADHI TANZANIA (MUENDELEZO)

On 03/07/2010, Chris Mwasambili wrote:

By ABDULWAKIL SAIBOKO, 2nd July 2010 Daily News

SOME Muslim clerics have urged the government to consider enacting a clear law to guide Kadhi Court upon its establishment, so as to make it work in a confined manner.

Reading a resolution by the coalition of Muslim communities in Dar es Salaam on Friday, Sheikh Ali Basalehe told reporters that they were mystified by the government’s decision to return the matter to Muslims to decide their fate.

“We ask the government’s full commitment in this matter. Through the Parliament, it should be enshrined in the constitution to make sure boundaries are clearly set.

Failure to do so might turn this important issue into chaos when it takes off,” warned the cleric who was flanked by a section of sheikhs.

Sheikh Basalehe named the communities involved in compiling the resolutions as: Islamic Club, Tanzania Muslim Solidarity, SHIA Ithenaashari, Markaz, Imam’s Shura, Tanzania Muslim Professionals and BASUTA among others.

Another Sheikh, Issa Ponda, urged the government to consider providing essential instruments for the court to work effectively, which would include allocating budget to run its activities.

“There is no problem putting this matter in the national constitution because it will serve a section of Tanzanians who need to be guided by their constitution. Other secular countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Gambia have it in their constitutions,” he said.

Sheikh Ponda added that doing so would mean that the court, just like any other in the country is recognised by the state, and is thus a legal institute that should be respected by those whose cases will be determined by the court.

In another development, Sheikh Ponda has urged the government to ensure that the matter remains an issue to be discussed upon by all Muslim communities, pointing out that Tanzania Muslim Council was not an umbrella but a mere community in a country of many Muslim communities.

“When the process of formation of the court started, all the communities were involved but now Bakwata is monopolising the matter,” he said. The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Mr Mathias Chikawe, was quoted as saying that the government has never barred Muslims from establishing Kadhi Court.

“The argument here is whether the court should be established by the government and be under the government or whether it should be established by Muslims themselves and be incorporated into laws of the land,” observed Mr Chikawe.