Media reports quoting the couples said the blessing was the Church’s recognition of rights of same-sex couples. The Mass was arranged by Arcus, a Catholic group founded in May last year to offer support to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people.
In the file photo dated June 1, 2019, participants march during a Pride event in support of LGBT rights in Seoul. (Photo: AFP)
Father Lee blessed the couples in line with Fiducia Supplicans, the document signed by Pope Francis and published by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith last December.
The document states that Catholic priests could bless a same-sex or other unmarried couple given that it is not a formal liturgical blessing while reminding the Catholic Church only accepts marriage between a man and a woman.
Police in Japan reported a record high number of child abuse cases last year. Some 122,806 cases were recorded last year compared to 115,745 in 2022 — a 6.1 percent rise. Police said a “steady increase in reporting reflects greater public awareness and that neighbors are more willing to report suspected abuse to the authorities.”
Police report said the abuse of minors in Japan has consistently risen since 2004, when record-keeping began. The report also highlighted the various forms of abuse suffered by children.
A group of Japanese schoolgirls are seen in this file image. Police registered a record high number of child abuse cases in 2023. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
Psychological abuse, including domestic violence witnessed by children, accounted for more than 70 percent of the overall cases in 2023. The number of children experiencing such kind of abuse had increased by 6.8 percent to 90,761 in 2023.
Physical abuse came second with a 4.2 percent increase at 21,520 cases in 2023 compared to 20,652 cases the previous year. On a positive note, sexual abuse cases declined by 0.6 percent.
Ahead of the Lunar New Year, Chinese authorities released a Buddhist monk after completing his four-and-half-year jail term. Monk Rinchen Tsultrim was convicted and jailed on charges of inciting separatism in Tibet over his criticism of China’s restrictive policies. He served his jail term in the Minyang Prison in China’s Sichuan province.
Sources said despite the release the monk remains under constant surveillance. Tsultrim was arrested in 2019 and was secretly detained for more than a year before being jailed after a closed trial in 2021.
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Separatism or working to split Tibet is a common charge leveled by Chinese authorities against Tibetans opposing the assimilation of Tibet’s national and cultural identity into China’s dominant Han culture. (Photo: AFP)
Tsultrim had voiced his support for the language rights of the Tibetans and praised Tibet’s top spiritual leader and the previous Panchen Lama, who spoke out against Chinese rule many times in the 1960s. Chinese authorities jailed him, and he died in suspicious circumstances in 1989.
The monk had republished his writings online. Chinese authorities had warned him thrice before taking him into custody.
A top human rights advocate has said Myanmar military regime’s decision to introduce mandatory military service for all young men and women is poised to be become counterproductive.
According to UCA News columnist Benedict Rogers, the conscription is “a clear sign of the fragility of the military” and it will either spell the end of the regime or the end of Myanmar.
Members of Myanmar’s military security force patrol a street during a ‘silent strike’ to protest and to mark the third anniversary of the military coup in Yangon on Feb. 1. (Photo by AFP)
On Saturday, the junta issued a notification that the People’s Military Service Law would take immediate effect.
All men aged 18-35 and women aged 18-27 are required to serve for up to two years, while specialists like doctors aged up to 45 must serve for three years.
The service can be extended to a total of five years in the ongoing state of emergency.
In the past four months or more, Myanmar’s military has suffered the worst setbacks since it seized power in a coup on Feb. 1, 2021.
Since October last year, opposition pro-democracy armed groups have captured dozens of towns, including in strategically important locations.
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