Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

The case of a 5-year-old girl in Delhi, who was kidnapped and raped repeatedly for 48 hours by two men, has shocked India, yet it is just one among many such attacks reported recently. The Rev. Dominic D’Abreo, spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, said: “We are very sad. The whole country is in shock. These episodes ruin the name and image of the nation. People of every religion are shocked and protest. The government and [nongovernmental organizations] are making efforts to eradicate the phenomenon. It is urgent to work on awareness in society at the grass-root level, not just at a high level. Everyone must take responsibility.” According to the Asian Centre for Human Rights, almost 50,000 such attacks on children were recorded between 2001 and 2011, reflecting a 336 percent increase between those years in the number of attacks reported and verified. Father D’Abreo said the phenomenon indicated “a culture that relies entirely on money, pleasure, power” that has neglected the value and the profound meaning of human life.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
Chris NUNEZ
12 years ago
These are incredibly horrific events being reported. But in 1984, Catholic theologians met at Notre Dame University and discussed the importance of culture as part of the work of understanding the challenges to the Church now considering, and recognizing itself as a 'world church.' One of the participants was the Director of India's association of two hundred colleges -- Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic -- Sr. Braganza pointed out three (3) problems which 'center on education and transmission of cultures." In her own words, she recounts: " - Formal education in her distinctive national setting causes conflict between "classical culture" of Western style schools and local traditional culture. - Since newly introduced Western culture does not build up Indian traditions, the erosion of all particular cultures results and danger arises of homogenizing all culture. - The family has filled for millennia a dominant role in transmitting culture, but now in India the role of family fades and the main transmitter of our culture is being lost." The question is 'where' does this 'culture that relies entirely on money, pleasure, power' originate? Sr. Braganza's statement can be found in the late Joseph Gremillion's edited work of that Notre Dame event "The Church and Culture Since Vatican II." There are some of us who believe that 'culture' is still the unfinished business of the Church.

The latest from america

Pope Leo XIV greets religious sisters during a meeting with officials and employees of the Roman Curia, Vatican City State and the Diocese of Rome in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican May 24, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Describing the Curia as the institution that preserves “the historical memory of the church,” Pope Leo called on these Vatican employees to “work together” with him “in the great cause of unity and love.”
Gerard O’ConnellMay 24, 2025
Paola Ugaz, a Peruvian journalist who helped expose the abuse committed by leaders of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, gives Pope Leo XIV a stole made of alpaca wool, during the pope's meeting with members of the media May 12, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope Leo offered a heartening message for a global media that has endured a pretty awful year.
Kevin ClarkeMay 23, 2025
If you think our enthusiasm for our basketball team was intense, just wait until you see our support for Pope Leo XIV.
Jack DoolinMay 23, 2025
“I don’t think he’s the kind of man who sends coded messages,” Cardinal Michael Czerny says in this exclusive interview with Gerard O’Connell.
Gerard O’ConnellMay 23, 2025