News from Home, World and the Vatican

News selected by Catholic Lawyers Society Kuala Lumpur (CLS) for Catholics in Malaysia concerned about social justice and peace.

Includes CLS Internal News | CLS in the News | CLS Press Statements

Malaysia Sacrifices Talent To Keep One Race On Top, Says Lee Kuan Yew

Malaysia is prepared to lose its talent through its race-based policies in order to maintain the dominance of one race, said Lee Kuan Yew in his new book which was launched tonight in Singapore.

And although Malaysia has acknowledged the fact that they are losing these talents and is making an attempt to lure Malaysians back from overseas, such efforts may be too little too late, he said.

"This is putting the country at a disadvantage. It is voluntarily shrinking the talent pool needed to build the kind of society that makes use of talent from all races. Read more »

CLS Retreat 2014

The Catholic Lawyers’ Society held its annual retreat in the city of Kuching in Sarawak from 29th August to 1st September 2014.

The venue was the peaceful setting of the Home for Retired Priests situated in a suburb of Kuching. 

The members (and spouses) who attended the retreat were privileged to have as their retreat director the Archbishop of Kuching, Most Rev. John Ha. Read more »

AOHD & CLS Co-Organise Women Empowerment Symposium

The Women’s Desk of the Archdiocesan Office for Human Development and the Catholic Lawyers Society organised the inaugural ‘Women’s Empowerment Symposium’ at Premiere Hotel, Klang.

The symposium began with Mass which was celebrated by Fr. Jestus Pereira.

After a brief tea break, the first session of the symposium entitled ‘Am I a Malaysian by law?’ took place. Read more »

Perpaduan Anak Negeri Sabah: Papar “Mamangis”

It is by God’s grace that we are gathered here today, to continue raising our “Mamangkis” as Anak Negeri of this land.

We thank God for the unity of the churches in voicing out our common concerns.

Indeed, we are at the crossroad of many internal and external challenges to us as a multiracial and multi-religious society and as a Christian community. Read more »

Saints Mary, Martha And Lazarus: Christian Examples Of Friendship And Hospitality

The Church universal celebrates the liturgical memorial of Saint Martha today.

However, for those who live the Benedictine charism, the ordo (notes for Mass and the Divine Office) is much more expansive by observing the feast of Saints Mary, Martha and Lazarus.

Even though these holy siblings predate Benedict and his blessed Rule, they are easily considered Benedictines. Read more »

Not NRD’s Place To Query Religious Status Change, Lawyers Say

Lawyers are disputing the National Registration Department’s (NRD) requirement of a Shariah court order before it will remove the status “Islam” from the records of Malaysians, contending that the rule was arbitrary and unconstitutional.

Although acknowledging a Federal Court decision that says the NRD has the right to impose the requirement, the lawyers stressed that bureaucracy should not prevent anyone from exercising their constitutional right to religious freedom.

Read more »

Pope Francis Meets Meriam Ibrahim At Vatican

Pope Francis has met with the young Sudanese who was imprisoned and sentenced to death for marrying a Christian.

The Holy Father met with Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, 27, at 1 p.m. in Casa Santa Marta at the Vatican, reported the Sismografo.

Ibrahim arrived in Rome this morning on an Italian government plane. Meriam was accompanied by her husband, Daniel Wani, and their two young children, Martin, 18 months old, and Maya, born in prison two months ago. Read more »

Two Judges Recuse Themselves From Contentious Interfaith Custody Cases

The two judges who had advised the attorney-general (A-G) on unilateral child conversions have disqualified themselves from hearing two contentious interfaith custody cases.

Datuk Linton Albert, who chaired the three-man bench, told the Court of Appeal that Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh and Datuk Umi Kalthum Abdul Majid had opted out to avoid conflict of interest.

"I have consulted them and they have recused themselves because justice must also be seen to be done." Read more »

Hamid Revealed Racial Prejudice In High Court Judgment, Says Retired Judge

Former chief justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad, who has come under fire for his incendiary comments that the position of Islam is under threat in Penang, had revealed his racial and religious prejudice in a decision on a civil case which he heard as a High Court judge in the 90s, says a former federal court judge.

Retired Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram said he had sat on a Court of Appeal bench in 1996 which came across Hamid’s decision in a civil case that belied his prejudice. Read more »

Christians Worldwide Mobilize For Iraqi Church

“We need more than words now, we need concrete actions; we need the solidarity of Christians worldwide not to be afraid to talk about this tragedy”, says Archbishop Amel Nona of Mosul speaking to Vatican Radio over the phone from Nineveh province, Northern Iraq.

As if in response to this plea, over the past 24 hours, a campaign has been mounting in the global twitter sphere to stand with Iraqi Christians under the hashtag #WeAreN: This refers to the Arabic letter ن, or "n", which Islamic State militants have left on some doorways in areas under their control to indicate that the inhabitants are "Nazarene" or Christian. Read more »

High Court Orders Return Of “Allah” CDs

The High Court today ordered the eight “Allah” CDs which the Home Ministry confiscated more than six years ago to be returned to clerk Jill Ireland.

Kuala Lumpur High Court (Appellate and Special Powers) judge Justice Zaleha Yusof quashed the Home Minister’s decision to seize the religious CDs on the grounds that the CDs used prohibited terms and breached Malaysia Islamic Development Department (Jakim) guidelines.

She also ordered the CDs returned to the owner. Read more »

Viewpoint: Social Justice and the Witness of the Saints - By Brandon Vogt

An interview with Brandon Vogt, whose new book examines Catholic social teaching through the lives and witness of fourteen Blesseds and Saints

“Catholic social teaching has explosive power for changing not just individuals, but whole societies. And it's the saints who light the fuse,” writes Brandon Vogt, author of Saints and Social Justice(Our Sunday Visitor, 2014). In this newly released book, Vogt introduces us to saints both familiar and unfamiliar and demonstrates how their lives offer a living model to putting the Church’s social teaching in action. He spoke with Catholic World Report recently about the true meaning of “social justice” and how it can be better learned and lived today. Read more »

Catholic Lawyers Offer Free Advice

On 22nd June, the Catholic Lawyers gathered together at the church of St Paul the Hermit, Batang Berjuntai, (Bestari Jaya) on the occasion of the feast of St Thomas More, the patron saint of the society.

In conjunction with the feast day and in line with our motto as Catholic Lawyers Society (CLS), and living out its faith through love and service, the Catholic lawyers chose to celebrate the feast of their patron, by way of service. Read more »

No Survey Will Stop Us From Enforcing Hudud, It’s God’s Orders, Says PAS

PAS will remain undeterred in their move to enforce hudud in Kelantan, despite the latest survey by an independent pollster showing Malaysians were not in favour of it, the party’s vice-president said today.

“No matter how many surveys are conducted, hudud is still compulsory for Muslims.

“PAS wants to implement hudud not because of any surveys or research but because it is God’s orders,” Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man told The Malaysian Insider. Read more »

CLS Press Statement: CLS Offers Our Deepest Condolences To Families Of MH17

The Catholic Lawyers Society of Malaysia (CLS) wishes to express its deepest condolences to the families of those on board MH17.

The CLS calls for a full and comprehensive investigation to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of this henious crime that has robbed so many of their lives and loved ones.

In the meantime, we pray that God will comfort and hold all those who have been so unjustly subjected to this painful experience. Read more »

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