CATHOLIC PRIEST MURDERED AND BODY FOUND ON ROAD SIDE IN KARNATAKA IN INDIA

A Catholic priest was found murdered in a remote place on the side of a road in a village near Mangalore in the southern Indian state of Karnataka on Thursday.
A Christian advocacy group is calling on the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the "clear case of murder."
Father James Mukalel, 39, priest of the Belthangady diocese in Karnataka, was killed when he was returning to his parish, after attending the funeral of one of his earlier parishioners in Thottathady village, Daiji World local online news reported.

According to Fr. Thomas Kannankal, the diocesan social work director, the death of the priest appears to be a clear case of murder, as his body was found naked and lying away from the motor bike he was riding.

The body did not bear any injury marks, Kannankal noted, but it was apparent that someone suffocated him to death.

Mukalel was originally from the diocese of Tellichery and had opted to work in Belthangady diocese. Belthangady is a division within Dakshina Kannada, a western coastal district of Karnataka facing Arabian Sea.
Kannankal told UCA News that the priest served in Kutrapady parish and had gone to Thottathady parish to attend a funeral. After the funeral, he visited some homes and ate dinner in a convent in the parish. He started to head back on his motor bike at around 9 p.m. on Wednesday.

Some parishioners noticed his naked body lying by the roadside at around 7 a.m. on Thursday.

Belthangady diocese in Dakshina Kannada had reported some violence against Christians in the past year and police are investigating, the priest told UCA news.

Dakshina Kannada was in the news last year when the Bajrang Dal in Karnataka’s Mangalore state attacked over 30 prayer halls in September. Fifty-three Christians were injured.

Bangalore-based Christian advocacy group Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) said Karnataka, ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), recorded the second most number of attacks against Christians in 2008. It is "second to Orissa where many have lost their lives and homes."

"Karnataka recorded at least 112 anti-Christian attacks across 29 districts in 2008 and at least 10 more such incidents have been reported this year," Dr. Sajan George, president of GCIC told Compass Direct News earlier.

GCIC has strongly condemned the murder, and has called the CBI to investigate the case as well as other attacks against Christians.

“We are shocked and dismayed in the brutal murder of Fr. James Mukalel," GCIC said in a statement Thursday. "This is the 33rd incident of attacks against Christians in Karnataka in the year 2009."

WORLD HUNGER HITS HISTORIC HIGH OF 1 BILLION

The number of people going hungry every day has hit a historic high of 1 billion, or more precisely 1.02 billion, according to the U.N. World Food Program.
Millions of people who were on the brink of hunger have now been thrown into this category by the global economic crisis that resulted in lower incomes and job losses.

According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, about an additional 100 million people are in chronic hunger and poverty this year compared to last year.

And while the number of people with urgent food needs has increased, aid agencies are reporting lower donations and budget cuts.

WFP executive director Josette Sheeran said Wednesday the agency is facing “dangerous and unprecedented” funding shortfalls this year.

“Our budget for this year of assessed and approved needs is $6.7 billion and we expect from our projections and working with government to come in at $3.7 billion,” Sheeran said at a press briefing ahead of meetings at the White House.

Sheeran said the agency is working to cut $3 billion from its program by reducing rations and programs throughout the world.

Its goal is to feed 108 million people in 74 countries this year.

In addition to budget cuts, aid groups are also struggling with the impact of high food prices.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization reports food prices are higher today than a year ago in more than 80 percent of developing countries.

Sheeran suggested that the food crisis is “not as dramatic at home” as in developed countries, resulting in less of a sense of urgency to help the world’s hungry.

But "one out of every six [people] today is on the official list of the urgently-hungry," she said, according to RTTNews.com. "One-third of the world's children in the developing world is stunted."

The WFP official praised the United States – the world’s largest food aid donor – for being an advocate to finding solutions to long term needs as well as meeting immediate needs.

The United Sates provides about half of all food aid to needy people in the world.

Besides government agencies, Christian aid agencies such as Food for the Hungry, Food for the Poor, and Lutheran World Relief have also been a major contributor in helping to feed those vulnerable to hunger.

Since 1971, Food for the Hungry has responded to physical and spiritual hunger in more than 26 countries worldwide.

In response to the current food and economic crisis, the ministry calls on Christians to pray for the world’s poor and hungry and for long-term solutions to families at risk or on the brink of salvation, give financially to help the ministry respond to world hunger, and sponsor a child that will help to not only transform the child but also his/her family and community.