Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay took lead in organising an inter-religious Christmas gathering on Dec. 17, following what has now become an annual feature before Christmas celebration in the archdiocese based in the financial capital of India.

Hindu, Islam, Sikh, Zoroastrian, Buddhist, Jain and Christian leaders attended the interreligious prayer service and discussion seeking to find answers to the increasing conflicts.

“In our time, the differences seem to be growing: there are conflicts between persons, religious ideologies and nations. While we long for peace, it seems that this hope is a mirage,” archdiocesan spokesperson Father Nigel Barrett said, explaining the relevance of such gatherings.

The gathering gains importance in the wake of Pope Francis’ call to religions to shun violence and terrorism at an inter-religious meeting in the Vatican last month.

A group of priests in a Mumbai parish prepared a five-course dinner for their parishioners as part of their effort to raise fund to help the poor.

The idea follows up the call of Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay to initiate programs to support poor and marginalized in line with Pope Francis’ constant plea to Catholics to help the poor, particularly to poor and migrants.

Cardinal Gracias wanted each parish of the archdiocese to initiate programs so that they could grow beyond the “cold charity” of donating to collection boxes.

The five-course formal dinner on Dec. 2 aimed to provide a fine dining experience for the parishioners to raise funds for Katkaris of Raigad, a marginalized community.

The entire meal was prepared and served by the priests themselves with a little help from a couple of Chef friends, said a release from the archdiocese.

Seven Indian Christians were granted bail on Dec. 19, after being arrested for allegedly hurting the religious feelings of Hindus 15 days earlier. The group, which included two pastors, was praying at a house in Mathura district of northern Uttar Pradesh State when about 25 Hindus burst in on them. The attackers reportedly accused those present of using words that were offensive to Hindu gods. Michael Williams, president of United Christian Forum (UCF), who was present in the court, told that police protection had been requested for those granted bail.

A.C. Michael, a Catholic leader and former member of the Delhi Minorities Commission, said that on Dec. 4 there had been threats to burn down the house where the prayer meeting was being held.

Michael said the angry mob had expressed a willingness to set the building alight with the Christians still inside.

He told that the two pastors visited the area for the first time on the request of a local woman to pray for her sick husband. “They are accused of using certain words, which were never used,” he added.

Lawyer Pramod Singh, who appeared for the accused in the court, later referred to “frivolous and false accusations” made by political ideologues seeking to restrict freedom of religious belief.

The Holy Family Latin Catholic Church at Karichal does not exist for Christians alone. It is a beacon of hope for Hindus and Muslims also as it fulfils the dreams of many poor families by arranging the marriages of their children.

It provides them financial aid and also arranges mandapam and pandal on its premises. The church in Veeyapuram panchayat in upper Kuttanad that lies sprawled on the banks of three rivers – Achankovil, Pampa and Paipad—has conducted the marriages of 200 Hindu and Muslim couples from 2009 to 2014.

It started its social mission with the fund from the Rachael George Charitable Trust instituted by her sons, M.G. Philip and M.G. Stephen and daughter-in-law Molamma Philip for charitable causes in 2009. So far, five annual mass weddings have been held on the occasion of the church festival in January. The marriages of three communities are held at the same time.

Hindus marry in the mandapam erected on one side of the premises, Christians within the church and Muslims in the pandal on the other side.

Joseph Pulikunnel, a veteran Christian social reformer and a former faculty in economics and former member of the Kerala University Senate passed away. He was 85. The last rites took place at the houses premises at Bharananganam. He was the director of the Indian Institute of Christian Studies in Kottayam. He was the author of several books and the organising editor of the Malayalam Bible Translation Project. He has published the most authentic translation of the Bible in Malayalam.

Since 1976 he had been pursuing his interests in social work and founded several social service organizations including the Good Samaritan Project India; the Word and Deed Hospital and Palliative Cancer Care Centre, and a Juvenile Diabetic Centre. He is best known for his independent and scholarly views on the state of the established church in India.

Fr George Koottickal, who founded a pious association to care for vagabonds and deranged people, died in the early hours of December 20. He was 64. The founder director of the Friends of the Birds of the Air (FBA) was undergoing treatment for some time for liver disease at a private hospital in Ernakulam. He was discharged mid December, but his condition deteriorated while recovering at Marvallah Dayara Ashram in Malayattoor, Kerala.