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No harm in backtracking on citizenship law: Cardinal Gracias

There is no harm in backtracking if the government thinks it has erred in amending citizenship laws, says Cardinal Oswald Gracias, head of the Catholic Church in India. “Religion should never be made a dividing factor,” asserted the cardinal when asked about the political turmoil in India over the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 (CAA) […]

Attack on Indian spirit will harm secularism: Goa archbishop

Any attack on “Indian spirit” can damage the age-old secular fabric of the country, warns Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao of Goa. The prelate was addressing the annual civic reception on the occasion of Christmas in Panaji, the state capital. Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and several ministers were present on the December 27 program. Although […]

World’s tallest Christ statue plan runs into trouble

A Hindu politician’s plan to build the world’s tallest statue of Christ has run into trouble after some radicals raised objections. Doddalahalli Kempegowda Shivakumar, popularly known as D K Shivakumar and a leader of the opposition Congress party in Karnataka state, has pledged to build the 114-foot-tall Jesus statue at Harobele in Ramanagara, some 80 […]

Priest who left India to build links in Chinese Church dies

Initially placed in charge of vocations and youth movements, in 1969 he obtained a license in theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University following a period of study of the English language in London. He was then sent to India where he was assigned an assistant in the parish in Mumbai and attended the theological faculty […]

Mamata Banerjee attends midnight Mass at Portuguese cathedral

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee attended the Christmas night services on December 24 at the Cathedral Church in Kolkata. On her first visit to the cathedral for Christmas, Banerjee inaugurated the crib – traditional nativity scene of Jesus birth. Banerjee has served as the eighth and current chief minister of West Bengal since 2011, […]

Peace, not strife, on our mind for Christmas

Prayers for peace and understanding marked Christmas this year in the midst of subdued celebrations in light of the prevailing situation in the country and state. A Christmas message from the Assam Christian Forum said it all: “We humbly pray that peace returns to our land, and every tear is wiped from the eyes of […]

Foreigners vacate Brunei, where Christmas is banned

Foreign workers are gathering their families, packing their bags and leaving Brunei, where a ban on celebrating Christmas has been enforced since 2014 by an authoritarian regime happy to impose stiff penalties for any breaches of the law. Fearing Muslims would be led astray and convert to Christianity, the sultan of Brunei imposed full Sharia […]

Malaysian state declares extra holiday for Christmas

The Muslim chief minister of Sabah in Malaysia has ramped up the celebratory mood among Christians in the state by adding Dec. 24 or Christmas Eve as a new public holiday. The neighbouring state of Sarawak is also thinking of declaring Christmas Eve a holiday, local reports said. “The additional public holiday will enable those […]