The president of Hockey India Padma Shri Dilip Tirkey has applauded the Jesuits of Jamshedpur province for reaching out to places where no one dared to go.
“The Jesuits dared forests and mountains and faced all odds in doing God’s mission and shaping the bright future of thousands of children,” Tirkey told a function to mark the platinum jubilee of the Jamshedpur Jesuit Society.
The young hockey icon from Odisha was the chief guest at the January 8 program at Loyola School in Bhubaneswar, the capital of the eastern Indian state.
“I am at the helm of affairs at this time as the hockey world cup starts from January 13-29 in Odisha. However, I could not refrain from coming over here and expressing my gratitude to the Jesuits who deserved the most for their total dedication. Hundred years back the Kolkata Jesuits’ mission reached Rourkela. We are the fruit of their mission,” said Tirkey, a former member of the Rajya Sabha.
As many as 1,500 people, including bishops, priests, religious, and laity, participated in the event.
The celebration was kicked off with a solemn Mass presided over by Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar. Jam-shedpur Jesuit provincial, Odisha Jesuits, and priests in and around Bhubaneswar concelebrated.
Jesuit Father Augustine Ezhakunnel, the superior of the Loyola School Community, welcomed the gathering before the Mass and declared the opening of the platinum jubilee celebration of the Odisha region.

India’s top court has called forced and deceitful conversions “a serious matter” and sought assistance from the federal government’s top law officer in seeking steps to stop them.
“Religious conversions by force, allurement, etc… if that is happening then what should be done? What are the corre-ctive measures?” the Supreme Court bench of Justice M R Shah and Justice C T Ravikumar observed on Jan. 9 while discussing a petition.
The court also requested Attorney General R. Venkata-ramani to act “as amicus curiae or otherwise in any form” in the matter. The bench was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Ashwini Upadhyay, a lawyer and member of the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), seeking a national law to check religious conversions through force and other fraudulent means.
The judges brushed aside questions about the maintain-ability of the petition and the credibility of Upadhyay raised by P. Wilson, government counsel of the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Wilson said the petition for a national anti-conversion law was politically motivated.
“Leave this matter to the legislature. There is no threat of conversion in our state. This is a politically motivated litigation. He [Upadhyay] has made Tamil Nadu, the state govern-ment, a party,” Wilson said, according to The Hindu.
The Court also directed the federal government to step in and make efforts to tackle the “very serious issue” of proselytization through deception, allurement and intimidation.
(See Focus)

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has ordered former president, Maithripala Sirisena, as well as top defense ministry and intelligence officials, to pay compensation totaling 310 million rupees (US$ 885,670) to victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.
The Jan. 12 order from the top court pointed to a “reckless” intelligence failure, reported The Hindu. “A Victim Fund must be established at the Office for Reparation, which must formulate a scheme to award the sums ordered as compensation in a fair and equitable manner to the victims and families,” the order noted.
Former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara, former Ministry of Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, former head of State Intelligence Service Nilantha Jayawardene, and former National Intelligence Chief Sisira Mendis are among those ordered to pay.
Sirisena was ordered to pay 100 million rupees ($273,300) while the other officials were to pay a total of 210 million rupees ($574,000). The compensation has to be paid from their personal funds.
“The mastermind behind the attack has not yet been traced”
The Supreme Court has also ordered the federal government to pay one million rupees as compensation to each of the victims.
Father Sarath Iddamalgoda, one of a dozen petitioners in the case, said political leaders think they can do anything illegal but the judgment was a reminder that nobody is above the law.
The priest told UCA news that he couldn’t have wished for a better gift on his 78th birthday on Jan. 12.
“As a priest, I tried to seek justice for the victims. But the mastermind behind the attack has not yet been traced. We are waiting for him to be caught,” Father Iddamalgoda said.