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African bishops oppose military intervention to end coup in Niger

Following the July 26 coup in Niger, Catholic Bishops of the Burkina-Niger Episcopal Conference have expressed concern that a military intervention in the African nation could unravel the fragile security situation in the Sahel, leading to a further spread in jihadism. In an August 4 release signed by the President of the Episcopal Conference, Bishop […]

Don’t be afraid to change the world, pope tells youths at WYD closing Mass

To end “Catholic Woodstock” – as World Youth Day has been called by the Portuguese press – Pope Francis told 1.5 million weary-eyed and sleep-deprived young people in Lisbon not to let their “great dreams” of changing the world be “stopped by fear.” In his homily for the closing Mass of World Youth Day Aug. […]

Hindu nationals demand arrest of Catholic priest in India for saying king was not a god

A Catholic priest in the Indian state of Goa was granted “anticipatory bail” Aug. 8 after police registered a criminal case against him for allegedly “hurting Hindu sentiments” in remarks he made about a Hindu king during a Sunday Mass in July. Hindu groups had staged demonstrations in front of the police station calling for […]

Indian pastor attacked for alleged religious conversion

A Protestant pastor in a northern Indian state has been attacked for allegedly conducting religious conversions. Pastor Shyju Joseph was conducting Sunday worship on Aug. 6 at his place in Bihar state’s Nawada district. Members of the Bajrang Dal (brigade of Lord Hanuman), a Hindu nationalist organisation, disrupted the service after accusing him of converting […]

Rahul Gandhi’s reinstatement restores faith in judiciary: Christians

The return of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to the Indian Parliament 135 days after his disqualification has reassured people’s faith in the Indian judiciary, say some Christian intellectuals. Gandhi, who represented Kerala’s Wayanad constituency in the Lok Sabha, was reinstated August 7 after the Supreme Court stayed his conviction in a criminal defamation case. Gandhi […]

Vatican delegate faces rejection in Indian Church

Catholics, including priests, in an archdiocese in southern India say they will not cooperate with a Pontifical Delegate who arrived to help find a solution to the decades-old liturgy dispute in their eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church. A five-member delegation of some 400 priests in the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese on Aug. 8 met Pontifical Delegate Archbishop Cyril Vasil of […]