When it comes to the question of who is a true Indian, the country’s Hindu children are more likely than their Muslim peers to connect their faith to their national identity, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley. “Our results indicate that by age 9, Hindu children have already internalized an “Indian equals Hindu” association, and we show that this association predicts children’s support for policies that favour Hindus over Muslims,” said study senior author Mahesh Srinivasan, Associate Professor of Psychology at UC Berkeley.
Catholic nuns’ walking Gospel campaign brings social changes
Meeting with two Catholic nuns who were on a journey to spread the Gospel proved a turning point in the life of Mohan Kumar, a Hindu man in Kerala, southern India.
Sisters Little Therese and Treasa Margret of the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel had gone to the 45-year-old alcoholic’s house as part of their Gospel Journey Campaign for spreading Jesus’ message and values to people of different faiths.
A week later, the nuns received a call from Kumar’s wife that her husband had stopped drinking, and was acting more loving and kind to the family.
“We thanked God for the miraculous change in Kumar’s life, and told the wife that we will continue to pray for her family,” Little Therese, 52, told GSR.
The Carmelite sisters have been on this journey of what they say is “radiating Gospel values on foot as Jesus did” for the last 22 months. They walk with few possessions, expecting to live among people struggling with worldly and spiritual needs, in the pattern of Christ and His disciples.
Indian bishops to spread Christian literature in Hindi
Catholic bishops in the Hindi-speaking areas of India have decided to revise and expand Christian literature in their local language to make it relevant to the new generation. Some 30 Hindi-speaking bishops made the decision when they met on Nov. 5 in Indore city in central India’s Madhya Pradesh State. “We have our liturgy, prayers and Bible in Hindi, but that is not enough. We need to upgrade the language of prayers and expand the literature to make it more relevant and available to more people,” said Bishop Chacko Thottumarickal of Indore.
The region, known as the Hindi Belt, is covered by 50 of India’s 174 dioceses. The scattered Christian presence in the region forms less than one percent of the population. Organized Catholic missionary work began in the region in the 19th century.
Take risk to proclaim Word of God: Goa archbishop
Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao of Goa and Daman has urged contributors to a daily Bible reading booklet in Konkani to take risks to proclaim the word of God.
“It is a challenge to make Jesus’s vision and values ours. He wants us to be instruments in forming his people through this booklet of reflections,” the archbishop said during a Mass on November 10 to mark the 25th anniversary of “Jivitacho Prokas” (Light of Life), a booklet published by the archdiocese.
The prelate reminded the gathering that they are not Jesus’s disciples by chance. “He has called us and formed us. He is calling us to personalize His vision. He calls us constantly to care for the others,” he added.
The booklet was started in 1994 when Archbishop Ferrao was a priest and the director of the Diocesan Centre for the Lay Apostolate. He also edited the “Daily Flash,” a similar booklet in English.
Both the booklets are written by the laity for the laity.
“We are all members of the “Jivitacho Prokas” family. I am glad that the Jubilee takes place this year when we have the theme ‘Go and do likewise like the Good Samaritan,’ for the archdiocesan activities,” the archbishop pointed out.
The “Daily Flash” was started in 1990 by Noemia Mascarenhas, a lay woman, and it soon became popular scripture in Goa and elsewhere. The aim of “Daily Flash” is to help the faithful read and reflect on the Word of God, so that they gain a faith encounter with God.
Catholic priest on ecumenical, ecological, empowering mission
Carmelite of Mary Immaculate Father Mathew Chandrankunnel heads Ecumenical Christian Centre (ECC), a Protestant-initiated institute in Bengaluru, capital of Karnataka State.
The centre was set up in 1963 by the late Reverend M. A. Thomas of the Mar Thoma Church to promote “unity among all humankind and creation.” ECC’s key focus is to empower people of various faith communities to lead a harmonious life with dignity.
Matters India Special Correspondent in Manila, Santosh Digal, conducted an email interview with Father Chandrankunnel about ECC programs and his experiences of interdenominational and interreligious work.
“In the monastery, I saw a painting of Jesus praying in the Gethsemane placed at a prominent place in their temple. Interacting with the Swamis enlightened me to look for the Divine beyond all religious traditions. I became a professor at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram after my studies abroad. I was asked to be in charge of the Centre for the Study of World religions, a post that helped me associate closely with the Indian religious traditions. It has pebbles collected from Haridwar, Himalayas, with Buddhist mandala, the five kosha’s of Indian philosophy, and three ponds with a broad fountain represents body, mind and soul as a continuum as well as Living Water’s Fountain.
Foul play suspected in priest’s suicide, parishioners demand probe
Assurance from their bishop on November 2 prompted some Catholics to call of their protest demanding a probe into the alleged suicide of a priest.
Bishop Gerald Isaac Lobo of Udupi has promised to meet the protesters at 10 am on November 3 in their Our Lady of Health Church in Shirva, some 20 km south of the diocesan headquarters.
The parishioners launched the protests suspecting foul play in Father Mahesh D’Souza’s death.
The 36-year-old was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his room in Shirva on October 12.
Sunil Kabral, a leader of the protesters, said local parish priest Father Dennis D’Souza and police officers have requested them to meet the bishop in the parish on November 3. “So, we have dispersed from the church premises,” he told reporters.
Anti-trafficking crusader receives Mother Teresa Memorial Award
Hasina Kharbhih, founder of a global program that tries to check human trafficking and exploitation worldwide, has received this years Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice.
Meghalaya – born Kharbhih received the award on November 3 at the Harmony International Conference in Mumbai.
The award given by the Harmony Foundation recognizes selfless and intrepid individuals and organizations who have channelized their energies and creativities towards social justice, peace and harmony.
Kharbhih has been working to provide sustainable livelihood in a safe environment for women and children for more than 30 year. She is the founder and managing director of Impulse Social Enterprises and founder chair of Board of Impulse NGO network.
In a letter to Kharbhih, the foundation said it acknowledged her relentless and passion-ate work and ongoing efforts to free the world from modern day slavery practices.
It saluted her for partnering with government and civil society groups to rehabilitate 72,442 survivors of human trafficking in northeastern India, Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Her success has earned her worldwide recognition reminiscent of the Emancipation Proclamation and 40 acres and a mule issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 and 1865, the foundations letter noted.
The reintegration program of the survivors into mainstream society by empowering them to live with dignity and equipping them with traditional skills for sustainable livelihood is highly commendable, the foundation stated.
Indian politician fears eggs turn children into cannibals
The claim of a pro-Hindu politician that children can become cannibals by eating chicken eggs violates democratic principles, says a church leader in central India. Gopal Bhargava, a senior politician of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Madhya Pradesh, made the claim as he opposed a government plan to include eggs in school midday meals to fight malnutrition.
“If children are given non-vegetarian food, they may turn into cannibals,” Bhargava reportedly said. “They will serve eggs to children. Those who do not eat eggs will be forced to do so. If they are still malnourished, give them chicken and goat meat.” The Hindu culture prohibits eating non-vegetarian food, said Bhargava, the leader of the opposition in the state legislature.
Synod calls for more church roles for women, but stops short of diaconate
Members of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon asked that women be given leadership roles in the Catholic Church, although they stopped short of calling for women deacons. In the Amazon, like in the rest of the world, the essential roles women play within the family, the community and the church should be valued and recognized officially, members of the Synod said in their final document.
The document, which Synod members voted on Oct. 26, included a call for the creation of “the instituted ministry of ‘woman community leader,’” something they said would help meet “the changing demands of evangelization and community care.”
Speaking after the vote on the document, Pope Francis said the Synod’s discussion on women “falls short” of explaining who women are in the church, particularly “in the transmission of faith, in the preservation of culture. I would just like to underline this: that we have not yet realized what women mean in the church,” but instead “we focus on the functional aspect, which is important,” but is not everything.
Synod members also asked Pope Francis to revise St Paul VI’s 1972 document on ministries, “Ministeria Quaedam” (“Some Ministries”), so that women could be installed formally as lectors and acolytes and in any new ministries to be developed.
The final document also asked that “the voice of women be heard, that they be consulted and participate decision making” in the church.
“It is necessary for the church to assume with greater strength their leadership within the church and for the church to recognize and promote it by strengthening their participation in the pastoral councils of parishes and dioceses, or even in instances of government,” the document said.
While noting that a “large number” of participants in the pre-synod consultations asked for women deacons and that several members of the Synod itself made such a call, the final document did not include an explicit request for such a move.
Christians must shun self-worship, pope says at synod’s final Mass
Poor people from the Amazon have shown that God’s creation must be treated “not as a resource to be exploited but as a home to be preserved, with trust in God,” Pope Francis said.
He celebrated Mass on Oct. 27 to mark the end of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon, which brought together bishops, priests and religious, and lay men and women, including indigenous people, from the nine Amazonian countries.
Synod participants, some wearing their native dress and feathered headdresses, led the procession into St Peter’s Basilica. During the offertory, an indigenous woman presented the Pope with a plant.
Their presence was a reminder of the Pope’s rebuke to a bi-shop who had made a derogatory comment about an indigenous man wearing his headdress at the Synod’s opening Mass on Oct. 6. Instead of using a crosier made of precious metals, the Pope carried a carved wooden crosier that the Vatican said was a gift from the Synod. During the assembly, participants described the environmental devastation and social problems caused by mining in the Amazon.