Thousands of Christians took to the streets during protests across the southern Indian State of Tamil Nadu on April 17 to demand government action to stop what they call increasing harass- ment and violence against Christ- ians. Some 20,000 Christians from various denominations filled roads in at least 16 cities and towns shouting slogans against govern- ment inaction to check anti- Christian activities allegedly carried out by upper-caste Hindu groups. The Synod of Pentecostal Churches in Tamil Nadu organi- zed the protest as Christians have been subjected to atleast 15 cases of violence in the first three months of this year.

The Bishop of Niranam diocese, historically one of the oldest dioceses of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church in Kerala, has criticized the upper caste tendencies among believers fuelled by a “mythical” belief that St Thomas converted Brahmins to Christianity in Kerala. It is also widely believed that St Thomas, one of the 12 apostles of Christ, had converted members of top Brahmin families in Kerala to Christianity. Though the Abrahamic faith is devoid of caste hierarchies, Christian families often hold get-togethers to celebrate their lineage and put out books proclaiming their Brahmin origin.

The Bishop, Geevarghese Mor Coorilos, however, in a Facebook post announced that he would not attend any such get-togethers, dubbing them as “programs to assert their artificially created upper caste identity and lineage.”

“They say their ancestors were Brahmins converted by St Thomas. They even put out their family history in books proclaiming such false notions. These baseless, savarna caste oriented and reactionary myths have to be busted,” read his statement in Malayalam, adding, “I did attend such events due to my personal intimacy with them. But, I regret it. I can’t (do it) any more.”

Syrian Christians are divided mainly into Syrian Catholic, Jacobite, Orthodox, Marthoma churches depending upon whether they owe their allegiance to the Pope in Rome, the Patriarch in Antioch, Catholicos in Kerala’s Kottayam or Metropolita in Thiruvalla. Coorilos, who belongs to Jacobite Church, has mercilessly swung an axe at the root of the age-old belief that is pervasive across all the four sects – that their ancestors are Namboodiris who were converted to Christianity by St Thomas.

It also questions the existence of churches like Malayatoor that is famously believed to be the meditative halt of St Thomas during his Kerala leg of his sojourn. Brahmins’ conversion to Christianity under St Thomas had been a point of dispute for long. Historians such as M.G.S.Narayanan had earlier questioned the claim.

Pius Melekandathil, professor at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), who is an expert on maritime history and church history, admitted that it is a matter of dispute however saying that the probability factor has to be taken into consideration.

Fr Paul Thelakat, former Syro Malabar Church spokes- person, echoed Coorilose’s statement. “In India we have baned that irrespective of our religion we have been Manu sleeping within our consciousness. Everyone wants to establish one’s own upper caste glory. It is found in the ancient Christians of Kerala e.g certain families claiming to have been baptised from Brahmin families by St Thomas himself. St Thomas is supposed to have come to Kerala, it would be in the first century. Brahmins came to south India only in the 8th century. I am sorry to say upper caste mentality can be found also in Marxists in Kerala. Even though Marxism has a universal humanistic ideology, we find the upper caste surname kept, like Nampoodiripad, Menon, Pillai, Nair etc,” he said.

Muslim and Christian leaders in India have slammed Madhya Pradesh State government for according “minister of State” status to five Hindu religious leaders in what many called a deadly mix of religion and politics in an election year.

The central state’s government, run by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), gave minister status to the leaders even though they have not contested or won any election.

The move has snowballed into a controversy as it violates provisions of India’s constitution, which expressly upholds secular and democratic values. The constitution does not support unelected people, particularly religious leaders, being appointed to ministerial positions with a paid salary.

Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan told journalists on April 4, two days after the order was issued, that his government has been making “attempts to bring different sections of society to work for the people.”

“We want every section of society to work toward the development and welfare of people, and that is why we have attempted to bring together each section of society,” he added.

The new status allows the five Hindu leaders to get salaries and other perks similar to those of a junior minister who is elected to the legislative house. They would also have a greater say in administrative matters in the government.

“This news shocked me. I do not know where our country is heading,” said Bishop Gerald Almeida of Jabalpur.

When religious leaders begin to assume government offices and assert themselves in the running of a democratic state, “it is a clear sign that the secular state is on the path of collapse,” the bishop told ucanews.com on April 5.

The policy of separation of state and religion continues to be respected across the globe because history is filled with disasters when they were mixed, he said. When “politics is mixed with religion, it is a deadly combination for any nation,” he asserted.

One of the five appointed religious leaders is Namdeo Das Tyagi, popularly known as “Computer Baba” because of his interest in electronic gadgets and technology. The others are Bhaiyyuji Maharaj, Narmadanandji, Hariharanandji and Yogendra Mahant.

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A delegation of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of India (CBCI) on April 7 visited the affected areas in Odisha’s Sundargarh where Marian statues were vandalised on Easter.

On April 1, during the late night of Easter Sunday, few “anti- social” elements vandalised a grotto outside the compound of St Thomas Church, Salangabahal, and mutilated the statues of Mother Mary and baby Jesus in the grotto. Marian statue in another grotto in Gyanpali village too was smashed and the goons attempted to burn the Church of the Victory of the Cross in Bihabandh, the Diocese of Rourkela.

To make the situation graver, theheadofastatueofabullofa Shiva Temple in the vicinity was also found chopped off.

The bishops’ delegation included Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, CBCI Secretary General, Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, the Regional Chairman of the Odisha Catholic Bishops’ Council, Bishop Kishor Kumar Kujur of Rourkela, Bishop Telesphore Bilung, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Arch- diocese of Ranchi, and Emeritus Bishop Alphonse Bilung of Rourkela.

The church did not link the incident with any of the radical groups or Hindutva groups as such. However, it has accused the state of showing apathy in dealing with such cases.

“It appears that the anti-social elements targeted the holy places of two communities seeking to create a communal divide,” it reads further.

Yoga gurus, including a Catholic nun who runs two yoga centres, say the Syro Malabar Catholic Church’s position on Yoga is driven by its “ignorance” and that yoga is “a way of life as well as sciencem,” and it is not a “subdivision of any religion.”

The Syro-Malabar Church’s doctrinal commission report recently said that Yoga was not a medium to attain divine experience.

Meanwhile, Syro Malabar Church spokesman Fr Jimmy Poochakkatt has clarified that the Church is not in any way rejecting yoga as an exercise for mental and physical health.

Sr Infant Tresa, a Catholic nun and a yoga master, says the Syro Malabar Church’s observa- tion on yoga is due to its lack of knowledge on the subject. Sr Tresa runs Nirmala Medical Yoga Centre in Muvattupuzha.

A report by Pala Bishop Joseph Kallarangattu, chairman of the Doctrinal Commission of the Church, which was uploaded on the website of the Eparchy of Mananthavady, said the theology of yoga does not go along with the beliefs of Christianity.

“As far as I know, the Church has not accepted the report. There are even bishops who practise yoga. The report by the Doctrinal Commission of the Church is mainly due to its lack of know- ledge of yoga. I don’t think those who prepared the report have practised yoga even for a week,” she says.

Sister Jocelyn Edathil of the Sisters of the Imitation of Christ (Bethany Sisters) is unique in at least two ways. First of all, she is a member of the India-based Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and on Aug. 6, 2016, when she took her vows at St Vincent De Paul Syro-Malankara Catholic Cathedral in Elmont, New York she became the first professed woman religious of her Church who was born in North America.

She also has the unusual distinction of being a hospitalist, a practicing doctor on staff at Philadelphia’s Temple University Hospital.

There, working in shifts seven days on, seven days off, she wears her veil and the traditional white habit of her congregation under a white lab coat while making her rounds, lovingly caring for the corporal needs of the sick.

And yes, if they wish, she will pray with them and give them spiritual comfort. For Sister Jocelyn, her twin vocations are a blessing. At age 37, it has been a long journey. Her mother, Rajamma Edathil, came to America from Kerala in 1975 and is now a retired ICU nurse. Her dad, Philip Edathil, arrived in 1977 and is a real estate broker. The second of four children, her younger brother, Michael, who was ordained in 2013, is the first American-born Syro-Malankara priest. But the seed of Sister Jocelyn’s own vocation goes back almost three decades. When she was 9 her uncle, Father George, an India-born priest, told her she should become a sister.

“I said I wasn’t good enough,” Sister Jocelyn recalls. “He passed away in 1996, and that was solidified my vocation, thinking about his as a life well-lived.” “I always loved science,” she said. “I think of it as the way the Lord communicates his message to us. My parents encouraged me to study medicine, but I didn’t do it at first.”