Five Christians, including a pastor, have been arrested in a northern Indian state under a sweeping anti-conversion law after hardline Hindu activists objected to their holding a Sunday prayer meeting. Police in Uttar Pradesh on Dec. 8 arrested Pastor Vineet, his wife Payal, who were both identified by a single name, and three others, who were not named, in Kherki Mujkkipur village in Meerut district. The pastor was holding a prayer meeting and a medical camp at his house. The police recovered religious books, registers, bank details, and other materials from the house, the local Hindi newspaper Jagaran reported on Dec. 9. Vineet embraced Christianity a decade ago and converted around 250 people, according to the police. He purchased the house six months ago and organized Sunday prayer meetings there under the banner of the Kingdom of God Ministries Trust. The Dec. 8 meeting was attended by 50 people when a mob from the Hindu Raksha Dal (Hindu Protection Army) reached the spot and objected to it. The Dal’s state president Gaurav Parashar alleged people were being converted at the prayer meeting and informed the police.
Restive Indian state lifts internet blackout
Internet was restored in India’s conflict-torn northeastern state of Manipur on Dec. 9, weeks after a blackout was ordered to contain deadly ethnic violence and clashes between protesters and police. Ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur last year between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community, killing more than 250 people. Since then, communities have splintered into rival groups across swaths of the northeastern state, which borders war-torn Myanmar. Fresh clashes that killed at least 17 people last month in a part of Manipur previously spared from the violence prompted the latest of several internet shutdowns imposed in the state. That order came after protesters, outraged by the killings, tried to storm the homes of politicians in state capital Imphal, vandalising some of the properties. The local government on Dec. 9 ordered the lifting of “all forms of temporary suspension of internet and data services” imposed on November 19. Internet services were shut down for months in Manipur last year during the initial outbreak of violence, which displaced around 60,000 people from their homes according to government figures. Thousands of the state’s residents are still unable to return home owing to ongoing tensions. Long-standing tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities revolve around competition for land and public jobs. Rights activists have accused local leaders of exacerbating ethnic divisions for political gain. Manipur is ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party and Human Rights Watch has accused the government of facilitating the conflict with “divisive policies that promote Hindu majorita-rianism.”
NLFRP to help victims of anti-conversion laws, atrocities
More than 100 priests, brothers and nuns who practice law have resolved to reach out to those affected by anti-conversion laws and anti-minority atrocities. The National Lawyers Forum of Religious and Priests (NLFRP) that held its Dece-mber 6-8 convention at Eluru in Andhra Pradesh has also formed three high-power committees to deal with such cases. The convention at Eluru’s St. Joseph’s Dental College addressed the theme, “Changing the Landscape – The Context and the Call.” The convention began with a Mass led by Bishop Jaya Rao Polimeru of Eluru, who has a background in criminal law. “I am pleased to note there is a good amount of awakening within the Church. There are so many of you–religious priests who are also law-yers,” Bp Polimeru said welcoming the participants from 16 Indian states.
Indian Catholics strive to protect Portuguese heritage church
Catholics have sought the resto-ration and protection of a 16th-century Portuguese-era church in a western Indian state after it was reportedly struck down in the new development plan by the local urban body. The Our Lady of Mercy Church was built by Portuguese Jesuits in 1562 at Thane in Maharashtra. “When we went through the draft [of the development plan] we found that the name of the church was missing from the official list” of monuments, said Melwyn Fernandes, general secretary of the Mumbai-based Association of the Concerned Christians. The organi-zation along with the Bombay Catholic Sabha sought immediate intervention of senior officials from Thane district to restore the church in its official records.
Thousands flock to Christmas music festival in India
Thousands of people cutting across religious affiliations have taken part in an annual Christmas music festival in India’s commercial capital Mumbai. Catholic parishes and members of the Methodist Church and the Church of North India participated in the Prabhu Yeshu Janmotsav (Lord Jesus’s Birthday) festival on the evening of Dec. 8. “In its 59th year, the Prabhu Yeshu Janmotsav has grown into a beacon of unity and joy, bringing together people from all walks of life,” Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay told the gathering at Girgaum Chowpatty in Mumbai. This special occasion inspires us to be “messengers of peace and goodwill in a world yearning for healing and reconciliation,” the cardinal said.
Archbishop of Tokyo: An aging society like Japan’s will not be able to survive
Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo, who will be installed as a cardinal on Dec. 7, spoke to the Vatican new agency Fides about the present and future state of the country.
The archbishop said that “an aging society like Japan’s will not be able to survive,” pointing to the dangers of the country’s demographic winter.
Faced with this reality, he noted that the government “is hesitant to fully accept migrants” for fear of entering into territory never previously explored in Japan, a nation little accustomed to receiving migrants.
“Until now, Japan has been a remarkably homogeneous country. However, the reality is that without the presence of migrants, Japanese society cannot sustain itself. This is a fact. It’s true that migrants come in with different types of visas but, due to the reluctance of institutions, many of them are forced sooner or later to face bureaucratic problems related to their immigration status,” he said.
Kikuchi said that Japanese society often perceives migration as a “problem” and that even within the Church there is talk of the “immigrant problem.” The archbishop believes that this language reflects the “negative perception” of many Japanese about this reality.
Bishops reaffirm solidarity with Filipino migrants on death row
Bishop Ruperto Santos of Antipolo, the vice-chairman of the Philippine Bishops’ Commi-ssion on Migrants and Itinerant People, said that the Church is in solidarity with Filipino convicts abroad, Radio Veritas Asia (RVA) reported on Saturday.
“We continue to advocate for your rights and seek justice on your behalf,” Bishop Santos said in a message broadcast via Chur-ch-run Radio Veritas Philippines, while assuring them that they were not forgotten. According to the state-run Department of Migrant Workers, 44 migrant Filipinos are on death row – 41 in Malaysia, two in Brunei and one in Saudi Arabia.
Urging the Filipinos on death row to find strength in the knowledge that they are not alone, Bishop Santos emphasised that the entire nation is standing behind them, praying for them, and hoping for a “just resolu-tion,” of their cases.
The prelate made the remarks after Filipino woman Mary Jane Veloso, who spent 14 years on death row in Indonesia after being charged with drug trafficking, was reportedly being pardoned by Indonesian government.
Last week, Philippine Presi-dent Ferdinand Marcos confir-med that Indonesian authorities have approved Veloso’s repatri-ation to the Philippines, media reports say. Veloso was arrested in Indonesia in 2010 while carrying a suitcase lined with 2.6 kilograms of heroin. She was sentenced to death by firing squad.
The case of the mother-of-two sparked an uproar in the Philippines. Veloso’s family and supporters repeatedly claimed that she was innocent and had been set up by an international drug syndicate. Bishop Santos said Filipino bishops make renewed appeals to governments, particularly in Asia, to ensure the rights of migrant workers with due process and show compassion for those caught in legal battles.
More violence in Dhaka: Catholic school closed and Hindu leader arrested
St Gregory’s High School & Co-llege, a historic Catholic educational establishment in Dhaka founded in 1882. Located in the old city, it has closed its doors indefinitely after it was damaged from recent violence involving thousands of students, with at least a hundred injured, plus wi-despread destruction of its facilities.
At the same time, a leader of Bangladesh’s Hindu minority, the cleric Chinmoy Krishna Das of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), was arrested yesterday afternoon, at the capital’s airport, on charges of “sedition.” These two incidents say a lot about the early days of the country’s interim government under Muhammad Yunus. After more than one hundred days, it has failed to stop a rising Islamist wave against minorities, despite several attempts at reforms.
The Nobel Prize laureate who took over the country to lead it towards democratic elections is not living up to the hopes of those who thought that the flight of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, after 15 years in power, would allow Bangladesh to really turn the page, and build a country without discrimination and inclusive of all. On Nov. 24, around 5 pm, a mob of more than 500 unidentified people attacked St. Gregory’s High School & College. The attackers broke through the security fence, injuring two guards, Nazmul Haque and Suman Gomes, who were hospitalised. The crowd vandalised classrooms, shattered window panes, destroyed documents, and damaged CCTV cameras, even with explosives. Brother Placido Peter Ribeiro, the principal, expressed his dismay at the destruction. “This was a premeditated assault,” he said.
Korean, Japanese Catholics honour 17th-century martyrs
Catholics from South Korea and Japan have jointly marked the 400th anniversary of the martyrdom of two Catholics who were martyred for their faith in Japan.
Catholics from the Archdiocese of Daegu in Korea and the Archdiocese of Nagasaki in Japan joined the ceremony to honour Blessed Kaiyo and martyr Diego Koichi, at the St. Philip Cathedral in Nagasaki on Nov. 15.
Bishop Jonh Bosco Jang Shin-ho, vicar general of the Daegu Archdiocese, cele-brated a memorial Mass on the occasion concelebrated with Archbishop Michiaki Nakamura of Nagasaki. A group of Korean Catholic pilgrims, including priests, led by the Korean Women’s Association, joined the ceremony as part of their tour of holy sites in Japan. ”Let us join hands with the two martyrs and become one in love and forgiveness,” Archbishop Nakamura said in his homily. “Let us all become one in acce-ptance, prayer, and evangeli-zation to all.”After the Mass, a wreath-laying ceremony was held at the monument to the two martyrs in the 26 Saints Memorial Hall.
The Archdiocese of Daegu and the Archdiocese of Nagasaki jointly erected and blessed this monument in 2016.The two dioceses have maintained ex-changes for a long time. The common denominator is that they are the closest countries and the churches have grown based on devotion to the two martyrs.
Thailand’s Divine Mercy chapel brings Laudato si’ to life
The Divine Mercy Chapel in Bang Bo District, Samut Prakan Province, is being hailed as a landmark of environmentally conscious design that integrates faith and care for creation. “Root-ed in the principles of Laudato si’, the chapel is built as an energy-efficient structure that respects and celebrates the natural world,” said Fr. John Wirach Amornpattana, a Redemptorist priest overseeing the project. Speaking to LiCAS News, the priest described the chapel as a tangible manifestation of Pope Francis’ call for ecological conversion.
Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato si’ addressed the global environmental crisis, urging collective action to protect “our common home.” Fr. Amornpattana said the chapel’s construction reflects the document’s principles and aligns with broader sustainability efforts. “Beyond just advocating for ecological conversion,” he explained, “Laudato si’ aligns with the global move-ment toward sustainability, as articulated in the United Nations’ Sustainable Deve-lopment Goals (SDGs). However, we must remem-ber that true care for creation springs from our faith in God as the Creator.”
The Thai Catholic Church has embraced this mission, incorporating ecological awareness into diocesan projects, schools, parishes, and community initiatives.
Fr. Amornpattana pointed to widespread efforts to instill the idea that “the world is our common home,” inspiring collective action across various levels of society.
The Divine Mercy Chapel itself exemplifies this commitment. Designed with sustainability in mind, the building features a 12-meter-high ceiling and strategically placed wall panels to optimize light and airflow.