Catholicos Aboon Mor Baselios Thomas I, the spiritual head of the Syrian Orthodox Church’s Jacobite faction in India, died on Oct. 31. He was 95. The prelate passed away while undergoing treatment for age-related ailments in southern Kerala state, where the Damascus-based Church has more than 2 million followers. Thomas, affectionately called Bava, “was an ardent supporter of ecumenical unity,” said Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, head of the Kerala-based Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church. “He led the Church in the most challenging period” and served the Church “even at the cost of his life,” added Thattil. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) said his death “has left a void in the Christian community.” “He was an iconic figure in the Indian Christian community, having completed 50 years of dedicated Episcopal service,” the bishops said. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the late prelate dedicated his life to the service of humanity. He made “unparalleled contributions to the growth of the Church,” Vijayan, the only serving communist chief minister in the country, said in his condolence message. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said the prelate was known for his compassion and commitment to the community.  The Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch was based in Turkey. However, after World War I, the patriarchate was transferred to Homs in Syria in 1933. In 1959, it was shifted to Damascus. In 1911, the Church in India witnessed a spilt over its leadership, which led to a protracted dispute over Church properties.  Thomas headed the Jacobite faction, which owed its allegiance to the Church’s head in Damascus. The rival Orthodox group’s supreme head is based at its headquarters in Kerala. In 2017, the Jacobite faction suffered a setback when, in a protracted legal battle, it lost almost all its temporal properties to the Orthodox faction.

A Church leader in India’s Manipur has expressed concern that the latest killings in a fierce gunfight between tribal Kuki militants and security forces may lead to “further escalation of violence” in the troubled northeastern state. At least 11 militants, who were described as “village volunteers” by their tribal body, were killed when security forces claimed to have “repulsed an attack on a police station” by them on Nov. 11. The fresh bout of violence will “increase animosities between rival groups” and “may jeopar-dize the federal government’s initiative to restore peace” in the state, the Church leader who did not want to be named due to security concerns told on Nov. 12.
Government sources said two personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were injured as the militants in camouflage uniforms and arm-ed with sophisticated weapons fired indiscriminately at the Borobekra police station in Jiri-bam district. The Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) condemned the killings of tribal men and denied the govern-ment’s claim that they were militants. The tribal body in a statement on Nov. 12 expressed deep sorrow over the “tragic loss of our 11 brave voluntee-rs.” The gunfight comes close after the burned corpse of a Kuki woman was found in the district last week. The woman was reportedly killed by Meitei gunmen in Zairawan village on Nov. 7. The ITLF claimed that “the CRPF personnel posted nearby refused to fire even one shot to help the villagers.”

Indigenous Christians face difficulties in burying their dead because of their faith in a central Indian state, according to Church leaders. “It is really painful to see villagers create obstacles in burying the dead,” said Protestant minister Jaldev Andhkury after he was released from jail for officiating the funeral service of one of his relatives in Bastar district in central Chhattisgarh state.  The 42-year-old Andhkury was among the seven people, inclu-ding six pastors and a deacon, arrested after they joined the funeral service of Pastor Iswar Nag, his cousin, in his ancestral village in Chhindawada villa-ge.  It is a custom among villa-gers in Chhattisgarh to bury their dead in ancestral villages even after their conversion to Christianity. Andhkury said their forefathers were buried in the village, but now villagers object to the burial of those who converted to Christianity. “The villagers opposed the burial on the plea that it would bring misfortune to the village and summoned the police. But, we still buried the body in the century-old graveyard,” Andh-kury told on Oct. 30, a week after being released from prison. The police summoned seven of us who prayed over the body and arrested us after accusing us of creating law and order problems, he said. They were released from prison on Oct. 22 after a local court accepted their bail pleas. The villagers, along with police, wanted us to exhume the body from the graveyard, but “we refused,” he added.

Various Church groups in Assam have demanded action against a rightwing Hindu leader who allegedly maligned Christians and tried to undermine religious harmony in the northeastern Indian state. On Oct. 27, Surendra Kumar Jain, the international joint general secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (world Hindu council), stirred a controversy by accusing Churches of drug trafficking. He reportedly asserted that Churches were linked to drug trafficking that contributed to the degradation of youth in the region. He made the remarks at a function to honour Joya Thaosen (1925-1944), a revered freedom fighter who died fighting the British, at KK Hojai Chatrinivas Building, Haflong, Dima Hasao District. The United Christian Forum of Dimahasou, the United Christian Forum of Karbi Anglong, and the Assam Christian Forum (ACF) on November 5 expressed “deep shock and dismay” over Jain’s “divisive remarks.” “We believe that [Jain’s] baseless accusations against the Church and the Christian community are not only harmful but seem to be a deliberate attempt to malign an entire faith community. His statements undermine the invaluable contributions of the Christian community to this region,” stated the Assam Christian Forum, an ecumenical group. The Christian groups regretted that the Hindu leader used a significant event as a platform to condemn and divide communities on religious grounds. “Jain’s comments are perceived as a dishonour to the rich legacy of Thaosen, who stood for unity and secular values,” they added. They said all communities of Dima Hasao and the country at large cherished Thao-sen’s legacy. They noted that Christians have played “a transformative role” in northeastern India from the pre-Indepen-dence era. The community has worked in areas such as education, healthcare, social welfare, literature, media, relief, rehabi-litation, and sustainable development, they claimed.

A newly inaugurated curia centre of Bagdogra diocese in Siliguri, serves health and wellness of local tea workers. The facility was blessed on November 9 by Archbishop Vincent Aind of Ranchi. “The building christened ‘Dishangan’ connotes direction, guidance, leading and nurturing; the kind of things which Jesus who is the ‘way and the truth’ came to do,” says Vicar General of Bagdogra diocese Fr Felix Pinto. Situated in Gulma area of Siliguri, the majority of the beneficiaries of the new facility are tea labourers surviving on meagre income from neighbouring tea gardens. “The focus of this centre is to improve the mental health of the community and to promote naturopathy, treatment with less of allopathy medicine and using more of traditional and non-intrusive health remedies,” adds Pinto. Through the Health & Counselling Centre housed in Dishangan, Fr. Anthres Toppo and Fr. Michael Kerketta are already giving counselling and reflexology treatment.

Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão, Pre-sident of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) and the Fe-deration of Asian Bish-ops’ Conferences (FABC), has been elected as a member of the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod. The election took place on October 23, 2024, during the 15th General Congregation of the Synod of Bishops. The Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat is responsible for the preparation and implementation of the Ordinary General Assembly. The Members of the Ordinary Council take office at the end of the Ordinary General Assembly that elected them; they are Members of the next Ordinary General Assembly and cease from their mandate at the dissolution of the latter. The Council, chaired by the Holy Father Pope Francis, is an integral part of the General Secretariat.

The Holy Father Pope Francis has made new appointments to four Indian dioceses, naming Fr. Thomas D’Souza (54) as the Bishop of Vasai in Maha-rashtra, Fr. Ambrose Pitchaimuthu (58) as the Bishop of Vellore in Tamil Nadu, and Rev. Anthony Das Pilli (51) as the Coadjutor Bishop of Nellore in Andhra Pradesh. Additionally, he has transferred Bishop Paul Simick (61), previously the Apostolic Vicar of Nepal, to serve as the Bishop of Bagdogra. The appointments were announced on November 9, 2024.

Pope Fran-cis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Antony Pappu-samy, 75, from his duties as the shepherd of the Archdiocese of Madurai, appoi-nting Bishop Antonysamy Savari-muthu, 63, of Palayamkottai as the Apostolic Administrator. This transi-tion marks a new chapter for the Archdiocese, which Archbishop Pappusamy has led with dedication and pastoral care since 2014. Known for his humility, warmth, and deep-rooted faith, Archbishop Pappusamy has left an indelible mark on the lives of the faithful and his fellow clergy. His compassionate approach allowed him to connect personally with those he served, transcending titles and roles to form a spiritual family. His legacy, defined by empathy and devotion, will continue to inspire the Church well beyond his tenure.