Narendra Modi created hist-ory on Dec. 23 when he became the first Indian prime minister to visit the headquarters of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) in New Delhi. The prime minister took part in the Christmas celebrations hosted by the bishops at the CBCI Centre premises. He also interacted with key leaders from the Christian community, including cardinals, bishops and prominent lay leaders of the Church. Addressing the program, Prime Minister Modi said Christ teaches love, harmony, and brotherhood and urged everyone to work towards streng-thening these values in society. He said attempts to spread vio-lence and cause disruption in society pained him. The prime minister stressed that only a hu-man-centric approach, as adopted by India, could take a 21st-century world to new heights. Citing the Christmas market attack in Ger-many and the 2019 Easter bom-bings in Sri Lanka, Modi said it is important to come together and fight such challenges. The prime minister recalled “a very satis-factory moment for me when we safely brought Fr Alexis Prem Kumar from war-torn Afghanistan a decade back.” Fr Kumar, a member of the Jesuit Refugee Services, was working in western Herat province of Afghanistan when gunmen took him into custody on June 2, 2014. It was PM Modi to announce the Jesuit’s release first through a tweet on February 22, 2015.
Church denies backing candidate in Indian state poll
Christians in Madhya Pradesh state in central India have slammed an order from the state’s child rights body asking children to seek written permission from parents to participate in school events. Father Thankachan Jose, an academician based in Jabalpur diocese, said the order holds “an ulterior motive” of targeting Christian-run schools in the state that has seen a rise in hate crimes against the community in recent years. “This is an indirect way of targeting Christmas functions in our schools where children dress as Santa clause, wear Christmas caps, and join other events linked to Christmas,” Jose told . In a Dec. 12 order, the Madhya Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights directed schools across the state to obtain the parents’ prior written permission before involving students in various events or activities.
The order also states that schools should seek parents’ permission before children wear different dresses or are even shortlisted to play different characters. “The administration is trying to harass us by issuing such an order close on the heels of Christmas,” Jose told.
Violence mars Christmas celebrations in India
Christmas celebrations were disrupted by violent incidents across India. Reports of attacks on Christians have come from Manipur in northeastern India, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab in the north, and Kerala, south. The violence was allegedly carried out by rightwing Hindu groups, or Sangh Parivar organizations, such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) and Bajrang Dal (Brigade of the stout). In one incident, a Pentecostal pastor was attacked by a man named Sonu Singh in Ludhiana, Punjab, on accusations of trying to convert people. In Rajasthan’s Jodhpur and Jaisalmer cities, activists unleashed violence against teachers and students of schools celebrating Christmas. In a bizarre incident at Indore in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, an employee of Zomato food delivery company, dressed as Santa Claus, was beaten up by the activists of the Hindu Jagran Manch (Forum for Hindu Awakening). The activists also released a video threatening Zomato workers. Violent incidents were also reported from Manipur, where ethnic clashes have raged since May 3, 2023. Widespread violence was reported in various parts of the state on Christmas Day, with firing in Sinam Kom village in the eastern part of the state capital of Imphal. In Kerala, three Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists attacked Christmas celebrations at a government school in Palakkad, leading to widespread protests. The violence has reportedly tarnished the Christmas diplomacy efforts of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state. The BJP Kerala leadership has demanded an investigation into the violence, which occurred on Dec 23, the same day Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated Christmas with Christian leaders in Delhi. However, several bishops have criticized the Sangh Parivar’s strategy of appeasement and violence, calling it “useless.”
Fresh hope for settling dispute in Indian Orthodox Church
An order from India’s top court has rekindled hope for settling a property dispute between two warring factions of the Oriental Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch, which is based in southern Kerala state. The Supreme Court, in its Dec. 21 order, told the Kerala state government to assess the facts while maintaining the “status quo with regard to management and administration of the churches, as it exists today.” The government in Kerala is finding it challenging to implement a 2017 Supreme Court order. The court awarded disputed churches to the Orthodox faction, but the state failed to implement it because of stiff opposition from the Jacobite camp, a breakaway faction of the Damascus-based Church. In early December, the top court told the warring Orthodox and Jacobite factions to share all public amenities at disputed church properties until a solution to their row could be found. The latest hearing was held on Dec. 17, but the top court released the order on Dec. 21.
The division bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan told the state government to furnish vital statistics “such as total number of faithful belonging to Orthodox and Jacobite denominations, churches under the control of each side, list of churches under dispute, composition of parishioners of these churches from village panchayat level.” The order also gave liberty to both parties to submit their parish registers before the court. “The state government of Kerala, however, is given the liberty to intervene as and when required in accordance with law in case of any dispute arising between them,” it further said. The top court was hearing a bunch of petitions challenging a Kerala High Court order that directed the state government to take possession of six churches in Ernakulam and Palakkad districts under the control of the Jacobite faction in compliance with its 2017 order.
In its Dec. 3 order, the top court held the Jacobite side guilty of contempt and directed it to hand over “only” the admini-stration of the six churches.
Seven Christians arrested for conversion in India
Seven Christians, including two pastors, have applied for bail in a court in a northern Indian state after they were arrested, accused of violating a sweeping anti-conversion law. “We applied for their bail at a local court in Sitapur in nor-thern Uttar Pradesh on Dec. 16,” said an activist extending legal help to the arrested Chri-stians. “Hopefully, they will get bail soon,” added the activist, who did not want to be named due to security reasons. Police in Uttar Pradesh arrested the Christians on Dec. 13 for allegedly violating the state’s anti-conversion law, which criminalizes conversion using force, coercion, undue influ-ence, or allurement.
The state government, run by the Bhartiya Janta Party, amended the law in 2024, allowing anyone to complain about a violation. Earlier, only a victim of conversion or close relatives could complain. Cha-kresh Mishra, superintendent of police in Sitapur, told the local media the police acted on the complaint and seized two mobile phones and religious books from the arrested people. Local media reports also accused Christians of luring local people with job offers and monetary benefits while they assembled in a house in Katsa-riya village for a prayer meet-ing. The reports said members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World Hindu Council) alerted the police, and its member Abhishek Kumar complained to the police that Christians were making dero-gatory remarks against Hindu deities.
Cardinal Poola celebrates Christmas with transgender community
Cardinal Anthony Poola has joined the transgender community of Hyderabad, a southern Indian city, to cele-brate Christmas that many say has sent a message of inclusivity and Christian love for the margi-nalized. “True Christmas lies in embracing the poor and ne-glected, offering them accep-tance and dignity,” said Cardi-nal Poola, the Archbishop of Hyderabad and a member of the Vatican Dicastery for Pro-moting Integral Human Deve-lopment. The December 18 celebration was organized by the Hyderabad Archdiocese Social Service Society (HASS). Cardinal Poola distributed certificates to transgenders who completed jute bag-making training programs facilitated by the society. He also presented sewing machines to women from Self-Help Groups and distri-buted Christmas gifts to all 93 transgender participants, along with members of the women SHG groups. “This semi-Chri-stmas celebration serves as a powerful testament to the Church’s commitment to inclu-sivity, spreading the message of love, hope, and dignity for all, especially those on the peri-pheries of society,” the cardinal added. The society director Father Madanu Anthony said the program was “a witness to the Church’s commitment to serving marginalized commu-nities.” Transgender community is among the most marginalized groups, often facing discrimi-nation and rejection and the cardinal’s gesture has sent out a “powerful message of inclu-sion and compassion,” Father Anthony added.
Priest runs restaurant with a mission in India’s Goa
British national Carl Cox was surprised to know St. Joseph Vaz Canteen, where he had just had some snacks and tea in old Goa, was run by a Catholic diocesan priest. “The snacks are delicious, and I was taken aback to find that a Catholic priest was running it,” the 32-year-old scientist working at a private firm in the UK, told. “This is my third time visiting Old Goa and the crowds are getting bigger and bigger here, revealing their deep faith in St Francis Xavier,” Cox said. As he spoke, his wife, Danica Pereira, 30, nodded approvingly with a smile. “The food served here in the canteen is typically Goan, tasty and spicy,” she says, as she collected some packed food from the counter. Cox, his wife, and father, Jeff Cox, 68, were visiting the western Indian state as part of their pilgrimage to witness the once-in-a-ten-year Exposition of the relics of St. Francis Xavier in the former capital of Portuguese-ruled India. Jeff Cox was sipping a fresh lime soda, just served to him by the waiter. “It is very fresh and cool,” he said with a smile. The canteen is named after St. Joseph Vaz, a Goa-born Indian missionary priest hailed for pioneering evangelization in Sri Lanka in the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
Wave of attacks during Christmas season worries Odisha Christians
A wave of violence against Christians in Odisha, eastern India, has raised alarm over citizens’ religious freedom guaranteed by the country’s Constitution. The latest incident occurred on December 26 in the Gabardhanpur village of Balasore district, where the members of the New Life Church were attacked while celebrating Christmas with a local family. According to Pastor Sadhu Sundar Singh of the Church, Gobinda Singh, a resident of Gabardhanpur, had invited him and his colleagues, Subhasini Singh and Sukanti Singh, to his home for prayers and Christmas celebrations. The gathering involved cake cutting and a shared meal. However, a drunken man from the village approached Gobinda Singh under the pretext of asking for food. Ignoring requests to wait, he rallied villagers waiting nearby and falsely claimed that religious conversion was taking place in the house. The mob attacked the gathering, severely beating Subhasini and Sukanti Singh. Their clothes were pulled, as the mob shouted accusations of forced conversion. Pastor Singh shared a video of the incident. In the video, a man named Badal Kumar Panda, wearing a white shirt and a tilak, introduced himself as the Block President of Devsena. He is seen pointing towards the women and saying, “I came here because these people are converting our people to their religion. We have been working tirelessly, turning our blood into water to preserve our religion, and these people are converting them. They are destroying our society. If anyone knows of such conversions happening in our area, please report them to us immediately, and we will respond without delay.” Though Gobinda Singh and his family denied the allegations, the group dragged them out and attacked them.
Research Patent Granted to Prof. Sanjose A Thomas
Prof. Sanjose A. Thomas, Head of the Department of Sociology at Theva-ra S.H. College, has been awarded a pa-tent for his research titled “How to Transform Emotiona-lity in Social Media for the Benefit of Society.” The Department of So-cial Sciences at Sacred Heart College is spearheading this innovative study. By utilizing new technologies, the research aims to redirect the use of social media towards areas that require urgent intervention, thus enabling it to be used constructively for the benefit of mankind. This is the first time a social scientist from Kerala has received a patent for re-search in the field of communication & media. The IQAC patent depart-ment at SH College, Thevara ex-pressed confidence that this timely research will help regulate the in-ternet usage of the new generation and thereby enhance their partici-pation in social lives. The proposed patent has the scope to transform social media activism in the 21st century and may redefine online culture both in terms of entertain-ment as well as information dissemi-nation.
Radio Salesian marks 9th birthday with listeners
The first college based community radio of Darjeeling Hills marked its 9th birthday with its listeners from a remote tea garden village. Operating from Salesian College Autonomous Sonada, Radio Salesian is a venture of Kolkata Salesians with its claim to be the only Community Radio of South Asia Salesians. “Radio Salesian 90.8 FM celebrated its 9th birth day with great enthusiasm, with a cake-cutting ceremony led by Marma Tea Estate listeners under the Mirik Sub-division last week,” says Program Coordinator Radio Journalist Samir Chhetri.
The event featured a joyous gathering of senior listeners and village elders who have been dedi-cated supporters of the station. Re-presenting Radio Salesian were Radio Journalists (RJ) including Program Director Sameer Chettri, along with RJs Moses Tamang, Pratap Rai, Wang Lama, and Bandana Lohagun, who were given royal felicitation by the villagers. The celebration also includ-ed the participation of listeners from neighbouring tea garden villages.
The station’s only female RJ, Miss Bandana Lohagun, said, “This anni-versary celebration strengthened the connection between Radio Salesian and its community of listeners, high-lighting the station’s ongoing co-mmitment to engage with its audience and be their voice.” Listeners from neighbouring tea garden villages also participated in the celebration.