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India’s minorities get the raw deal in budget allocations

It is an open secret. There is no love lost between India’s religious minorities and the federal government led by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). When Muslims, the largest minority that makes up 14.2 percent of the nation’s 1.4 billion people, needed a healing touch they got a budgetary shock in the form of […]

Catholics seek reinstatement of sex-accused bishop in India

More than a thousand Catholics joined a rally on Feb. 5, demanding the reinstatement of a bishop in the southern Indian state of Karnataka who is facing allegations of sexual abuse and financial mismanagement. The Vatican appointed Retired Archbishop Bernard Moras of Bangalore the apostolic administrator of Mysore Diocese last month, after announcing that Bishop Kannikadass A William of […]

Nun who survived train accident cares for abandoned children

Sister Ambika Pillai is seated at a table while answering the children’s questions around the table, all busily creating decorations out of colored paper. Pillai, a member of the Daughters of Our Lady of the Garden, is the secretary of Navjeevan (New Life) Children’s Home in Khandwa, a town in the central Indian state of […]

Virginity test on Catholic nun unconstitutional: Delhi Court

The Delhi High court has declared a virginity test conducted on a Catholic nun as part of a probe into the murder case as “unconstitutional.” “The virginity test conducted on a female detainee, accused under investigation, or in custody, whether judicial or police, is declared unconstitutional and in violation of Article 21 of the Constitution […]

Pakistan mosque blast scares Christians

The suicide blast at a mosque in Pakistan, claiming the lives of 101 people — mostly policemen — and injuring more than 220 on Jan. 30, has set alarm bells ringing among the country’s Christian groups. The blast in Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, bordering the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, is the deadliest since twin suicide […]

Corruption, freedom suppression plague Asian nations

Governments in multiple countries in the Asia-Pacific region suppressed basic freedoms and civic space amid rising authoritarianism and high level of corruption, says a new report from Transparency International (TI). Afghanistan, Cambodia, Myanmar, and North Korea are ranked among the worst Asian nations to curb civic space and basic freedoms, according to the Corruption Perception […]

Vietnam diocese buries 700 aborted foetuses

A diocesan pro-life panel in southern Vietnam celebrated a special requiem Mass and burial for 700 aborted foetuses on Jan. 29 where participants dedicated themselves to raising awareness of human dignity in the communist nation where students lead the pack in seeking abortions. Led by Xuan Loc diocese’s pro-life committee, the special Mass at Bac Hai Church […]

Chinese Christians start prayer campaign amid state purge

Members of a Protestant House Church in northern China, forcibly shut down last year, launched a prayer campaign for the well-being of detained pastors, leaders, and their family members amid a government crackdown, says a report. Five prayer requests were sent to the members as the authorities in the Yadou district of Shanxi province have […]