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Asian Catholic responses to an evangelical presence

In this week of prayer for Christian unity, we are called to pay attention to the diversity of Christians as well as to their mutual relations. We explore here some of the ways through which Asian Catholics respond to the presence of evangelical Christians. Evangelical churches, which stress that one has to be “born again” to […]

Syro-Malabar synod fails to resolve violent row over the Mass

In what amounts to the latest failure to resolve an almost 25 year-old liturgical feud, a six-day meeting of bishops of the Syro-Malabar church concluded Saturday without any new consensus on how Mass ought to be celebrated. Centered in the southern Indian state of Kerala, the Syro-Malabar Church has more than four million followers worldwide, […]

Hindu mob attacks Catholic NGO staff on Indian train

A Catholic priest sought police protection for his non-governmental organization (NGO) in western India a few days after his staff members were attacked by Hindu nationalists on a running train alleging they were missionaries involved in conversion activities. Seven teachers of a Catholic NGO working in Dhule district in the western state of Maharashtra were assaulted […]

Tribal factor at play ahead of crucial elections in India

For the first time, tribal people in India are a much sought-after community as nine Indian states face elections this year, ahead of the crucial general election next year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek a third term. Tribal people can tilt the balance in seven of the nine states going to the polls […]

Indian parishioners stage stir to reopen Cathedral

Some 300 Catholics demonstrated demanding the reopening of a cathedral in southern India on Jan. 26, more than a month after police closed it following a violent clash between rival Catholics over a longstanding liturgy dispute. Police sealed the St Mary’s Cathedral Basilica in Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese in the Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church in Kerala last Christmas eve. […]

Indian-origin Jesuit introduces Vailankanni Mother in Indonesia’s Sumatra

An Indian origin Jesuit priest is credit for introducing to devotion to the Mother Mary of Vailankanni in the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Father James Bharataputra has been serving the Church in Indonesia for the past 50 years. The 84-year-old priest is credited with the construction of the Marian shrine “Graha Maria Annai Velangkanni” in […]

Women who lived as sex slaves to an Indian goddess

Dedicated to an Indian goddess as a child, Huvakka Bhimappa’s years of sexual servitude began when her uncle took her virginity, raping her in exchange for a saree and some jewelry. Bhimappa was not yet 10 years old when she became a “devadasi” — girls coerced by their pa-rents into an elaborate wedding ritual with […]

Indian Church hails menstrual leave for girl students

Christian leaders have hailed the move by a communist-led state government in India to introduce menstrual leave for female students in government-run higher education institutions. They, however, were skeptical of the state government’s plan to provide 60 days maternity leave to students aged 18 and above in southern Kerala state. “No doubt, the government’s decision […]