Login      Register  
Subscription

Sikh leader calls for countering conversion to Christianity

A top Sikh leader on June 6 expressed concern over churches and mosques being built in large numbers in rural Punjab and urged Sikh preachers to reach out and counter this trend of conversion, particularly in the state’s border areas. Akal Takht (seat of power) acting jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh said at his customary address […]

Late Indian Jesuit honoured with rights ‘Nobel Prize’

Father Stan Swamy, the late Indian Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist, has been posthumously awarded the Martin Ennals Award, regarded as the Nobel Prize for human rights defenders. Eighty-four-year-old Father Swamy, who was arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case and died in custody in July 2021, was accorded the honour by the Martin Ennals Foundation […]

Catholic priest kidnapped, robbed in Karnataka

A Catholic priest says he has not overcome the trauma of kidnap and robbery even a week after the incident. “I am alive today only because of God’s grace. I was afraid the gang would kill and bury me at a place that nobody would find out,” says Father Dominic Pulickapadavil, a member of the […]

Filipino prelate gets another top Vatican post

Pope Francis has appointed Manila’s former archbishop Cardinal Luis Tagle as a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Cardinal Tagle’s appointment, along with several other leading churchmen including Myanmar’s Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, was announced by the Holy See’s press office on June 1. The Congregation for Divine […]

India is facing a firestorm over ruling party officials’ comments about Islam. Here’s what you need to know

India is trying to contain the diplomatic fallout as outrage grows in the Muslim world following derogatory comments made by ruling party officials about the Prophet Mohammed. The United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Oman, and Iraq are among at least 15 Muslim-majority nations to have condemned the remarks, which were described as “Islamophobic,” with several countries […]

Thailand just decriminalized cannabis. But you still can’t smoke joints, minister says

On June 9 Thailand  became the first country in Asia to decriminalize cannabis — but tough penalties will still apply to those who use the drug to get high, according to the minister who spearheaded the change. Speaking to CNN in an interview ahead of the move, Thai Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said he expected […]

One-on-one with priest leads Japanese atheist to baptism

Kazuhiro Sasahara met the priest suggested by his Catholic wife, a member of Kitami Church on Japan’s island of Hokkaido One-on-one with priest leads Japanese atheist to baptism Kazuhiro Sasahara was born into a family of the Buddhist Jodo Shinshu sect but considered him-self an atheist. Because his wife, whom he met as a student, […]

Rights supporters urge authorities not to arrest activist Sri Lankan nun

Activists called on Sri Lankan authorities not to arrest an activist nun who has supported anti-government pro-testers. Sister Mary Sonali of the Congregation of the Apostolic Carmel was summoned by police June 7 to record a statement about an arson attack. Shehan Malaka Gamage, a social activist and national convener of the Coalition of Catholic […]