An organisation of Indian-American Christians has thanked US President Donald Trump for raising the issue of religious freedom and the plight of minorities during his talk with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying political tranquillity is fundamental to economic progress.

The Federation of Indian American Christian organisations in North America (FIACONA) said it “truly hopes” that the Indian government would respond positively to the concern expressed by the president that would be in the best interest of the country. Asked specifically about allegations that Muslims are being subjected to discrimination and there have been rising cases of hate crime in India, Trump in New Delhi on February 25 said: “We did discuss that and specifically Muslims. We also discussed Christians.”

“I had a very powerful answer from the Prime Minister. We talked about religious liberty for a long period of time in front of lot of people. I had a very very powerful answer I think,” he said.

Reacting to the remarks of Trump, president of FIACONA Koshy George said: “Although we lack any substance from their discussions, we are encouraged to see that the president took the opportunity to include the issue of religious freedom as a priority item at these important bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Modi.”

Despite the best efforts to showcase India in a positive light, the world is also watching the ongoing violence “as a result of the policies enunciated by the current BJP regime,” said John Prabhudoss, chairman of the FIACONA.

“Political tranquillity is fundamental to economic progress, and by promoting the policies that drive the country towards majoritarianism and intolerance, the Modi regime may be jeopardizing the prosperity of its ordinary citizens,” he said.

“We call upon the Prime Minister to uphold India’s constitution that guarantees freedom of conscience and religious freedom to every Indian,” Prabhudoss said.

As India prepares to welcome its newest saint, a controversy over his name and its relationship with the Hindu caste system has come to the fore.

A Vatican decree announced a miracle had been approved for Blessed Devasahayam, clearing the way for his canonization.

However, when Devasahayam was declared a Blessed in 2012, the name used was Devasahayam Pillai.

The discrepancy is due to protests that Devasahayam allegedly never used Pillai – which signified his caste – after his conversion from Hinduism in 1745.

After his conversion, Devasahayam suffered severe harassment and persecution – including beatings and imprisonment – until he was finally shot and killed in 1752. His body is now at Saint Francis Xavier Cathedral in the Diocese of Kottar.

Earlier this year, Bishop J. Mark Spalding of Nashville visited India to express his thanks and gratitude to the families and religious order superiors of the 11 Indian priests living and serving in his diocese.

“Since I’ve been bishop, every priest from India has invited me to go to their home country and experience India and see their Catholic homeland,” Bishop Spalding said. “Out of respect for their good work and service in the diocese, I made the decision to go.”

“I wanted to visit with the families of the priests serving in the Diocese of Nashville and thank them for their sharing of their son, their brother, their uncle,” the bishop told the Tennessee Register, Nashville’s diocesan newspaper.

He also wanted to visit with the superiors of the religious orders of the Indian priests in Nashville. Six of the priests are members of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, four are members of the Missionaries of St Francis de Sales, and one is a Franciscan.

“The presence of all our foreign-born priests allows us to do a lot of things in a lot of ministries,” Bishop Spalding said, including having them in the two diocesan high schools as well as serving as chaplains for various ministries and Catholic Organizations, he said.

“Three, I wanted to see Catholic India,” Bishop Spalding said.

His visit on January 15-29 took him to the State of Kerala, which has the largest Catholic population in India and is where St Thomas the Apostle landed when he first brought Christianity to the country.

Catholics make up little less over 1 percent of India’s total population, but 22 percent of the population in Kerala, explained Father Thomas Kalam, a Carmelite of Mary Immaculate, who is associate pastor of Our Lady of the Lake Church in Hendersonville, Tennessee. He helped Bishop Spalding by arranging his itinerary for the trip and served as his guide.

An advocacy group for progressive Catholic religious nuns, brothers and priests in India has asked top Church bodies to oppose openly laws that try to divide citizens in the country.

“The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR) are divisive, discriminatory and draconian,” the Forum for Justice and Peace, known as Forum, stated on Feb. 24 at the end of their 14th national convention in Varanasi. Around 50 members of the 500-strong group of priests and nuns working among grass-roots groups met on Feb. 22-24 at Vishwa Jyoti Gurukal to address the theme, ‘Prophetic Response to the Signs of the Times.”

The group describes the citizenship laws as unconstitutional and “obviously part of a larger strategy” to establish a fascist state based on the ‘Hindutva’ ideology. It says the controversial laws have caused discontent forcing hundreds of thousands of women, men and youth to protest all over the country. The CAA, the group says, uses religion that goes against the “secular fabric” of the country.

One of the six members of Pope Francis’ advisory Council of Cardinals has acknowledged a bias among the members of the Catholic Church’s all-male hierarchy against giving women more leadership roles, saying he and his peers must “shed this prejudice.”

In an NCR interview, Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias called himself a “convert” to the cause of women seeking more opportunities for responsibility in the global institution.

Mentioning women through-out the world “who are doing so much” for the church, the cardinal said women “want an apostolate, want to work for evangelization, want to give leadership in the church parish community.”

“We have not applied our mind to it,” said Gracias, adding: “I admit there’s been a prejudice against giving them greater responsibility, and we must shed this prejudice.”

“I hope we are able to examine carefully, discuss carefully how they can have greater responsibility,” the cardinal continued, before quickly correcting his choice of words.