Father Francois Laborde, a French Jesuit who spent decades among the poor of Kolkata, was buried on December 28 in a parish in the capital city of West Bengal.
Fr Laborde was considered the inspira-tion behind French author Dominique Lapierre’s “City of Joy,” a novel on the slums of Calcutta (now Kolkata).
He died of old age illness on Christmas Day in a hospital in Midnapore, near Kolkata, He was 93.
Archbishop Thomas D’Souza of Calcutta led the funeral services on December 28 at Saint John’s Church.
“Father Laborde worked silently and with great humility among the poor for more than 55 years. Religion, caste and creed did not matter to him as he reached the poorest of the society,” said Archbishop D’Souza in his condolence message.
According to the prelate, the Jesuit priest was always just a call away. “And when praised, he would humbly say, he was just doing God’s work,” added Archbishop D Souza.
Born on February 28, 1927, François was educated up to the baccalaureate with the Jesuits. After a year of philosophy at the Sorbonne, he joined the Prado institute in order to become a priest among the excluded and the poorest.
It was in Paris, his hometown, that his proximity to the poorest was awakened. He was then 9 years old. Coming from a petty bourgeois family, he suddenly discovered that his best friend lives in an even less favoured situation.
“When I was invited to his home for the first time, I was amazed. His family lived on the sixth floor and he slept on a folding bed in a loft. A few days earlier, he had left my house crying… Since that day, I understood that it was necessary to go to the poor in order to understand them.“
In one such visit, Father Laborde met Doctor Sen, who later extended a helping hand. “I took a sick child to him and when I offered him money, he got angry. He said it was inhuman to charge money from the child and I knew I got a friend,” Laborde added. Now that Lapierre is unwell, Laborde has a message for his friend. “I have heard that Lapierre is very unwell. All I want for him is a speedy recovery,” he said.
In 1969, Lapierre came to Kolkata to research his book. Father Laborde literally walked Lapierre hand-held through the alleys of poverty and distress in Pilkhana and other slums for his groundwork for ‘City of Joy.’

The Archaeological Survey of India has begun the restore the four-century old silver casket that houses the relics of Saint Francis Xavier at the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Old Goa. The casket, which was last tended to in 1698, has been braving the elements within the basilica, which is part of the UNESCO declared heritage complex. Old Goa was once the capital of the Portuguese maritime empire and an important trade center. The restoration began on December 9.
Back in 2018 a team of three specialists was dispatched from “Opificio delle Pietre Dure e Laboratori di Restauro di Firenze” (A restoration laboratory in Florence, Italy), to study the artifacts from May 27 to June 3, 201. They had called for attending to the casket mas a top priority or it would fall apart within the next 10 years.
“The ASI Chemical Branch from Aurangabad, who are specialists in conservation, have taken the initiative under the mandate from ASI Dehradun to commence the work to conserve and restore the Mastrillian Casket. The negotiations began long back, ever since ASI Delhi ordered that the treatment be done by their specialists in India. The work will be done at the Basilica itself under strict security and will commence from December 10,” Father Patricio Fernandes, the Rector of the Basilica of Bom Jesus, said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee greeted the people on Christmas after attending services at a church in the city. Banerjee attended Christmas services at the Cathedral of The Most Holy Rosary in Kolkata and interacted with the people.
“The beauty of Bengal is that we celebrate all festivals, spreading peace, joy, and happiness. Christmas festivities have already started every-where in great spirit,” she said. “Merry Christmas to all of you once again,” she added.
Governor Jagdeep Dhan-khar also greeted the people of the state on Christmas. “Let’s spread message of peace and joy and illuminate lives of others,” he said.
The governor said Opposi-tion leader in state assembly Abdul Mannan and minister Firhad Hakim met him at Raj Bhavan separately to greet him on Christmas.

With Christmas just over a week away, Arch-bishop of Bombay Cardinal Oswald Gracias on Dece-mber 15 sounded a note of caution, asking churches and parishioners to follow the guidelines in place in view of the pandemic.
Issuing a slew of guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for churches across the diocese for Christmas, Cardinal Gracias reminded the Council of Deans and the parishioners that Section 144 is still in effect in the city and an assembly of over 200 people is not permitted. Police have made no relaxations in this regard, he added.
“People expect a Mass on Christmas Eve. The government and police have permitted Mass inside the church, however, please stay in touch with your local police station,” wrote Card. Gracias, in a communication addressed to the Council of Deans, parish priests and priests in-charge.
He said “more than one Vigil Mass may be celebrated in our churches” to ensure guidelines on gathering are followed. “Similarly, the number of Masses on Christmas morning can be increased, and we are encouraged to have Mass on Christmas evening, too, for those who cannot come in the morning.”

Pope Francis has appointed Arch-bishop Joseph Kalathiparambil of Verapoly as a member of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples for five years.
This is the second time the 68-year-old Indian prelate joins the congregation. Earlier, he had served the commission for five years from 2011, says a press note from the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India.

Pope Francis on December 28 promoted Bishop Victor Lyngdoh of Jowai as the archbishop of Shillong in the northeastern State of Meghalaya.
The appointment was made public at noon in Rome, corresponding to 4:30 pm in India.
Shillong archdiocese, the mother diocese of the Catholic Church in north-eastern India, was without a leader after the death of Salesian Archbishop Dominic Jala on October 10, 2019, in a road accident in the United States. Archbishop Jala, 68, was the first prelate from the Khasi tribe, one of prominent ethnic groups in Meghalaya.

A post card campaign was launched on December 10, the human rights day, to seek the release of Jesuit Father Stan Swamy and those allegedly accused falsely in the Bhima Koregaon case
Under the campaign, the “Friends of Fr Stan Swamy” planned to send as many as 100,000 post cards to India’s Prime Minister and home minister demanding the immediate release of the 83-year-old Jesuit and others imprisoned in the case. The campaign also wants the draconian Unlawful Activities Prohibition Act (UAPA).
In Kolkata, eminent human right activist Sujato Bhadra opened the campaign by signing the first post card at Ranu Chayya Manch, near the historic Victoria Memorial. Before signing the card, Bhadra explained how the UAPA has been abused for vested interests.
He was accompanied by Kriti Roy, secretary of Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM, Bengal human rights protection front), the organizer of the event in Kolkata.
Jesuit human right activist Father Irudaya Jothi, one of the coordinators of the campaign, explained the reasons for the nationwide program and how it was planned nationally.
Father Jothi welcomed the Jesuit collaborators, teachers, students, parents and alumni of the hundreds of the Jesuit educational institutions who have joined the campaign.
The Jesuit food right activist in West Bengal expressed the hope all who value human rights would join the campaign transcending religion, caste, creed, gender and ethnicity.

A Catholic leader in India’s Madhya Pradesh State sees a political ploy in a government move to criminalize interfai-th marriages that involve reli-gious conversion.
Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal, based in the state capital, said the state government’s proposal aims to appease the majority Hindu community rather than address any real issue.
Leaders of the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which runs the state government, said that during the legislative session starting in December they plan to make legal provisions to stop Hindus from becoming Muslims and Christians for marriage.
State chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accused Christian missionaries of converting indigenous people while addressing gatherings in Umaria and Barwani districts, which are dominated by indigenous people.
He also advised missionaries not to offer their services in the hope of converting beneficiaries to their faith.
Madhya Pradesh is among states with strict laws to check religious conver-sion through allurement or force as punishable offenses. The law, ironically named the Freedom of Religion act, was enacted in the state in 1967.
The government has not yet released the bill’s draft to reveal the quantum of punishment and other details. It is also unclear if the government plans to amend the Freedom of Religion Act or to enact a separate law.
Rameshwar Sharma, the state assembly’s speaker, said the government plans to scrap quota benefits meant for women of lower castes or tribal people if they changed their religion and married Muslims or Christians, media reports said.
Archbishop Cornelio told UCA News on Nov. 30 that the Catholic Church is not involved in conversion “through force or allurement” and it “was wrong to paint” the Church’s charitable work as a facade for conversion.
“If the allegation was true, the Christian population would be much more than what it is today,” he asserted.