From The States

New archbishop appointed for Hyderabad

Pope Francis on November 19 transferred Bishop Anthony Poola of Kurnool to Hyderabad as its archbishop. The Pope also accepted the resignation of Archbishop Thumma Bala of Hyderabad, who reached the bishops’ canonical retirement age of 75 in April 2019. Archbishop Bala headed the archdiocese for 9 years since 2011. Bishop Poola was born on […]

Assam Christians mourn death of former chief minister

The Christian community of Assam joined social and political leaders to mourn the death of Tarun Gogoi, a former chief minister of the north-eastern Indian State. Gogoi, who was Assam chief minister for three terms died on November 23 while undergoing treatment at the Gauhati Medical College Hospital for post-Covid complications. He was 84. The […]

Exhibition of paintings by Capuchin priests concludes

An exhibition of paintings by Fr Joby Maryson Capuchin and an exhibition of pen sketches by Fr R.V. Capuchin was held at Kerala Lalithakala Acadami in Thrissur from 30 April to 5 May 2018. Fr Joby Marson Capuchin, an ardent admirer of mural paintings, show-cased about 12 sets of pictures of the Saint Francis of […]

Pope defrocks Indian priest

Pope Francis has dismissed from priesthood the former spokesperson of the Catholic Church in the central Indian State of Madhya Pradesh. “Now, with regret and pain I wish to formally communicate to everyone that by an official decree from our Supreme Pontiff Pope Francis, dated 22 October 2020, Anand Muttungal (Joseph M.T) of the Archdiocese […]

Rape, murder suspected in Indian Christian woman’s death

“We believe a fresh post-mortem will be able to establish our charge,” said Minakshi Singh, general secretary of Unity in Christ, a forum of Protestant churches based in New Delhi. Venus said her sister’s body was on the bed. “Bloodstains were found on her leg, and one of her shoes was filled up with blood. […]

Indian state nods to record tribal religion in national census

The Jharkhand State government in eastern India has conceded to a long-standing demand to allow tribal people to record their Sarna religious faith in the upcoming national census. State chief minister Hemant Soren’s administration passed a resolution on Nov. 11, allowing a special column for Sarna religious followers to record their faith in the 2021 decennial […]

Cross demolished, temple set up in Indian village

A cross was demolished and a makeshift temple set up some 200 meters away in a village in India’s Chhattisgarh State, Christian leaders said. The concrete cross on a hillock in Madanpur village in Korba district was popular among Christians living in the village and its nearby areas for more than two decades. They gathered around for […]

Indian court rejects religious conversion for marriage

A court in the northern Indian State of Uttar Pradesh has rejected religious conversion for marriage and personal benefit, describing it as un-acceptable. While dismissing a petition filed by a couple, Allahabad High Court found that a Muslim woman had converted to Hinduism and later married as per Hindu rituals within the span of one […]

Eviction-facing Indian Catholics to fight Muslim charity’s claims

Goans oppose tourism project near 16th century basilica