The Public Affairs Commission of the Syro Malabar Church urged the Kerala government to take immediate action to protect farmers, farms and livestock from wildlife attacks. “It is not in the interest of a civilized society to ignore the cries of farmers and their families who are losing their lives due to wildlife attacks,” said Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, chairman of the Public Affairs Commission of the Oriental Church.

“The increasing presence and invasion of wildlife is creating more crises to the existing miserable living conditions of ordinary farmers and the crisis in the agricultural sector. In the hilly areas, almost everything the farmers cultivate are destroyed by wild boar, elephants and monkeys.

Sister Nichole, a member of Missionaries of Charity, died on Ranchi on July 27. She was 61. At least five nuns of the congregation died of Covid-19.

Sister Nichole, who develo-ped mild headache and sleep-lessness, was tested positive and admitted in the Constant Lievens Hospital and Research Centre.

“The nun had been in the forefront to distribute food packets to the poor during the lockdown,” Missionaries of Charity Sister Sebastino, the former regional superior of Ranchi region, told Matters India on July 28.

Her funeral was held on July 27 at the congregation’s burial place in Doranda, near Ranchi, capital of the eastern Indian State of Jharkhand. The nuns in Doranda convent are now under quarantine. She is the third Missionaries of Chari-ty nun and the Indian woman religious to die of Covid-19. Others are:

1. Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister Ajaya Mary.

2. Maria Bambina Sister Michael Serrao in Dibrugarh, Assam.

3. Maria Bambina Sister Florence Kurisinkal in Dibru-garh, Assam, on July 21

4. Missionaries of Charity Sister Mukta in West Bengal.

5. Missionaries of Charity Sister Sienna from Jharkhand’s Gumla diocese.

A group of Christians was brutally attacked by a gang of religious goons at midnight on July 21. The attack took place in the eastern Indian State of Odisha in a village named Badaguda in Koraput district.

Speaking to Persecution Relief, Ayuba Khora, the local Pastor said, “The goons broke into the home of 75-year-old Chachiri Muduli, who was housing around 7 odd Chris-tians after their homes had been broken down earlier this year by the same fanatics. The goons not only mercilessly beat the Christians up but also destroy-ed the house.”

He further added, “Eight Christians in all were admitted to the local government hospi-tal with severe injuries, of which the elderly Chachiri had the worst wounds.”

Ayuba told Persecution Relief that he had been running a house church at the Badaguda village for the past two years. Around 40 Christians used to gather to pray every Friday. Since then, the villagers have been harassing and beating up the believers saying, “When you pray, our gods leave us, so you have to stop praying here or you must leave this village.”

A Hyderabad-based Mont-fort centre for human rights has launched a livelihood pro-gram for those who have lost their livelihoods because of Covid-19.

The first group to benefit from Montfort Social Institute (MSI) project, launched on July 21, is transgenders who lost their traditional occupa-tions such as begging and sex work after India imposed the lockdown on March 25.

The institute also works for sustainable development and good governance education.

Five members of the co-mmunity have started making and marketing ginger-garlic paste, an essential kitchen in-gredient, said MSI director Montfort Brother Varghese Theckanath.

The effort is well received by households that find the hygienically prepared product better than what they get from markets, Brother Theckanath told Matters India.

“Perhaps MSI is one of the few organizations related to the Catholic Church working with Transgenders in India.

As Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc all over the world bringing nations to its knees; we hear stories human resilience of against odds.

Stories narrate how healthcare workers sacrifice lives to save others, individuals cook food to feed hungry elderly in the neighborhood forced to remain indoors. Some make masks to distribute free. We read about policemen delivering birthday cakes to scared children, and essential drugs and commodities to the sick forced to remain indoors during the lockdown.

But there are ordinary humans who take the shape of angels at times.

One such person is Jinil Mathew, who hit headlines by saving a snake-bit toddler with his courage and presence of mind.

The media reported about a family in Kasargod district of Kerala who had arrived from Patna on June 21 and were in quarantine since then at Vattakayam village. Their 1.5 years old girl was bitten by a viper on July 21 night when the toddler stuck her hand out of the bedside window. Her father Jeevan discovered the potentially lethal incident.

The scared parents rushed out of their home shouting for help in the wee hours. Their alerted neighbors only dared to crowd outside their home. Jinil Mathew, a headload worker, rushed in ‘like an angel,’ the child’s father narrated later. ‘I’ll always call him an angel because he saved my daughter.’

As fear and confusion persist about burying Covid-19 victims in some parts of India, the Kerala-based Syro-Malabar Church has formed squads to give a dignified burial to people dying from the pandemic.

As Covid-19 began to claim lives in the southern Indian state, several burials led to disputes as ill-informed villagers opposed burials, fearing the spread of the disease from buried bodies.

Confusion about safety, non-availabi-lity of undertakers and an inability to dig graves 10 feet deep as per government norms often resulted in Catholics not having a Christian burial.

“We want to ensure a dignified burial to all Catholics and formed volunteer groups in every diocese to assist the parish priest in burying those who die of Covid-19,” said.

The Eastern-rite Church has 35 dioceses across the world with close to five million faithful, but 18 dioceses and some four million Catholics live in Kerala.

Fr. Kavilpurayidam told UCA News on July 27 that the Church has asked all its dioceses to form burial squads – if needed, in parishes too – to help Covid-19 victims “get a decent and dignified burial.” The volunteers are trained to handle bodies as per Covid-19 protocols to ensure that “we follow government guidelines strictly,” he said.

One such burial was that of Varghese Pallan, a 72-year-old Catholic of Irinjalakuda Diocese, on July 26. He was buried with all customary funeral prayers and in compliance with government protocols at St Thomas Cathedral Church on the same day he died.

Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of Kerala is opening a YouTube chanel to bring devotional music nearer to liturgical music; through its latest YouTube channel, ‘Sacred Music.’ It’s a new venture of the Sacred Music department of the archdiocese which recently published its first song and got viral.
Hundreds of devotional songs are released every year in Malayalam language. However, only a few among them can be used for Holy Mass and other sacraments. In this context the Archdiocese has come up with the great venture to coordinate its efforts to differentiate liturgical music from devotional music on a popular platform like YouTube. The activities and uploads are being coordinated by the Sacred Music department of the archdiocese.

In July, 2020 the channel released its first song, a choral singing as its main attraction. Church singing groups are usually called choirs, as are small, professionally trained groups. All efforts will be taken to keep the choral singing simple with no compromise on its standardsm, said Fr Ebey Edassery, the present director of the Sacred Music channel. After all, such music complements the liturgical celebration as per all the Catholic Church documents regarding liturgical music, including Sacrosanctum Concilium.

Pope Francis sent a message to this year’s Catholic Media Conference (30 June-2 July), organised by the Catholic Press Association. The event was held via teleconferencing for the first time, centred on the topic ‘Together While Apart.’

In his message, the Pontiff notes that the pandemic is evidence of how essential the media are in keeping people united, but only if they are “capable of building bridges, defending life and breaking down the walls.”

The theme of the conference “expresses the sense of togetherness that emerged, paradoxically, from the experience of social distancing imposed by the pandemic. Indeed, the experience of these past months has shown how essential is the mission of the communications media for bringing people together, shortening distances, providing necessary informa-tion, and opening minds and hearts to truth.”

What is more, “our communities count on newspapers, radio, TV and social media to share, to communicate, to inform and to unite. E pluribus unum– the ideal of unity amid diversity, reflected in the motto of the United States, must also inspire the service you offer to the common good.”
“We need media capable of building bridges, defending life and breaking down the walls, visible and invisible, that prevent sincere dialogue and truthful communication between individuals and communities.”

Madurai archdiocese and Si-vagangai diocese in Tamil Nadu, southern India, have mourned the death of a catechist who served the Church for 51 years. Brother Santiago, as fondly he was called, who was from Melakavanoor village and parish, Ramnad district, passed away on July 5. He was 78. Almost all priests were sad because they could not participate in his funeral Mass.