Category: From The States

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.

Ashes of the first Indian Catholic nun to be cremated were interned in her congregation’s cemetery in Kerala State on July 7, five days after she died of Covid-19 in New Delhi.

Sister Ajaya Mary, the Delhi provincial of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, died on July 2 in the church-run Holy Family Hospital in Delhi. She was 67.

A court in Kerala on July 13 created history by issuing non-bailable arrest warrant against a Catholic bishop, who failed several times to appear for trial in a rape case.

The Additional District and Sessions Judge in Kottayam on July 1 had asked Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar to be present in the court to stand trial for allegedly raping a Catholic nun multiple times.

A Kashmiri couple is in the process of buying a 97-year-old vacant church in America that they want to convert into a museum and library of art, culture and history of Kashmir.

Khurshid Guru, a robotic surgeon and his wife, Lubna Guru are buying the church at 650 Park Place in Niagara Falls.

“The couple will convert the place into museum of Kashmir art, culture and history which will have over 1,500 paintings, books and artifacts of Kashmir collected over the years by the couple,” sources close to the family said.

Guru belongs to Sopore town in Baramulla district of Kashmir, and he is the son of noted Kashmiri cardio-thoracic surgeon, late Dr Abdul Ahad Guru.

Dr Abdul Ahad Guru died in mysterious circumstances in Srinagar city on April 1, 1993. He was believed to be close to the separatist Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).

Sources said the couple is also buying two additional houses to provide residential space to visiting Kashmiri arti-sts, scholars and contributors.

Sources also said the colle-ction being displayed would be worth over US$2 million.