Around 40 nuns engaged in fighting human trafficking in India spent three days at a Church media institute learning various forms of media that they could use in their mission. The October 3-5 workshop aimed to equip the AMRAT (Asian Movement of Women Religious against Human Trafficking) members with media knowledge so that they can report crimes against women and children, including trafficking, to the authorities, said Holy Cross Sister Regina Rozario, the project coordinator in the movement’s national team.

The AMRAT is part of “Talitha Kum” (“Little girl, I say to you, get up”), the international network of consecrated life against trafficking in persons. The October 3-5 training that focused on digital storytelling and cyber safety was conducted at the Media College of NISCORT (National Institute of Social Communication, Research and Training) managed by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, at Vaishali, on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border. The participants came from various women congregations that serve in the regions of Bihar, Delhi, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, North East, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.

In the last week of August, floodwaters swept through parts of India’s mountainous Jammu and Kashmir region with unprecedented, unimaginable force. In Hindu-majority Jammu, villages like Mandal, Akalpur, Akhnoor, Bari Brahmana, and Samba, families watched helplessly as homes were damaged, food stocks ruined, and entire neighbourhoods submerged. 

Within hours, hundreds of people were forced to abandon everything and take shelter wherever they could find space. By the time the waters began to recede, at least 165 families had lost their homes and belongings. Hunger and fear gripped the survivors.

The difficulties faced by flood-affected people prompted the Catholic Social Service Society (CSSS) of Jammu to step forward. With the support of Caritas India, the Church agency launched emergency relief efforts on Aug. 31, barely three days after the floods struck. The team was led by Father Senoj Thomas and included a small group of staff and a dozen volunteers who quickly mobilized to reach families before conditions worsened. Food was the most urgent need for victims as many spent days with little food. Food ration kits came to them as a lifeline.

Each family received rice, wheat flour, cooking oil, salt, sugar, pulses, spices, biscuits, and even a packet of Nutri, a nutritional supplement that many mothers use to prepare meals for children. These kits contained enough items for families to live on for two weeks, giving them enough time to recover and rebuild some stability after the chaos of the floods. The CSSS carefully reached out to the affected family and ensured they were treated with dignity throughout the process. Lists were prepared in advance, names were called, and distribution happened in an orderly way.

At the start of the Hindu holy month of Shravan in late July this year, banners appeared in parts of Goa declaring that “Goa bans beef” for the entire month. The order issued by a Hindu group had no official sanction, yet it carried weight.

Shravan, dedicated to Lord Shiva, is traditionally a period of fasting and abstinence for devout Hindus. Many refrain from meat altogether, and beef — considered taboo by orthodox Hindus — is especially sensitive. This time, the observance took on a sharper edge. The self-styled “gau rakshaks,” or cow protectors, began conducting extrajudicial checks on cattle and beef transporters. Their vigilance led to a sudden shortage of beef across the state.

Since 2022, when the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) returned to power with a coalition government, such shortages have become more frequent. In December 2024, ahead of Christmas, beef traders went on strike after repeated attacks by cow vigilantes. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, a loyalist of the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS or National Volunteers Corps), has been outspoken in his endorsement of right-wing Hindu groups.

“Earlier, people used to come to Goa for the sun, sand, and sea,” he said at an event organized by the Goa-based Sanatan Sanstha, which backs the BJP’s idea of a Hindu Rashtra. “Now they visit Goa’s beautiful temples, culture, and villages. This is Goa’s culture.” Sawant added that the state should not remain a “bhoga bhoomi (land of enjoyment)” but become a “yoga bhoomi (land of yoga).”

Beneath Goa’s postcard-perfect beaches, a deeper contest is unfolding — but that is not about whether Goa should retain any Christian identity.

More than 2,000 people have protested against the recently passed Rajasthan Religious Conversion Bill, 2025. The protesters, who gathered at Shaheed Smarak (Martyr Memorial) Park in the state capital of Jaipur on October 5, urged the governor not to sign the bill the Rajasthan assembly passed on September 9.

They also asked the chief minister to stop criminalizing prayer meetings and to take action against hate campaigns targeting Christians, indiatomorrow.net reported October 6. The bill reportedly aims to prevent religious conversions using force, fraud, allurement or coercion, punishable with steep penalties, including life imprisonment. Those returning to their “ancestral religion” have been exempted from the law.

The protesters came together under the banner of the Coordination Against the Religious Conversion Bill, 2025. More than 20 organizations, including the Jaipur Christian Fellowship and Rajasthan Christian Alliance, participated. They resolved that minority communities would continue their state-wide protest until the bill is withdrawn. The central slogan of the gathering was: “Honourable Governor, please refuse to sign this unconstitutional bill and refer it to the President!”

Plans were announced for state-wide rallies, meetings, and signature campaigns in every district of the northwestern Indian state against the bill. Hundreds also signed a memorandum submitted to the governor. Another memorandum was presented to the chief minister. The memorandum documented 13 attacks in seven states in the past 20 days. Protesters demanded protection of fundamental religious rights for Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs, and others. Police were urged to stop declaring Christian Sunday prayer meetings as “crimes,” a move that has caused panic in the community. The protesters condemned repeated attacks on prayer meetings by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) and Bajrang Dal members. They criticized the state police for registering cases against clergy and devotees instead of protecting them.

A top court in the western Indian state of Goa has upheld the right of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman to administer its schools, as guaranteed by the rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution. The Goa bench of the Mumbai High Court delivered the order on Oct. 3, made public on Oct. 8, while hearing a petition filed by the Diocesan Society of Education (DSE), the educational arm of the Archdiocese.

The DSE had challenged directives issued in 2024 by the Goa Directorate of Education, which required that staff appointment orders in diocesan schools be authorized by the government agency, rather than the DSE chairman. The DSE, being a minority, “is not bound to follow the procedure prescribed” in the directives, the bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Nivedita Mehta stated. 

The Indian Constitution guarantees the rights of religious and linguistic minorities to manage and administer institutions for the benefit of their people. That right “imposes no such limits or restraints, except to ensure quality education,” the court said. The Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, which operates 138 primary to higher secondary schools, contested the directive, arguing that it curtails the archdiocese’s autonomy in managing its schools. The court quashed the education department’s directive and revived DSE’s autonomy to make appointments, initiate disciplinary proceedings, and exercise administrative control over its schools. The state holds the power to prescribe teacher qualifications and maintain educational standards. The DSE had also challenged specific rules of the education department, which it said curtailed its autonomy in running the schools.

Salesian College (Autonomous), with campuses in Sonada and Siliguri, has extended its support to students, faculty, and families affected by the recent landslides that have ravaged the Darjeeling hills and surrounding regions.

The landslides—triggered by relentless rainfall—have disrupted life across Darjeeling, Mirik, Kurseong, and nearby areas, leaving many displaced and distressed. The college leadership has assured its community that no student will be left behind in this time of crisis.

“Our prayers and thoughts are with all those enduring the difficulties caused by these landslides,” said principal Father Babu Joseph in his message. “Salesian College stands united with our students and staff from the affected regions. We understand the distress many are facing and assure every possible support—academic, financial, and emotional—during this recovery period.”

The college has activated its Office of Student Affairs and departmental heads to reach out to students from impacted areas. Measures include flexible attendance policies, extended submission deadlines, and rescheduled examinations. Counselling and pastoral care teams are also on standby to offer emotional and spiritual support. Father Joseph emphasized that the institution’s mission goes beyond academics. “We are a community rooted in faith and fraternity. In moments like these, our commitment to accompaniment becomes our most vital offering.” The college has urged students and families in need of assistance—academic, administrative, or personal—to contact the college office or their department coordinators without hesitation.

Around 700 Christians from across the National Capital Region observed the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2 praying for India. The ecumenical event – “Pray for India – Pilgrims of Hope” – at the downtown Convent of Jesus and Mary was part of the Jubilee Year 2025 celebrations of Jesus Christ. The Delhi Commission for Ecumenism organized the event that highlighted the Catholic Church’s commitment to fostering peace, unity, and dialogue in a diverse society.

Archbishop Anil J.T. Couto of Delhi, who inaugurated the event with a prayer, recalled Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of non-violence, social justice, and care for the marginalized. He encouraged participants to translate prayer into concrete acts of compassion, saying, “We keep alive the Father of the Nation’s dream by coming together to pray for India.” His words set the tone for a day of reflection, unity, and spiritual renewal.

Archbishop Kuriakose Bharanikulangara of the Syro-Malabar Eparchy of Faridabad prayed for unity, harmony, and reconciliation, while Auxiliary Bishop Deepak Valerian Tauro of Delhi prayed for Christian institutions schools, colleges, and hospitals invoking God’s blessings so they may continue to serve as centres of learning, healing, and service.

Leaders from Orthodox, Protestant, and Evangelical Churches reinforced the spirit of Christian fraternity, reflecting the day’s ecumenical essence. The highlight of the program was the chanting of the Nicene Creed in Syriac by Father Afilash of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, commemorating 1,700 years of the historic symbol of Christian unity.

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Most. Rev. Elias Frank as the new Archbishop of Calcutta. The announcement was made today in Vatican.

Rt. Rev. Elias Frank was born on 15 August 1962 in Bantwal, Karnataka, and belongs to the Diocese of Mangalore. He completed his early education in Modankap and Shillong before entering priestly formation at St. John Mary Vianney Minor Seminary in Barasat and later studied philosophy at Morning Star Regional Seminary, Barrackpore. He pursued his theological studies at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome, where he also earned a licentiate and later a doctorate in Canon Law. Ordained as a priest on 23 April 1993 for the Archdiocese of Calcutta, he served in several parishes including Sacred Heart Church in Burdwan and St. Therese of Lisieux in Durgapur. He also contributed as a judge at the Inter-Diocesan Tribunal in Kolkata. Academically accomplished, Bishop Elias Frank has served as a professor of Canon Law in Rome since 2007 and is a visiting professor at the Alfonsian Academy. He has published books and scholarly articles, and held roles as an external judge and consultor for Vatican dicasteries.

A state government in southern India has issued a set of new guidelines to curb discriminatory practices based on caste and ethnicity in schools, drawing applause from several quarters, including the Church. The Tamil Nadu state school education department, in a circular last week, said teachers found promoting caste or communal sentiments among students would face a probe and disciplinary action. The guidelines have been recommended by the single-member committee of retired judge K. Chandru of the state’s Madras High Court, amid rising concerns over the rise in caste-related violence in educational institutions.

The panel was appointed after a brutal attack on a teenage boy and his sister by their schoolmates from the dominant caste in August 2023, at Nanguneri village in the state’s Tirunelveli district. “Students of Dalit [formerly untouchable] or lower castes are often discriminated against or face even physical harm in educational institutions,” said Father Z. Devasagaya Raj, former secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India’s office for Dalits and backward classes. Dalits are considered the lowest in the caste hierarchy within India’s Hindu society, and many Dalits have converted to Christianity and Islam over the decades. Some 60 percent of India’s 25 million Christians are said to be of Dalit and indigenous tribal origin. According to the last national census held in 2011, some 201 million of India’s 1.2 billion people belong to these socially deprived groups.

A woman with an intellectual disability, known only as Sangeetha, was abused by a group of lorry drivers and abandoned at Nelyady, a town in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Some Catholic nuns noticed Sangeetha roaming the town and brought her to their convent.

Sangeetha prompted the Sisters of the Imitation of Christ, also known as the Bethany sisters, to open Asha Bhavan (abode of hope), a home for disabled and abandoned women, at Ichilampady, an interior village near Nelyady, which is approximately 230 miles west of Bengaluru, the state capital.

Didi was the second woman the nuns picked up. Since they did not know her name, the nuns called her “Didi” (elder sister). When Global Sisters Report visited the centre on August 1, Sangeetha and Didi, both Hindus, shared their traumatic experiences and sang together, revealing their improved state of mind.

Sister Bhagya Thalichirayil, Asha Bhavan director, said that women’s empowerment is their congregation’s main charism, sharing that Asha Bhavan is among 29 centres her century-old Syro-Malankara congregation manages for disabled and abandoned women in various parts of India.

“Like Sangeeta, we have picked up several women from places where truck drivers usually stop for their food, rest or bath,” said the 49-year-old nun, who prefers to be called by her first name. Truck drivers plying long routes on highways often pick up destitute women and girls and drop them at various locations after sexually exploiting them. Asha Bhavan has 31 such residents. The Bethany leader said they have 369 mission centres for catechesis, women’s empowerment and rural development, in addition to special schools for children with intellectual and physical disabilities. They also conduct programs for migrant workers, form disaster response teams and provide trauma-informed pastoral care.