Cardinal Oswald Gracias, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, says consistent dialogue with all sections of people is important and necessary to maintain unity and harmony in society.

“Dialogue is the tapestry of different cultures, languages and ethnic diversity and the Church has always stood for service of society,” the cardinal, who is also the Archbishop of Bombay, told a press conference on February 12, the eve of the bishops’ conference’s 34th biennial plenary session.

The February 13-19 meet at the St John’s Academy of Medical Sciences has chosen the theme “Dialogue: The Path to Truth and Charity.”

Cardinal Gracias called for a variety of dialogues, particularly cultural dialogue for the whole country.

As a new decade begins, the Catholic Church in India will move forward to dialogue with all groups in society. This could include civic bodies, government and non-governmental organizations so as to create a peaceful and a harmonious environment for all to live as true citizens of the rich land, India, the cardinal said.

The cardinal, one of the six consultants of Pope Francis, assured all Indian citizens that the Church in India would continue to live the gospel values of peace, joy and harmony and always work for the whole humanity.

“I place into the Lord’s hands this plenary assembly and pray that the fruits of the week-long deliberations may inspire us to continue to build bridges, first by under-standing the other person and then walking along with him/her, irrespective of his caste, creed and colour.”

Asked about the novelty of the theme, the cardinal said the plenary had the same theme 20 years ago and it might come up again. The Church wants to give an impetus and vitality to this theme with more networks to improve the dialogue, he said added that the Church looked forward in dialoguing for anybody having anxiety as the Church is second to none for many services.

Catholic Church leaders in Kerala have expressed apprehension about the state’s communistled government proposing a new law on the burial rights of Christians.

The proposed law has several aspects that need clarification to ensure that it does not end up obscuring the rights and freedom Christians currently enjoy, Cardinal George Alencherry, major archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, said in a statement.

The head of the Eastern-rite Church was responding to the draft Kerala Christian Cemeteries (Right to Burial of Corpse) Bill, 2020, that the government presented in the state legislature on Feb. 6.

The law primarily aims to address the burial rights that Christians of two warring factions — Orthodox and Jacobite. Their century-old quarrel over ownership of land and churches has often resulted in each faction denying access to the other, even to cemeteries to bury their dead.

The dispute has intensified since 2017 when the Supreme Court gave ownership to the Orthodox faction. Since then, the Orthodox faction has denied Jacobites access to cemeteries where the ancestors of both factions are buried.

Apostolic Nuncio to India Archbishop Giambattista Diquattro on February 13 urged Catholic bishops in the country to lead their people in proclaiming the good news through joyful services.

Nearly 200 bishops representing 174 dioceses in India are currently attending their biennial plenary assembly at Bengaluru’s St John’s Academy of Medical Sciences. Speaking at the opening session, the nuncio conveyed to the good wishes and blessings of Pope Francis to the participants while calling for effective and dynamic leadership for better service to the people.

The nuncio led the inaugural Mass presided along with Cardinals Oswald Gracias, George Alencherry and Baselios Cleemis. The Theme of the February 13-19 assembly is “Dialogue: The Path to Truth and Charity.”

The nuncio said all are called to foster harmony and peace in society. The nuncio also assured the bishops that he would convey to the Pope their filial greetings. He appreciated the services rendered by various Catholic organizations under the leadership of the local bishops.

Catholics are called to spread inner joy like light in the world and it can come only from God, says Justice Kurian Joseph, former Supreme Court judge.

“Wealth, power, or positi-ons cannot remove darkness; only God’s light can remove darkness,” Justice Kurian told opening session of the 36th annual convention of the Catholic Association of Nagaland on January 31 at Dimapur, the commercial capital of the northeastern Indian State.

The three-day convention has chosen as the theme, “Be the light that shines in the darkness.” It began with Mass led by Bishop James Thoppil of Kohima.

Justice Kurian, who was the chief guest, commended the joyous nature of Naga people and said he was fortunate to be in the land of festivals. “Unless you are joyful, you cannot have festivals,” said the native of Kerala State who was on his maiden visit to Nagaland.

A delegation of Christian and Muslim leaders in Odisha on February 13 met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to thank him for sanctioning funds to improve pilgrimage centres in the eastern Indian State.

A day earlier, Patnaik sanctioned 160 million rupees to minority religious institutions which will be disbursed by the state’s Special Problem Fund during the financial year of 2019-2020.

The money is to improve amenities at pilgrimage centres, such as building community halls. The delegation that met Patnaik comprised around 60 representatives of Christian and Muslim communities.

“We are grateful to you for the concern and financial support for the development of pilgrim amenities,” Fr Prasanna Pradhan vicar general of the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar told Patnaik on behalf of the Christian community in the state. The chief minister also granted 10 million rupees each to the Kendrapara Fakirabad Markaji Masjid, Bhadrak Puruna Bazar Jama Masjid, Sambalpur Paltan Masjid, Sambalpur Saint Joseph’s Cathedral (Catholic), Berhampur Bhapur Bazar Jamia Masjid, Giriroad Berhampur Odia Baptist Church, Rourkela Bishop Missionary (Catholic) and Rajgangpur Sunni Jama Masjid.

It’s not enough to talk about violence against women only. Voices have to be raised against atrocities on minorities and the marginalized as well, and anyone who is feeling insecure in the current circumstances, when even something as basic as citizenship is coming up for questioning. This was the rhetoric at the three-hour One Billion Rising program organized by the Loreto nuns at Allen Park on January 31.

An Indian woman with 31 fingers and toes combined is suffering stigmatization at the hands of her neighbours and had to resort to staying indoors to avoid being called a witch.

According to the BBC, Kumari Nayak, 63, is set to enter the Guinness World Records for having the most digits in the world – 19 toes and 12 fingers. She beats previous record holder Devendra Suthar, who entered the record book in 2014 – with 14 toes and 14 fingers.

From 2016 to 2019, Indian Christians have faced 1,774 cases of hate crimes across 25 states and 3 Union Territories, says Persecution Relief report.

In other words, India witnessed 59.6 percent rise in hate crimes against Christians during the same period, says Persecution Relief’s much-awaited “Annual Report-2019.

Persecution Relief is an ecumenical forum that records Christian persecution in India. In 2019 alone, the forum documented 527 cases compared to 447 cases in 2018, 440 in 2017 and 330 in 2016.

It was a drastic leap of 179.4 percent.

Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, emerged as the most hostile place for Christians for three consecutive years.

Tamil Nadu continues at the second spot with 75 cases, followed by Karnataka, 32 cases, Maharashtra 4 with 31 cases and Bihar with 30 cases at number 5.

What stands out among the hate crimes in India is that four Christians were murdered in 2019.

In the same year, the forum recorded 199 incidents related to threats, intimidation and harassment against Christians, 104 attacks on churches, 85 incidents of physical violence, 100s of house churches forcefully closed by religious fanatics and the local administration in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

The anti-conversion law was introduced in two states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — Jharkhand and Himachal Pradesh making a total of 8 out of 28 states to have passed the same law.

The Persecution Relief started in 2017 a toll-free number 1800-1234-461 to provide comprehensive support to the persecuted.