Asian Bishops conference has appointed Bishop George Pallipparambil of Miao Diocese, Arunachal Pradesh, to lead the Office of Evangelization in Asia for a period of three years starting from 1 January 2020.

The appointment of Bishop PK, as he is fondly called by the people around the North East Region, comes close on the heels of the appointment of Cardinal Tagle of Manila Philippines as Prefect of Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples by Pope Francis.

Calcutta, the oldest Salesian province in India, on December 15 announced the appointment of a Santal priest as its 17th provincial. The communique said, “The Rector Major, Fr Angel Fernandez Artime, has appointed Fr Joseph Pauria, the present Vice Provincial, as the 17th Provincial of the Province of Calcutta.” Father Pauria was born on January 14, 1965, at Azimganj in Murshidabad district of West Bengal to Thomas and Rita Pauria.

Jesuit Father Felix Raj, vice chancellor of St Xavier’s University, Kolkata, on December 16, was given the Hall of Fame award of Australia for his outstanding contribution and lifetime achievements in the field of education and management. The award was given at the International Conference on “Frontiers in Accounting” organized jointly by the Institute of Certified Management Account-ants, Australia, and the Indian Jesuit university.

“The ICMA Australia applauds the ground-breaking value creation and achievements of Father Felix Raj,” D’Souza said while presenting the award to the Jesuit priest. He said his institute was honoured to induct Father Raj to the global Management Accounting Hall of Fame for his services to the profession in India.

India plans to end the practice of nominating representatives of Anglo-Indians in its parliament, shocking the mostly Christian group that traces its ancestry to the British.

The federal government, led by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Dec. 9 presented a bill to amend the constitution, aiming to end the provision of reserving two seats in the national parliament and one seat each in 14 state legislatures to Anglo-Indians.

“This has come as a tremendous shock to all of us,” said George Baker, who was one of two nominated Anglo-Indian members along with Kerala’s Richard Hay in the 2014-19 parliament.

However, the BJP government, which began its second stint in May, did not nominate any Anglo-Indians in the 545-seat national parliament.

“It is astounding that we have no stake in decision making,” Baker told ucanews. “Everyone in this country has representation. The only community that does not have a voice in law-making bodies is the Anglo-Indian community,” he said.

The term Anglo-Indian now includes descendants of all British, Portuguese, Dutch or other European men and women who had married Indians or settled in India. They also include some English-speaking Christians whose families have adopted European lifestyles for centuries.

India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his home minister Sardar Patel in “recognition of our services to the nation introduced the special representation,” said Glen Galstaun, a sitting Anglo-Indian member of the Jharkhand State legislative assembly.

“We fought for the country even before and after independence. We served the defines forces and other government departments selflessly.

“Our men played crucial roles in India-Pakistan wars. An Anglo-Indian regiment of the Indian army contained the mutiny in Punjab, immediately after India’s partition.”

Sacred Heart Sister Rose Tom, a gynaecologist, has been conferred with ‘International Human Rights” award for 2019 for her healthcare services in interior villages of Arunachal Pradesh.

The Delhi-based International Human Rights Council gave the award on December 9 at a function held in the India Islamic Centre Auditorium in the presence of invitees from all over the country and abroad.

Sister Tom, a native of Kerala, has more than 33 years of experience working in various parts of India. She has worked for the past four years at the Krick and Bourry Memorial (KBM) Hospital in Injan village of Changlang district, Arunachal Pradesh.

“I am totally humbled by this honour,” said the 67- year-old nun told.

A Canada-based Catholic humanitarian group has come forward to support the education of children of the Kandhamal survivors in Odisha, eastern India.

“Faith without work is dead,” said Al Basilo, operations head of the Answering the Cry of the Poor (ANCOP) International Canada, at a gathering of 522 such children who gathered at Catherine’s Girls’ Convent, Raikia, a major parish in the Kandhamal district of Odisha.

The area comes under the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar. Basilo said they started ANCOP as the social arm of the Couples for Christ to fulfill its responsibility to build the Church of the poor. “I am really inspired to know the sacrifice of Kandhamal people who witnessed Christ even unto death,” he told.

“The persecution, killing and murder just because you are Christian are indeed very sad and unfortunate. I want to listen to the children of Kandhamal survivors,” said Basilo, who was visiting India for the first time.

The Association of Franciscan Families of India (AFFI) organized a national training for priests and nuns for effective evangelization through social media at St Fidelis College, Lucknow. As many as 72 members of AFFI along with secretaries of other religious congregation attended the Dec. 1-4 intensive hands-on training on “Social Media and Communications,” said Capuchin Father Nithiya Sagayam, national co-ordinator of AFFI and organizer. Explaining the rationale of the seminar, Father Saga-yam said that the AFFI through its nationwide network of 50,000 members working in various fields through 125 provinces is involved in the socio-economic and cultural uplift of people. The secretaries, administrators and executives of these provinces and institutions are aware of these by their network.

The Religious in India offer their might towards the nation-building through committed apostolate of education, health care and social uplift of the poor and the marginalized. But keeping up with their simplicity and unassuming character by avoiding advertisement, popularity and seeking name and fame, their activities are not known to the world at large, said the priest.

A local bishop in India has voiced his objection to a proposed new anti-conversion law in the State of Uttar Pradesh.

The UP State Law Commission on submitted a report to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath suggesting a new law to check “forcible religious conversions.” The head of the commission, Justice Aditya Nath Mittal, was quoted in local media as saying that “existing legal provisions are not enough to check religious conversion and on this serious matter, a new law is needed like in 10 other [Indian] states.”

The proposed law would increase the punishment for “forced conversion” to seven years if the convert is under 18 or belonging to one of India’s Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes, who have traditionally been on the bottom of the country’s society. Bp Gerald John Mathias of Lucknow told Crux the law is not needed.

“The Catholic Church is always against any ‘forceful conversion.’ Forced conversion is a contradictory term; if anyone is forcibly converted, he or she is not actually converted. Unless there is an internal conversion, there is no conversion. There has to be a conversion of ‘heart’ for any real conversion. If a person is not ready to accept Christ, or is unwilling to accept Christ, no amount of force, can convert that person,” the bishop said. He said the Church has seen a “spurt in incidents against the Christians.”

A secretariat march organized by the Joint Christian Council in the Kerala State capital to press for a Church act drew a massive crowd.

The march on November 28 was held under the aegis of the ecumenical All Kerala Church Act Action Council (AKCAAC) that has demanded the enactment of the Kerala Christian Church Properties and Institutions Trust Bill.