India is among top ten countries where most attacks on Christians were reported in 2019, according to an international persecution watchdog organization.

“Violence against Christians has surged globally, with data showing more than 9,000 attacks on churches in 2019,” reports Open Doors, which claims to be the world’s largest outreach to persecuted Christians in the most high-risk places.

On January 15, the Washington-based organization published its 2020 “world watch list top 10” mentioning North Korea as the worst country for persecution of Christians. India comes at the tenth place and Afghanistan the second. The others are: Somalia 3, Libya 4, Pakistan 5, Erirea 6, Sudan 7, Yemen 8 and Iran 9.

Christians, the organization says, are one of the most persecuted religious groups in the world and are oppressed in at least 60 countries.

“The data found that a startling 14,645 Christians were physically or mentally abused, with the majority of that activity occurring in India, China and sub-Saharan African countries where a myriad of jihadist groups aim to create instability,” the organization noted.

At least 8,500 Christians were raped or sexually abused for reasons related to their faith, a number that should be regarded as the tip of the iceberg, since most sexual harassment happens behind closed doors and is, therefore, more difficult to accurately track, it added.

St Anne’s Girls’ High School Ma-ndar, near Ranchi, won the National Inter-School Band Competition 2019-2020 in the girls’ category. Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of School Education and Literacy organized it on January 23 at Thyagaraj Stadium, New Delhi.

Church leaders in India have welcomed Pope Francis asking Cardinal Oswald Gracias to continue as the Bombay archdiocese. “It is good news. We welcome the cardinal’s extension as the Archbishop of Bombay,” Bishop Allwyn D’Silva told Matters India on January 28, responding to the Pope’s decision.

Cardinal Gracias had on November 30, 2019, submitted to the Pope in person his resignation from the archbishop’s post as he was to complete 75 years on Dec. 24 the same year.

A letter from the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples to Cardinal Gracias says the “Holy Father has asked you to continue ‘donec aliter provideatur (until other provision is made).”

The congregation’s on Dec. 6 letter expresses its gratitude to the cardinal for what he is doing for the service of the Church in Mumbai, in India and the Universal Church. “Permit me to add my own personal esteem and affection,” said Cardinal Filoni Fernando, prefect of the Vatican congregation.

Bishops of India’s eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church have urged the federal government to clarify amendments made to the country’s citizenship law on Jan. 11, a day after the new law came into force. The prelates’ call came during their ongoing Bishops’ Synod, the Church’s top decision-making gathering, at their headquarters in Kochi city in southern Kerala State.

Of the 64 bishops, 57 are attending the Jan. 7-15 Synod.

India’s federal government led by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party amended the Citizenship Act of 1955 on Dec. 11, 2019.

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) aims to grant citizenship to illegal migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan if they are not Muslims. The new law also relaxes the requirement of residence in India from 11 years to five years for such migrants.

Since the amendment, the country has witnessed wide-spread violent protests seeking to scrap it on the grounds that it violates the secular fabric of the country as it was biased against Muslims.

“The secular character of our constitution shall not be under any doubt,” he said, explaining the reason for bishops seeking clarification. The bishop also urged the government to grant citizenship to refugees in the country with-out any religious discrimination.