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.
Bishop George Pallipparambil of Miao on February 4 reminded young Catholics that they are the “now” of the Church called to serve society and the nation.
“In every state we have had some heroes and heroines who stood against all odds for the growth of the Church in this region. We need such people today more than ever in our sociopolitical context,” the Salesian prelate told the general body meeting of the North East Regional Youth Council held at Social Forum, Guwahati.
The grand assembly of Catholics in Mangaluru region on February 2 drew more than 30,000 people from three rites who reiterated their allegiance to India and its Constitution while asserting their Christian faith.
Bishops and Catholics belonging to the Latin, Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara rites attended the rally that show cased the community’s unity and strength in the region.
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.
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.
The Synod of India’s eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church has appealed to the Kerala State government to end discrimination against Christians in distributing benefits intended for religious minorities.
The Synod’s call came in the concluding statement issued on Jan 15. Of the 64 bishops, 57 attended the Jan. 7-15 assembly at Church headquarters in Kochi, the state’s financial capital.
The bishops’ said 80 per-cent of the federal grants meant for religious minorities “went to one minority community (Muslims), and the remaining 20 percent is divided among the other five minority communities in the state.”
Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Parsis, and Jains are classified as minorities who together make up 20 percent of India’s 1.3 billion people. Some 80 percent of Indians are Hindus.
The federal government offers individual grants for education, scholarships, and tuition, among other things aiming to improve the socioeconomic development of religious minorities.
Police have confirmed the murder of seven tribal people, at least one of them Christian, four days after they were reported missing from their village in eastern India’s Jharkhand State. The seven, who opposed the Pathalgadi movement for autonomy, were kidnapped on Jan. 19, reportedly by rivals, and murdered, official Murari Lal Meena told media on Jan. 23.
Starting mid-January, 1,157 young people will have an opportunity to give back through civil service volunteering. Salesians per il Sociale (Salesians for Social) coordinates the Universal Civil Service in Italy and other countries, which enables youth to have these life-changing volunteer experiences.