Category: From The States

Catholic bishops in the Hindi-speaking areas of India have decided to revise and expand Christian literature in their local language to make it relevant to the new generation. Some 30 Hindi-speaking bishops made the decision when they met on Nov. 5 in Indore city in central India’s Madhya Pradesh State. “We have our liturgy, prayers and Bible in Hindi, but that is not enough. We need to upgrade the language of prayers and expand the literature to make it more relevant and available to more people,” said Bishop Chacko Thottumarickal of Indore.

The region, known as the Hindi Belt, is covered by 50 of India’s 174 dioceses. The scattered Christian presence in the region forms less than one percent of the population. Organized Catholic missionary work began in the region in the 19th century.

Carmelite of Mary Immaculate Father Mathew Chandrankunnel heads Ecumenical Christian Centre (ECC), a Protestant-initiated institute in Bengaluru, capital of Karnataka State.

The centre was set up in 1963 by the late Reverend M. A. Thomas of the Mar Thoma Church to promote “unity among all humankind and creation.” ECC’s key focus is to empower people of various faith communities to lead a harmonious life with dignity.

Matters India Special Correspondent in Manila, Santosh Digal, conducted an email interview with Father Chandrankunnel about ECC programs and his experiences of interdenominational and interreligious work.

“In the monastery, I saw a painting of Jesus praying in the Gethsemane placed at a prominent place in their temple. Interacting with the Swamis enlightened me to look for the Divine beyond all religious traditions. I became a professor at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram after my studies abroad. I was asked to be in charge of the Centre for the Study of World religions, a post that helped me associate closely with the Indian religious traditions. It has pebbles collected from Haridwar, Himalayas, with Buddhist mandala, the five kosha’s of Indian philosophy, and three ponds with a broad fountain represents body, mind and soul as a continuum as well as Living Water’s Fountain.

Assurance from their bishop on November 2 prompted some Catholics to call of their protest demanding a probe into the alleged suicide of a priest.

Bishop Gerald Isaac Lobo of Udupi has promised to meet the protesters at 10 am on November 3 in their Our Lady of Health Church in Shirva, some 20 km south of the diocesan headquarters.

The parishioners launched the protests suspecting foul play in Father Mahesh D’Souza’s death.

The 36-year-old was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his room in Shirva on October 12.

Sunil Kabral, a leader of the protesters, said local parish priest Father Dennis D’Souza and police officers have requested them to meet the bishop in the parish on November 3. “So, we have dispersed from the church premises,” he told reporters.

Hasina Kharbhih, founder of a global program that tries to check human trafficking and exploitation worldwide, has received this years Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice.
Meghalaya – born Kharbhih received the award on November 3 at the Harmony International Conference in Mumbai.

The award given by the Harmony Foundation recognizes selfless and intrepid individuals and organizations who have channelized their energies and creativities towards social justice, peace and harmony.

Kharbhih has been working to provide sustainable livelihood in a safe environment for women and children for more than 30 year. She is the founder and managing director of Impulse Social Enterprises and founder chair of Board of Impulse NGO network.

In a letter to Kharbhih, the foundation said it acknowledged her relentless and passion-ate work and ongoing efforts to free the world from modern day slavery practices.

It saluted her for partnering with government and civil society groups to rehabilitate 72,442 survivors of human trafficking in northeastern India, Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Her success has earned her worldwide recognition reminiscent of the Emancipation Proclamation and 40 acres and a mule issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 and 1865, the foundations letter noted.

The reintegration program of the survivors into mainstream society by empowering them to live with dignity and equipping them with traditional skills for sustainable livelihood is highly commendable, the foundation stated.

The Rector Major of the Salesians of Don Bosco addressing a group of Salesians gathered at Siliguri in North Bengal said, “the greatest problem the Church faces today is not the scandal of sexual abuse of minors by its clergy, but the scourge of clericalism and power seeking by clerics.”

Rector Major, visitor from Rome, on his second visit to Kolkata province addressed the gathering in Italian. while Kolkata Provincial Father Nirmol Gomes translated into English.

The Salesian gathering consisted of Salesian Novices and professed confreres who numbered some 100 people.

“Clericalism is a disordered attitude of the clergy (priests and religious included),” the Rector Major explained saying, “it is an attitude of an excessive assumption of their moral superiority.”

When “Clerics feel they are superior, [and when] they are far from the people, clericalism shows up,” he warned.

Clericalism can be “fostered by priests themselves or by lay persons” — lay-people can fall into clericalism, by thinking that their contributions to the life of the Church are only second-rate, or that in all things, surely “Father knows best,” or that priestly virtue exhausts Christian virtue.”

Salesians of Don Bosco congregation consists of both priests (over 90 plus per cent) and lay brothers.

Rector Major explained further stating how clericalism is played out, “I am priest, have all the power, authority, the parish/institution is mine, lay people and women religious must obey me.”

“Sometimes some priests also take advantage of their position,” the superior general lamented.

Hindu groups have launched their reconversion move-ment targeting Christians in India’s Andhra Pradesh state, which church leaders say is a troubling move aimed at political gain.

Hindu seers and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders conducted massive prayers and rituals on October 20 at the popular Hindu temple in Srisailam town of Kurnool district in the southern state.

They later visited areas of socially poor Dalit and tribal people and made some 500 poor Christians take an oath to follow Hinduism, local reports said.

“It is a warning sign for all of us here as well as in other southern Indian states,” said Father Anthoniraj Thumma, who heads the Federation of Telugu Churches.

The reconversion movement started some three decades ago in central India, said Father Thumma, whose federation also covers neighbouring Telangana State.

Nearly 100,000 people from across north-eastern India, particularly Meghalaya State, attended the state funeral of Archbishop Dominic Jala in Shillong.

Archbishop John Moolachria of Guwahati, president of the North East India Bishops Council, led the Mass at the Cathedral of Mary Help of Christian, Laitumkhrah, down-town Shillong.

He was assisted by 15 archbishops and bishops from northeastern India other dioceses in India.

The mortal remains was brought to the Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians in Laitumkhrah on October 21 morning.

After the Mass, Archbishop Jala was laid to rest in a grave close to the Cathedral Church.

An anti-trafficking crusader nun in Chhattisgarh has done it again.

She has rescued two more teenage girls from the central Indian state who were sold to brothels in Pune and Goa.

The girls, aged 19 and 16, are siblings of a Bhil tribal family in the Kerasa village of Surguja district.

Traffickers exploit the tribe’s acute poverty, bemoans Franciscan Missionaries of Mary Sister Annie Jesus Mary, who helped rescue the girls.

The nun is the director of Jeevan Jharna Vikas Sanstha (JJVS, foundation for the progress of life stream) at Kansabel in Chhattisgarh.