Category: From The States

A nation consultation, “We too are Church,” is being organized as a response to the various challenges and crises facing the Church in India.

The initiative by Catholic lay people is an attempt to implement “the far reaching teachings” of the Second Vatican Council, says a press note from consultation coordinator chhotebhai, a former president of the All India Catholic Union.

Renowned speakers and concerned participants from across the country are expected to attend the February 9-11 meeting to be held at Proggaloy Pastoral Centre, Kolkata.

The consultation will also stress the need for Christians to prepare for the forthcoming general elections in the country.

Among the topics to be discussed are: The Renewal of the Church according to Vatican II, The Current Political Scenario, The Role of the Media, Crisis Management and Leadership Skills, The Status of Women in the Church, Youth Aspirations and Expectations.

The speakers include Professor Maria Fernandes, vice chairperson, Bengal State Women’s Commission, Reverend Subhash Anand, emeritus professor, Papal Seminary, Pune and Percival Holt, a delegate to the recently held World Youth Synod in Rome and Holy Spirit Sister Tessy Jacob, a media researcher.

The delegation of 56 Indian pilgrims who landed in Panama for the 34th World Youth Day come from across India: Agra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu. They left the country on 15 January.

The young people are accompanied by nine priests and a nun as well as Msgr Mar Joseph Pandarasseril, auxiliary bishop of the eparchy of Kottayam, and Fr Deepak Thomas, executive secretary of the Youth Commission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI).

The theme of this year’s WYD is “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38).

Fr Thomas spoke to Asia News about the first days in Panama, ahead of Pope Francis’s arrival.

“We arrived on 15 January, staying in the parish of Atalaya, Diocese of Santiago (de Veraguas). Here we took part in numerous social and cultural activities.” “On 17 January we celebrated a Eucharist of the meeting, during which we showed the culture of our country,” Fr Thomas said.

Christian leaders of the southern Indian State of Karnataka are exploring the feasibility of fielding members from the community for the forthcoming general elections.

Christian Community Coalition, Karnataka, under the aegis of International Federation of Karnataka Christian Associations, met on January 26 at YMCA, Bengaluru, the state capital, to seek better re-presentation of the community in legislative bodies.

The federation is an organization of associations of all Christian denominations in Karnataka and abroad and has more than 60 branches in the state.

One leader, Rajshekar who travelled from Davangere, some 265 km northwest of Bengaluru, to attend the meeting, asserted that no political party should take the Christian community for granted.

“If due representation is not given for Christian candidates in the coming Lok Sabha elections, Christians would make their feelings felt by voting sensibly and it will have a cascading effect in the entire state where the Christians are a potential force to cause a swing for or against any political party,” he warned.

Kamal Nath, Prime Minister of the Indian State of Madhya Pradesh, a big state in central India, has assured Christian leaders that he will cancel the accusations of alleged “fraudulent conversions” initiated against Christians in the state. As Agenzia Fides learns, the government of Madhya Pradesh, led by the Congress Party, has declared that it will withdraw the “politically motivated” cases filed during the previous Hindu nationalist government of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state.

“We will review the cases of false accusations of conversion against Christians,” said the minister of justice, P.C. Sharma. BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said the government’s move “will encourage Christian missionaries to engage in forced conversions,” announcing his party’s opposition.

On January 18, Fr Muttungal, former spokesman for the regional episcopal Conference of Madhya Pradesh, met Minister Sharma, highlighting the matter and the minister reassured him.

Thousands of people, including students, hit the streets across Mizoram on January 23 to protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.

Effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh were burnt as protesters took out rallies from Aizawl’s seven district headquarters and at over 50 other places.

Raising slogans and carrying placards, the agitators demanded the resignation of PM Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh, alleging that the controversial bill will endanger the very existence of the Mizos.

The rally was organised by the Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP) or Mizo students federation, which had also organised an 11-hour, state-wide bandh on January 8. MZP president said if the bill is passed, it would lead to the “total alienation of the Mizo people.”

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8, seeks to provide Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after six years of residence in India even if they do not possess any document.

The Synod of the SyroMalabar Church, which is going on at the St Thomas Mount, Kakkanad, has approved the process of canonisation of Msgr Joseph Kandathil, the founder of Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate (ASMI), and Fr Varkey Kattarath, the founder of the Vincentian Congregation.

Msgr Kandathil was known for his work among leprosy patients, which earned him the name ‘Kerala Damien.’ Msgr Kandathil, born in 1904 in Chembu near Vaikom, received the priesthood in 1933. He established a leprosy hospital in Cherthala in 1942, and ASMI in 1949. He passed away in December 1991.

Fr Varkey Kattarath, born in 1851 in Punjaar near Pala, received priesthood at the age of 22. He founded the Vincentian Congregation on 20 November 1904 on the model of the Congregation of the Mission (C.M.), founded by St Vincent de Paul in France with three diocesan priests, with the approval and encouragement of Louis Pazheparampil, the first Vicar Apostolic of Ernakulam.

Religious persons in the Catholic Church should first become disciples of Jesus before trying to make others His followers, says former Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph.

“Becoming a disciple of Jesus is a difficult task whereas becoming a devotee is easy. Our call as religious is to become disciples and make people disciples of Jesus,’ Justice Joseph told the general plenary assembly of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, India’s first indigenous religious congregation for men.

The January 4-8 assembly, now underway at Jerusalem Retreat Centre, Thrissur, is expected to evaluate the relevance and impact of the 187-year-old congregation’s ministries and revisit its vision and orientation for the next ten years.

Faced with the evil done to children, “no one can remain silent,” says Bishop John Rodrigues, rector of the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Bandra (Mumbai).

The prelate was addressing the Mass on December 28 for the feast day of the Holy Innocents, which commemorates the massacre of children ordered by Herod, king of Judea, with the aim of killing Jesus. In his homily, Bp Rodrigues said: “They proclaimed and bore witness to Christ even before they could speak. We pray for all children that they are safe and grow up with love and understanding.”

The bishop also spoke against “abortion, abuse, neglect, child labor, child trafficking, child soldiers.”

“Christ, the light of the world, came to save the world. And yet we see evil and darkness around. We are called to be children of the light,” he explained.

Father Cedric Prakash of the Jesuit Gujarat Province has just returned from the Middle East after a three-year stint with the Jesuit Refugee Service there. On his religious vocation he says: “That is a long story: to cut it short – it was a CALL – and I said “YES” to it – and I have not regretted that decision for a single moment, ever since. I believe I am called to serve Jesus through His people. I try my best to do so: willingly and joyfully!”

Fr Cedric is an internationally acclaimed human rights and peace activist and recipient of several awards including the ‘Legion of Honour’ from the President of France and the ‘Kabir Puraskar’ from the government of India.

He was in the Middle East for three years from January 2016. He was invited by the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region to work among the refugees and displaced in the Region (Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon). He was based in Beirut, Lebanon and entrusted with the responsibility of advocacy and communications for the Region. He spoke in an interview “The current scenario for human rights activism in India is very bad. We hear about threats, intimidation, arrests, foisting of false cases and even death for all those who take a stand for human rights, justice and peace.”

Lynching has become the new normal. The Government is wedded to crony capitalism: “we have seen it in demonetization and how they have mainstreamed corruption. The poor become poorer everyday.

“The fascist, fundamentalist forces must be put in place. We must hold political parties accountable for their misdeeds and ensure that they focus on Governance and on serving the people. Too much of ‘fekuism’: myths, lies, false promises have been foisted on the nation. We must ensure that we exercise our franchise and motivate all others to do so too. We need to educate people on our Constitutional values and fundamental rights. We need to engage with the media and also be active on it. Yes all of us can do plenty to stem the rot that is taking place in the country.”

“Christians and the Church in India must play a very active role in addressing the ills of the country. We cannot be fence-sitters. We have to be vocal and visible for a more just, free and equitable India. This I believe is what Jesus expects from us today.”

India’s Latin-rite bisho-ps were gathering in the hold-ing their plenary assembly in the seaside town of Mahabalipuram in southern India’s Tamil Nadu State.

The Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) of the Latin-rite bishops, was held its 31st plenary assembly at the Joe Animation Centre from January 8 to 14 on the theme, “Evangelii Gaudium,” or “The Joy of the Gospel,” the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis that deals with the Church’s primary mission of evangelizations in the modern world. Several speakers, including a nun and a lay man are scheduled to address the bishops on various aspects and ways to promote the “Joy of the Gospel” in the Church in India by upholding the ministry of love and compassion.

The CCBI plenary meeting will also look into the present situation of the Church in India.

Most Rev. Dr Filipe Neri Ferrão, Archbishop of Goa and Daman was elected as the new President of the CCBI by the 31st Plenary Assembly of the National Episcopal Conference of India. Most Rev. Dr George Antonysamy Archbishop of Chennai-Mylapore and Most Rev. Dr Anil Joseph Thomas Couto, the Archbishop of Delhi were re-elected CCBI Vice president and Secretary General respectively. According to Fr Alathara, the CCBI, with 132 dioceses and 189 bishops, is the largest bishops’ conference in Asia and the fourth largest in the world.