In a significant step to promote the role of women in Church leader-ship, the Conference of Catholic Bi-shops of India (CCBI) has appointed two women religious to key national positions. Sr Hilda Diago Rodrigues, MMSB, aged 49, has been named the new Coordinator of the Health Apostolate and Sr Margarita Dias, SCB, aged 40, from the Congregation of St Charles Borromeo, Western Pro-vince, has been appointed Associate Director of Communio.

Prof. Sanjose A. Thomas has receiv-ed the First Will Durant Award Inter-national from the Indo-American Phi-losophical Society. He is the head of the Sociology De-partment at SH College, Thevara. The award is based on the excellence of social science studies conducted since 2020. It recognizes his research on how modern education and the general public adapted to social cha-nges during the COVID-19 period, as well as international publications. The award carries a prize of one thousand US dollars. The Sociology Department at SH College conducted studies on various social groups, fo-cusing on changes in social relation-ships, increased use of social media, and the challenges faced in child socialization. These research findings formed the basis for the award.

A Catholic bishop has condemned the harassment of staff from a Church-run school, including a priest and two nuns, while they were on a picnic, by alleged Hindu activists in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. “The men stopped us on spotting the nuns and some of our staff wearing rosaries around their necks, and started interrogating us,” said Father Sonu Vansuniya, the principal of New Catholic Mission Sch-ool under the Catholic diocese of Jhabua. The men claimed to be members of the Hindu organization, Bajrang Dal, or the army of the Hindu god Hanuman, and he recalled that they “suspected we were carry-ing out conversion activities.” “They stopped us from getting into our bus after leaving the park we were visiting, and instead told us to accompany them to the nearest police station,” Vansuniya told on May 2. When refused, they began questioning members of the staff, mostly from indige-nous tribal or Dalit (formerly untouchable) backgrounds, if “they were being lured or forced to accept Christianity,” he said. Meanwhile, some police officers arrived at the scene and repeated the same questions that the Hindu acti-vists were posing. “Failing to find anything wrong or obje-ctionable, the police allowed us to leave after around two hours of harassment in full public view,” Vansuniya said. Bishop Thomas Mathew Kutti-mackal of the Indore diocese condemned the incident that occurred in his jurisdiction.

A Christian-majority tribal group in India’s Manipur state has reiterated its demand for a separate administrative area as it marked the second anniver-sary of the outbreak of ethnic violence between them and the Hindu-majority Meitei people. Kuki-Zo communities observed May 3 as “Separation Day,” marking the start of the unpre-cedented ethnic violence in 2023 that has claimed at least 260 lives and displaced some 60,000 people, mostly Christi-ans. Thousands gathered for a memorial service at the Wall of Remembrance in Kuki-Zo dominated Churachandpur district, where they read the Bible and sang hymns for those lost in the violence. Ginza Vualzong, spokesperson for the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF), said that the community demands a federally ruled separate territory because “that’s the only option for ensu-ring welfare and justice for the indigenous communities.” He said Kuki-Zo and Meitei people “can no longer coexist” in one state and under the same administration, as people have lost trust in administrative sys-tems involving Meitei people. Violence erupted when Meitei people attacked a Kuki-Zo march protesting a government initiative to classify the Meitei as tribal. This classification would grant the Meitei, an economically and politically influential group, access to benefits from the state’s affir-mative action program designed for weaker sections of society.

An Indian court has de-nied Christians of Dalit origin legal protections meant for lower caste people, saying a person who converted to Chri-stianity cannot claim to be a member of a lower caste group. The Andhra Pradesh High Court, the highest court in the southern Indian state, issued the ruling in an appeal challenging criminal proceedings against a group of non-Christians, based on a complaint by a Protestant pastor. The pastor, who comes from the Dalit community, officially referred to as Scheduled Caste people, filed the complaint in January 2021 against a group of people who allegedly abused him, violating clauses of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Church leaders in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand have deplored the continuing persecution of tribal Christians in the state by “anti-social groups” with the backing of some political parties. “These anti-social groups are certainly backed by bigger forces, including political parties; else how can they take the law into their hands?” said Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas of Daltonganj. The prelate said a sustained campaign is underway against the work done by the Christian missionaries for the welfare of the tribal people in Jharkhand. “Religious conversion is alleged very often nowadays with no basis or proof by some anti-social elements who do not want peace to prevail in the state,” Mascarenhas told on May 2. He referred to the latest incident of six Christian families in his diocese who were forced to abandon their homes and flee, fearing for their lives. These Christian families from Hata village in Latehar district were threatened by a pro-Hindu group for refusing to donate money for Sarhul, a spring festival celebrated in early April by various tribal groups in Jharkhand. The six families left the village on April 28, reported the local ETV Bharat news channel. The report quoted Nageswar Oraon, one of the Christians who is now living with his family in a neighbouring village, saying that “since we had no money, we expressed inability to pay for the festival.” “We were threatened and attacked by some villagers because we are Christians,” he added.

Church leaders in northern India’s Punjab state have blamed a lack of urgency by authorities in dealing with bootleg liquor for the deaths of at least 17 people this week. Government officials told the media on May 13 that three people were still in critical condition after drinking spurious liquor in the Majitha area of Amritsar district. The tragedy “could have been avoided easily had authorities been alert. It is a man-made tragedy,” Bishop Agnelo Rufino Gracias, the Apostolic Administrator of Jalandhar diocese, told on May 13. Gracias, whose diocese covers the entire Punjab, expressed his “heartfelt condolences” to the bereaved families who lost their loved ones. “What is disheartening is that we have not learned from the past experience” of 2020, when 121 people died after consuming spurious liquor in the state, the prelate said. “It’s very unfortunate that some money-minded people are risking the lives of ordinary citizens by supplying substandard things.”  Gracias stressed that the government must combat the life-threatening and illegal liquor business by arresting the people involved in it. A Church leader who wished to remain anonymous, said that the church was unaware of any Christian families affected by the tragedy.

Leaders representing around 600 families, mostly Catholics, are hopeful about concluding their six-month protest to reclaim their lands after a federal minister visited their southern Indian village and promised to seek an early solution. Kiren Rijiju, federal minister for minorities, visited Munambam coastal village of Kerala’s Ernakulam district on Jan. 15 and addressed the people, who have been on a protest since October 2004. “We are very hopeful of ending the protest after the minister promised to find a solution in three weeks,” said Father Antony Xavier, the parish priest of Valankanny Matha Church, which is part of the disputed land. The 610 families, including some Hindus, began the protest almost two years after officials informed them in January 2022 that approximately 400 acres of land in the village, including the land they had purchased decades ago, did not belong to them. The officials informed them that nearly a century ago, the land was designated as waqf, a Muslim dedication for charity. The State Waqf Board has asserted its ownership of the land, and as a result, the families’ land rights have been suspended. Archbishop Joseph Kalathi-parambil of Verapoly archdiocese, based in Ernakulam district, submitted a memo-randum to the federal minister, who called on him at his residence, on April 15.
“I request you to re-establish the revenue rights of the people of Munambam, which is entangled in the waqf issue in a time-bound manner and give specific directives to the various authorities in the lower appropriate departments for resolving the issue,” the prelate appealed in his memorandum. The land issue became complicated because of a federal law governing waqf properties – the Waqf Act of 2013 – that granted excessive power to Waqf Boards, allowing them to designate any property as waqf land based on their own investigations.

Tribal villagers in central India’s Chhattisgarh state forced seven Christian families to abandon their faith, but six other families remain steadfast in their faith despite intense pressure, a local Christian leader said. Pastor Chinnam Wycliff Sagar said that the 13 Christian families in Karigundam, a village in the Maoist-infested Sukma district, were ordered by the local village council to return to their animist tribal religion or get expelled from the village. The village council issued the order on April 12, Palm Sunday, Sagar told UCA News. Six families “stood firmly against the illegal order,” and it “has irked villagers,” Sagar told UCA News on April 17, three days after visiting the families in the village. The village has 136 tribal families, totaling 660 people. Villagers “threw household items belonging to the Christians out of the village” and told them to stay away. However, local officials and police helped them return on April 13, Sagar said. “Now they are back in their homes, but their struggle to maintain their faith will be another challenge as the entire village is hostile to them”, he explained. Sager said the villagers did not allow him to see the families that left the Christian faith. The pastor said no police complaint has been filed as they “were allowed to regain access to their homes.”

The Church has welcomed a decision by the communist-led government in India’s southern Kerala state to drop charges against an 88-year-old Catholic bishop and 23 others for entering a restricted forest during a march demanding the reopening of a blocked public road. “We are happy the go-vernment announced dropping of charges against our elderly bishop for joining a public protest,” said Vincent Nedun-gatt, Vicar General of Kotha-mangalam diocese of Eastern Rite Syro-Malabar Church based in Kerala. Retired Bishop George Punnakottil of Kotha-mangalam and others, including elected representatives, were charged with violating forest laws and trespassing on forest land on March 23, along with over 3000 aggrieved local people, mostly farmers. Father Nedungatt told on April 21 that the prelate should not have been charged with violation of the law. “He knew the difficulties and pain of his people, especially farmers, and joined the protest to protect their interests,” he added. People from different walks of life, including Catholics, condemned the Left Democratic Front government and demanded that it withdraw the charges against the bishop and others. The government decided to drop the charges at a high-level meeting attended by Law Minister P. Rajeev, Forest Minister A. K. Saseen-dran and other senior officials on April 16, official sources said.