From The States

Catholics Worship Hindu Goddess of Destruction

In a display of unabashed syncretism, significant numbers of Catholics are offering flowers, coconuts, fruits, rice, milk, sweetmeats and incense sticks to the idols of Shantadurga Kunkalikarin, a Hindu deity also known as Durga, the goddess of destruction. “There is a lot of involvement of Catholics. I would say about 30–40%,” said Wendy Gomes, trustee […]

Catholic school sealed, priest principal arrested in Madhya Pradesh

A Catholic school in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has been sealed and its principal arrested after an investigation team found objectionable materials in the pre-mises. A Church official in the state, who refused to be identified, told Matters India March 27 that efforts are on to get bail for the priest. He […]

Indian Church leaders seek action against speech insulting pope

Church leaders in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Mo-di’s home state have demanded strict legal action in a case of hate speech circulating on so-cial media insulting the pope and Catholic nuns. Archbishop Thomas Igna-tius Macwan of Gandhinagar in western Gujarat state on March 21 wrote to Chief Mi-nister Bhupendra Patel to take “immediate and stringent” […]

Church cautious to demand to end reservation for converted tribals

Church leaders in India have reacted cautiously to the demand of an organization representing indigenous people that the government remove the reservation for tribal people to Christianity or other religions. A March 26 rally organized by the Janajati Dharma Sans-kriti Suraksha Mancha (JDS SM) in Assam’s Guwahati city also demand a ban on religious conversion […]

Church commits to welfare of India’s tribal peoples

Each morning, 46-year-old Shailaja rises at 5 a.m. Before 8 a.m., she has eaten breakfast and walked a mile up a mountain to an Indigenous village, where she tutors 22 teens in grades 8 to 10 in math and the Marathi language. Before the students begin attending the government school at 10 a.m., she also […]

Church cautious to demand to end reservation for converted tribals

Church leaders in India have reacted cautiously to the demand of an organization representing indigenous people that the government remove the reservation for tribal people to Christianity or other religions. A March 26 rally organized by the Janajati Dharma Sanskriti Suraksha Mancha (JDSSM) in Assam’s Guwahati city also demand a ban on religious conversion of […]

Catholic theology students attend Muslim’s iftar party

A group of students of theology from Delhi’s Jesuit-run Vidyajyoti Institute of Religious Studies on March 26 attended an iftar program, the ritual of breaking the fast during the Ramadan month. They were invited by Syed Muhammad Nizami Sahib to the iftar at the dargah of Sufi saint Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya on the fifth day […]

Catholic school principal arrested; priest, nun on the run

Leaders of the Jabalpur Catholic diocese have denied the allegation which they say is a conspiracy to tarnish the image of a Church institution that serves the poor. The court in tribal dominated Dindori district of Madhya Pradesh state on March 7 remanded Nam Singh Yadav, principal of the diocesan higher secondary school. Dindori is […]

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Youth taught to use social media to become Good Samaritans

Pakistan’s oldest priest passes away at 97