From The States

Kerala nun’s sainthood process enters second stage

A 19th century nun, considered the “mother of consecrated women in Kerala,” has reached the second stage of the four-phase canonization process in the Catholic Church. Pope Francis on November 8 approved the heroic virtues of Eliswa of the Blessed Virgin Mary, founder of the first indigenous congregation for women in India.

Mass exodus of Afghans underway in Pakistan

Hundreds of thousands of Afghans living in Pakistan faced detention and deportation on November 2 , as a government deadline for them to leave sparked a mass exodus. Thousands joined a snaking queue that stretched seven kilometers (four miles) at the busiest border point, with officials reporting at least 29,000 people crossed into Afghanistan the […]

Hyderabad’s garbage collectors demand social security, dignity

Official recognition as essential workers, registra-tion, identity cards, and sett-ing up a helpline app to address workplace harass-ment were some demands from the garbage collectors of Hyderabad. More than 500 garbage collectors met November 5 to highlight their pressing demands and the lack of their basic rights and entitlements as they keep the southern Indian […]

Nuns shelter girls from Manipur conflict

Laughter and singing re-verberated through a girls or-phanage in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, as violence raged on the streets outside. “Not that we are not affe-cted by the violence, but we feel safe and secure here,” Anjali Khouchung, a 12-year-old resident of Snehabhavan (“Home of Love”), told Global Sisters Report. The ethnic violence […]

Scholar recalls Jesuits’ contribution to Jaipur’s Jantar Mantar

Jaipur’s Jantar Mantar, an iconic scientific marvel, was created in 1734 with ideas from astronomy scholars of various reli-gions, including Jesuit pri-ests from Goa, says a sci-ence historian in India. The site is “truly an innovation far ahead of its time” and intrinsically secular in nature, said Dhruv Raina Nove-mber 5 while delivering a lecture […]

Indian Catholics strive to restore Portuguese heritage church

An Indian court has allow-ed a Catholic activist to inter-vene in an ongoing legal battle to reclaim, restore and declare a 16th century Portuguese-era church as a historical monu-ment. Melwyn Fernandes was appointed an intervener to ex-pedite the case filed by Mumbai archdiocesan clergy to reclaim Our Lady of Mercy Church (Nossa Senhora Des Merces) […]

Gaza: Lebanon hostage to Hezbollah. Southern Christians fear ‘large-scale war’

Cut off from the world, surrounded by the outbreak of war in Gaza by the firepower of the Israeli army intent on repelling the infiltrations of Hezbollah and the Palestinian commandos of the al-Qassam brigades, part of Hamas: these are the conditions of the inhabitants remaining in the town of Rmeich (around 10 thousand people) […]

Tea Garden parish celebrates mission centenary

A tea garden parish in the Dooars area of Jalpaiguri district of North Bengal has celebrated 100 years of founding of Catholic community. Bishop Clement Tirkey of Jalpaiguri welcomed Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal, Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli and seven other bishops of Bengal to the centenary Eucharist with some 100 plus priests, scores of […]

Eviction-facing Indian Catholics to fight Muslim charity’s claims

Goans oppose tourism project near 16th century basilica