From The States

Church leaders against Indian state holding Cherry festival on Sunday

Church leaders in a Christian-majority state in northeast India have urged the provincial government to reschedule the concluding ceremony of a popular cherry blossom festival slated for a Sunday. The Shillong Cherry Blossom Festival is one of the grandest celebrations in Meghalaya state showcasing music, fashion, literature, and culture. It draws tourists from around the globe and will […]

Indian Jesuit appointed member of Vatican Commission for Ecumenical Theology

The Vatican Dicastery for Church Unity has appointed Jesuit Father Jijimon Puthuveettilkalam as a member of the International Theological Commission for Church Unity Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Church.

Indian bishops welcome Supreme Court rejecting same-sex marriage

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) on October 17 welcomed the Supreme Court’s refusal to grant legal recognition to same-sex marriages. The apex court’s “decision reaffirms the institution of traditional marriage, rooted in the sacred teachings and values held by the Catholic Church and many other faiths,” the conference says in a press statement.

Scholarship programme for Dalit converts sparks controversy in Tamil Nadu

Controversy rages in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu over the deci-sion to grant scholarships to Dalit students converts to Christianity as part of an education programme in favour of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), who have traditionally been excluded under India’s complex caste system. Ilamurugu Muthu, president of the Ambedkar Makkal Iyakkam (Ambedkar People […]

Sr. Nirmalini: Time for women in the Church to hange style of authority

“We must reduce the emphasis on the idea of authority. It is fundamentally a service to be carried out with humility.” As the first session of the Synodal Assembly in Rome draws to a close on Sunday, Sr Maria Nirmalini, Indian religious, superior general of the Congregation of the Apostolic Carmel, expresses her opinion on […]

Goa cardinal calls for day of prayer for peace

Taking a cue from Pope Francis, Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao, archbishop of Goa and Daman, has invited the priests, Religious and lay people in the western Indian archdiocese to observe October 27 as a day of prayer, penance and fasting for peace. In his circular from Rome, the cardinal said, “Dearly beloved, In a world […]

Church condemns explosions during prayer meeting

The Syro-Malabar Church has expressed shock and pain at a series of explosions during a prayer meeting of Jehovah’s meeting that on October 29 killed two and wounded more than 50 people in the southern Indian state of Kerala. This incident “is highly condemnable” as it has caused pain and shock, says the Kerala-based Church’s […]

Church welcomes relaxation of hijab ban in Indian state

Catholic officials have welcomed the southern Indian Karnataka state relaxing a ban on traditional hijab (head scarf) by allowing Muslim women to wear it while appearing for government recruitment exams. “There was no need for any such ban and we are happy that the present government has taken steps to relax it,” said Father Faustine Lucas Lobo, spokesperson of Karnataka […]

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

Goans oppose tourism project near 16th century basilica