From The States

Priest commits suicide after police complaint for protesting anti-Christian violence

A Catholic priest who faced a police complaint for a social media post protesting recent anti-Christian violence in the Indian state of Manipur committed suicide on Sept. 13, with his body found hanging from a tree in a cemetery. A spokesman for the Diocese of Sagar in India announced the death of Father Anil Francis […]

Indian Christians seek equal treatment for their schools

Christians in a southern Indian state have urged the provincial government to end discriminatory education policies that adversely impact Christian-run schools receiving state funds. The Christian community runs around 6,000 of the estimated 8,403 schools in Tamil Nadu that receive government aid, and hence are referred to as “aided schools.” “Most of them are in […]

Indian Catholic school targeted by hardline Hindu mob

Hardline Hindu activists stormed a Christian school in central India, accusing it of disrespecting a Hindu god and demanding a police probe against its nun-principal. The move “seems to be part of a well-orchestrated conspiracy to target our school,” said Sister Sarita Joseph, principal of the St Mary’s Convent School at Deori in Madhya Pradesh state’s Sagar district. […]

The permanent diaconate comes to the Philippines

Pope Francis has approved the establishment of the permanent diaconate in the Philippines. In a letter dated 17 August 2023, the Vatican’s Secretariat of State informed Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, president of the Philippine Bishops’ Conference (CBCP), that the Holy Father has allowed the establishment of the permanent diaconate in the ecclesiastical circumscription of the […]

Gorakhpur diocese in Uttar Pradesh gets new bishop

Pope Francis on August 26 appointed Father Mathew Nellikunnel as the bishop of Gorakhpur diocese in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The new bishop was vested with the insignia of the episcopal office by the cardinal and Bishop Thuruthimattam. He is elder brother of Bishop John Nellikunnel of Idukki, Kerala.

Kandhamal survivors, supporters demand justice on martyrs’ day

The survivors of Odisha’s anti-Christian violence and their supporters have demanded the implementation of the Supreme Court’s 2016 order on compensation to the Kandhamal victims. They demanded in a memorandum prepared by about 2,000 people who observed on August 31 the 15th Kandhamal Martyrs’ Day Baliguda, a town in Kandhamal, a district in the eastern […]

Delegation from Mother Teresa’s birthplace visits Kolkata

Sept 1, 2023: A delegation from Skopje in North Macedonia, the birthplace of Saint Mother Teresa visited Kolkata, the base of her charity works around the world. The delegation visited the Mother House of the Missionaries of Charity to pay their homage to the saint.

Delhi priest celebrates private Mass with US president

A private Mass was celebrated in a luxury hotel for United States President Joe Biden, a devout Catholic. The US embassy in the Indian capital requested Father Nicholas Dias, secretary of the liturgy commission of the archdiocese of Delhi, to offer the private Mass with Biden. Father Dias celebrated the Mass at 9 am on […]

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

Goans oppose tourism project near 16th century basilica