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.
A mob gathered at the school gate on Sept. 26 to protest the alleged removal of a sketch of Hindu god Ganesh from the notice board.
Some of the protesters forced their way inside the office of the principal and began questioning her.
The school staff sought police help as the protesters continued sloganeering. They demanded action against the principal and the withdrawal of government recognition for the school.
The school is managed by the nuns of the Congregation of Jesus (CJ) in the Sagar diocese of the Eastern Rite Syro-Malabar Church.
The mob left the school campus only after the police assured them of a thorough probe.
“It is totally a false allegation,” Sister Joseph told UCA News on Sept. 28.
The nun said the police took statements from her and other staff members on the alleged removal of the Ganesh sketch.

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 country, as per the Church’s rules and documents.

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.

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 Indian state of Odisha.

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.

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 September 9 at Maurya Sheraton Hotel where the US president stayed during the G20 Summit.
President Biden sought divine blessings ahead of the Summit in the Indian capital.
A few Catholics also attended the Mass celebrated in the private room of the president.
President Biden reportedly wanted to receive the Holy Communion before the September 9-10 summit began.
The president also read the intercessory prayers. Father Dias and President Biden also shared about the Catholic faith.

Christians and their institutions are increasingly facing hatred being spread by the Hindutva fringe elements in the country, says Father Suresh Mathew, editor of Indian Currents weekly, published from New Delhi.
The Capuchin priest was addressing a seminar in connection with the annual general body meeting of the Association of Catholic Educational Institutions in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
More than 200 principals from various Catholic educational institutions in the two northern Indian states attended the Sept 6-7 program designed to stress how Catholic institutions should read the signs of times and act accordingly.
The event at St. Peter’s College, Agra, took a close look at the rising attacks on educational institutions, especially in northern India.
Talking on the topic “Public Relations and Crisis Management,” Father Mathew, through video presentations, threw light on several potential perils faced by the educational institutions run by Christians and suggested remedies to overcome them.
He stressed the need for public relations officers in every school to deal with the situation whenever the institution faces problems from the Hindutva forces. “The PRO should gather facts, assess situation and prepare appropriate information to offer to the media,” the priest added.
On many occasions, problems are created by the idiosyncrasies of the institutions, Father Mathew said and urged the institution heads to put their houses in order first.
Sharing this view, chief guest Keshav Chaudhary, Additional Commissioner of Police, said children should be taught how to combat injustice in society and be the voice of the voiceless.

Religion and nationality are inseparable for most people living in South and Southeast Asian nations, confirms a report of a survey Pew Research Center released on Sept. 12.
In Buddhist majority countries of Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Thailand, more than 90 % people believe religion and their national identity are linked, and being Buddhist is important to be part of their nation, said the report of the Pew survey conducted in 2022 in six countries in South and Southeast Asia.
In the same manner, almost all respondents in Muslim-majority Indonesia and Malaysia believe being Muslim is important to be truly Indonesian or Malaysian, the report said.
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The only exception was multi-religious Singapore, where 56 % respondents said living among people of different religions, ethnic groups and cultures makes their country a better place to live. However, a small percentage (4 %) said it makes their country a worse place to live.
In the three Buddhist-majority nations, more than 90 % of the people said Buddhism is “a religion one chooses to follow.”
The majority in these three nations (80 % and above) also said Buddhism is “a culture one is part of” and “a family tradition one should follow.” They also (more than 75 %) said Buddhism was “an ethnicity one is born into.”

The Church in North East India came together to study Pope Francis’ latest encyclical Fratelli Tutti to promote universal brotherhood and fraternity within the Church and with the people of other faiths.
Archbishop John Moolachira of Guwahati, who heads the Church in the region, says the Pope’s encyclical published in 2020 is “relevant today in our context more than ever.”
The prelate was inaugurating the annual regional pastoral conference at North East Diocesan Social Service Society Hall in Guwahati, Assam.
As many as 180 delegates from the 15 dioceses of the region attended the September 8-10 program.
The archbishop, who is president of the North East India Regional Bishops’ Council (NEIRBC), expressed solidarity with the people of Manipur who have suffered the four month ethnic violence,
“We are living a time when there is increased hatred, communal tensions, killings, polarization, and vandalism in our region, across the country and around the world. Pope Francis’ Fratelli Tutti can serve as a handbook to restore peace, brotherhood and sisterhood and social friendship among the people,” the prelate said.
Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore and the chairman for Commission for Laity of the Conference of Catholic Bishops in India, too spoke on the importance of brotherhood and a deep-rooted commitment for peace in the society, in the context of humanitarian crisis caused by large scale migration due to ethnic violence and religious polarisation.

A couple that was denied the sacrament of marriage on racial grounds, despite a high court order, is suing a Syro-Malabar archbishop and priest for contempt of court.
Justin John, a Catholic from the Kottayam archdiocese, filed a contempt of court petition against Abp. Mathew Moolakkatt and Fr. Sijo Stephan in the Kerala High Court on Friday, upping the ante in a 30-year-long battle against the racist practice of “pure blood” Knanaya Catholics.
The Knanaya Catholics, an endoga-mous group, claim to be the “pure blood” descendants of 72 Jewish Christian families who arrived in India in A.D. 345 from Syria under the leadership of Thomas of Cana, a Syrian merchant.
Laity and clergy who insist on “racial purity” for purposes of sacramental marriage argue that Pope Pius X, through his bull In Universi Cristiani, created the archeparchy of Kottayam in 1911 exclusively for Knanaya Catholics.
Catholics who marry outside the Knanaya community are expelled from the membership of the archdiocese. According to the book Blood Weddings, edited by C. K. Punnen and Lukose Mathew, many Catholics have been expelled on racial grounds in the past decades.
The eparchy does not evangelize or baptize converts to the Catholic Church, so as not to taint the racial purity of its endogamous community with the blood of converts from other communities.
Should a Knanaya Catholic wed a person from outside the community, their children are no longer classified as Knanaya Catholics, and thus are not permitted to marry within the diocese.
If a Knanaya Catholic marries a person from outside the community, their children are no longer considered Knanaya Catholics and hence are not allowed to marry within the diocese.