From The States

Author of book on Mokama nuns wins Christopher Award

An Indian American who wrote about pioneering American and Indian women in a Bihar town has won a 74-year-old award that salutes media that “affirm the highest values of the human spirit.” Jyoti Thottam, daughter of an Indian nurse settled in the United States, has won the Christopher Award for her book, “Sisters of Mokama: […]

Salesians help improve village women’s job opportunities

A Salesian center in north-eastern India has held a series of training to help improve their employment opportunities. The Anma Integrated Development Association (AIDA) held the training in five villages, with a focus on mushroom cultivation and food processing. The women were part of self-help groups facilitated by the Don Bosco Campus in Dimapur, the […]

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 […]

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

Goans oppose tourism project near 16th century basilica