Fourteen years after his death, Fr. Augustus Colombo’s dream of a great university of medical sciences among the last in Warangal, in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, becomes a reality.
This afternoon during a Mass presided over by the apostolic nuncio to India Msgr. Leopoldo Girelli, along with Indian Cardinals Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai, and Felipe Neri Ferrao, archbishop of Goa, with all the bishops of Andhra Pradesh, the foundation stone was blessed of the college for nurses and paramedics, the new wing of the Fr. Colombo Institute of Medical Science, of the diocese of Warangal.

Lately, my attention was drawn to news from Australia in June that reported a ceremony taking place in Queensland to celebrate the renaming of Fraser Island — a World Heritage-listed island that lies just off the east coast — as K’gari, the original name used by the Butchulla people.
This recognition and honouring of the First Nation People’s culture and history is in sharp contrast to what I observed as the Japanese consul-general in Melbourne two decades ago. At that time, Australians were divided between liberals and conservatives, and the former’s argument for apologies to indigenous people was strongly resisted by the latter.
It took another decade for the declaration of apologies to materialize. In this context, I am impressed by the substantial change Australia has brought about.

On June 1, the Vatican accepted the resignation of Indian Bishop Franco Mula-kkal, almost five years after police arrested him on charges of raping a nun.
The Vatican “requested” his resignation, said a statement from the apostolic nunciature in India, adding that this action should not be seen as a “dis-ciplinary measure imposed up-on” the bishop.
The Mulakkal case has once again revived the demand for speedy and transparent action into allegations of clerical abu-se in India as delays can lead to embarrassment for Christi-ans, who make up 2.3 percent in the Hindu majority nation of 1.4 billion people.
The Vatican’s move in the Mulakkal case came 18 months after a lower court acquitted him, and when an appeal against the acquittal is pending in a higher court.
Mulakkal is the fourth Catholic bishop to resign over allegations of sexual abuse in India — all in the past 15 years.
In all four cases, the hierarchy failed to act on its own against the accused but moved only after public outrage and police complaints. Even when acted upon, the hierarchy made no public report of its investigation on the allegations nor explained reasons for removing the person.
In the Mulakkal case, the nun was forced to go to the police because “the hierarchy did not listen” to her complaints and those of her companions, Sister Norah Alunkal, secretary of the women’s section of the Conference of Religious India (CRI), the forum of consecrated Catholic religious in India, told.
The hierarchy also “took a position with the accused and totally ignored the alleged rape victim,” said Alunkal, a member of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny.

The top court in India’s commercial capital Mumbai (formerly Bombay) has restrained a suburban civic body from converting designated burial grounds for other purposes.
The Bombay High Court in western Maharashtra state on July 19 asked the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) “not to use the land designated as a burial ground in the city development plan for any other purpose.”
The court order came in a plea filed by a group of Christians in the city.
“It is a major victory for the Christians who live in the suburban civic body limits,” said Melwyn Fernandes, the lead petitioner in the case.
Fernandes, a Catholic activist, told UCA News on July 21 that the local Christian community has been facing a severe shortage of burial grounds after many of its designated cemeteries “were encroached on by builders and influential people with the backing of politicians.”
Land is very expensive in Mumbai and the city and its suburbs are prone to illegal encroachments by land sharks.
The megacity of some 21 million people on the coast of the Arabian Sea houses the most expensive real estate projects in the country and attracts millions of immigrants from across the nation.
“I filed an application under the Right to Information Act, a special law empowering citizens to seek information from the government, to get details of burial grounds meant for Christians,” Fernandes said.

Pro-government media outlets in Indonesia have accused an activist priest of turning local villagers against a state-sponsored geothermal project in Christian-majority Flores Island, which the priest denounced as “fabricated.”
Online portal Infopertama.com published a report on July 25 that alleged Divine Word priest, Father Simon Suban Tukan, has been behind protests by villagers against the power project at Poco Leok in Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara province.
The report accused the priest, the chairman of Divine Word’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission (JPIC-SVD) for being the organizer of a women’s march against the project last month.
It ended after police reportedly charged in and beat up protesters, leaving several injured and one person hospitalized.
The report on the Bahasa Indonesian language site said that all protests against the project including the women march “were instigated” by Father Tukan.
It alleged that some of the women were willing to go topless as a form protest against the power project.
The report quoted Raimundus Wajong, a resident who supports the scheme, saying that Father Tukan “recruited Poco Leok residents to reject the project.”
Last week, another outlet, Suaranusantara.co, accused the priest of “provoking residents to reject the project” and “damaging people’s lives.”

The majority of Catholic nuns in India struggle to provide healthcare to their elderly and infirm members because of logistical and financial challenges, says a new survey report.
Some 44% of 190 religious congregations do not have any care facility for elderly and infirm members, found the survey by the Centre for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), a Washington DC-based research organization affiliated to the Jesuits-run Georgetown University.
CARA conducts social, scientific studies about the Catholic Church, and offers a range of research services to dioceses, parishes, religious communities and institutes. The research study said 29% have one facility and 27% have two or more facilities owned by their congregation. Of those owning care facilities, a majority of 85% said their facility “is partially equipped,” according to the sur-vey report released this month. Only the rest are fully equipped.
The study, commissioned by the Conference of Religious Women in India (CRWI), was carried out between April and June this year. The survey is based on the responses from superiors general of the congregations. The majority of the respondents spend at least one-fourth of their income on the elderly and infirm.
Half of the responding congregations said 26–50% of their annual budget is spent on the care of the elderly and sick nuns. About a quarter reported spending 25% or less of their annual budget.
Some 68% of congregations allocate funds from their annual budget for the care of their elderly and infirm members.
About 40% of the religious congregations spent between 10,000 and 24,999 rupees (US$121-304) every month for taking care of their elderly and sick. About one-third require 50,000 rupees (US$608) a month, the survey report said. Most congregations said they face challenges in taking care of the elderly and the sick. Major ones were “healthcare challenges, financial challenges, and congregational challenges.”

A new survey commissioned by the Nicaraguan media outlet Confidencial and conducted by market researcher CID Gallup of Costa Rica revealed that the Catholic Church is the most credible institution in Nicaragua despite the harsh persecution to which it has been subjected for some years by the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo.
The survey indicated that 48% consider the Catholic Church to be the most credible institution, while the Ortega presidency has only 26% credibility.
Along the same lines, the personalities enjoying the most favorable opinions are former presidential candidate Félix Maradiaga with 48% followed by journalist and activist Cristiana Chamorro Barrios with 43%.
Maradiaga was imprisoned by the Ortega regime, deported Feb. 9 along with 221 other political prisoners, and lives in exile in the United States.
Regarding the level of corruption in the last six months, 56% responded that it has increased, while 23% believe it is unchanged and only 13% indicate that it has decreased.
The latest Corruption Perception Index (CPI) evaluated by Transparency International placed Nicaragua as the most corrupt country in Central America and the third most corrupt in Latin America, surpassed only by Venezuela and Haiti. Regarding the Ortega regime, 61% disapproved of its work, 29% approved, and 10% didn’t know or did not respond. The survey was carried out between June 14 and 20 with 823 people interviewed. The margin of error was plus or minus 2.93% and the confidence level was 95%.

Sister Venita Fernandes has become the first Indian to head the Sisters of Charity of the Saints Bartolomea Capitanio and Vincenza Gerosa, an international Catholic religious congregation based in Italy.
Sister Fernandes, a native of Balli-Fatorpa in the western Indian state of Goa, was elected at the congregation’s 28th general chapter that was held May 8 to June 24 in Rome.

First community radio of Darjeeling bagged National Award for Entertainment and Development Excellence along with awards for Industry giants.
On receiving the award, Director of Salesian Radio 90.8 FM, Father C. M. Paul, said, “This award has come to us solely due to the sincere efforts of Radio Salesian RJs, both past and present. Cheers to TEAM Radio Salesian!”

Although no Indian is among the 21 new cardinals named by Pope Francis on July 9, the country has a link with one of two Asians.
Bishop Sebastian Francis Mechery of Penang is the new cardinal from Malaysia. The other Asian is Jesuit Bishop Stephen Chow Sau-yan of Hong Kong.
Bishop Mechery was born on November 11, 1951, in Johor Bahru, which was then part of the Federation of Malaya. His grandparents had emigrated to Malaya in the 1890s from Ollur in Thrissur district, Kerala.