From The States

Indian Christians seek police protection to sing carols

A Christian group in the southern Indian state of Karnataka has sought police protection for the minority community during the Christmas season. The Akhila Bharatha Christha Mahasabha (All India Christian Forum), a Protestant body, in a written communication to the Director General and Inspector General of Police requested to ensure a peaceful Christmas as Christians […]

Odisha chief minister inaugurates renovated pro-cathedral in Bhubaneswar

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has inaugurated renovated and extended building of St. Vincent’s Pro-Cathedral Church in Bhubaneswar, the capital of the eastern Indian state of Odisha. “I am delighted to be here for the completion of the renovation of the church. Thank you very much,” said the chief minister in his inaugural address to […]

Fisherpeople’s protest in Kerala called off

Fisherfolk’s protest against an under construction international seaport in Kerala has been called off after nearly five months, paving the way for re-starting the stalled construction work. Announcing the end of the stir on December 6, Father Eu-gene Pereira, the convener of the protest, said they decided to end agitation not because they were satisfied […]

Indigenous people feel abandoned by Philippine Church

A group of some ten women stood away from everyone else in a corner of the church as Sunday Mass progressed in San Lorenzo parish, in the hilly tourist district of Loakan in the Philippines. The women belonged to the Igorot tribe in Mountain Province, a landlocked province in the Cordillera Administrative Region. They looked […]

Be prophetic communicators, Catholic journalists told

The bounden duty of the media to become prophetic communicators was stressed at a national convention of journalists in Chennai, southern India. “As the members of the Fourth Estate and proud citizens of India, we cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the unsavoury developments in the social, economic, political, technological and religious spheres,” […]

Salesian Sisters dedicate shrine to mark centenary

The Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco of Guwahati province has launched the centenary celebration of their arrival in northeastern India with a shrine dedicated to St. Mary Domnica Mazzarello, their co-founder at St. Mary’s Convent in Guwahati, Assam. Leading the December 8 function, Archbishop John Moolachira of Guwahati said, “I join with you to thank […]

Indian bishop wins reprieve from likely arrest

An Indian court has granted anticipatory bail to Bishop Thomas Dabre of Pune, averting his likely arrest as a co-accused in a case of alleged clergy sexual abuse. Bishop Dabre was named by Pune city police in the western Indian state of Maharashtra in a case under pro-visions of the Protection of Children from Sexual […]

Madhya Pradesh police probe alleged religious conversion

Police in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh have initiated a preli-minary probe into a woman’s allegation that she was paid to convert Christianity. The move came on an order from the National Commission for Women (NCW), a federal statutory body empowered to protect the rights of women in India. The NCW order came […]

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

Goans oppose tourism project near 16th century basilica