Christians in a northeast Indian state are opposing a ban on organizing and publicizing healing prayer events, saying it violates the constitutional right to practice their religion.
Authorities in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Siang district issued an order on Feb. 28 banning all kinds of “prayer healing, healing crusades, healing through the local priest, pujas [ritual worship in Hinduism], as a remedy to cure various diseases and illness.”
The order issued by a district magistrate said “such practices are misleading the innocent people from taking recourse to scientific medical treatment and cause severe health issues.”
The healing prayer programs also give rise “to social-cultural problems like conversion to other faith and thereby spread discord among people and groups,” the order said.
It further banned publicizing such events invoking the Drug and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisement) Act 1954, which prohibits the advertisement of remedies alleged to possess magic qualities.

The government order stated that the ban is applicable to “all individuals, groups, faiths, and religions.”
“This order is against our fundamental right to practice our religion,” said Tarh Miri Stephen, president of the Arunachal Christian Forum.
Stephan told UCA News on March 7 that his organization will call on the district magistrate who issued the order to know the reasons and appeal to him to withdraw it.
“In case the district magistrate does not comply, we will apprise top officials in the government including the state’s chief minister,” he said.
Stephan did not rule out approaching the courts if the political leadership failed to protect their constitutional right to religious worship.

The mysterious death of a tribal Catholic girl in a government-managed hostel has led to unrest in a district in the eastern Indian state of Odisha.
The girl, a ninth grader of Jawahar Navodaya School in Paralakhemundi, the headquarters of Gajapati district, was found dead on February 20 in the school hostel.
While the school authorities claim the Catholic girl had died by suicide, her relatives and Church people allege it was murder after rape.

A Catholic priest and three nuns were among six people who died February 26 in a road accident in the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya. The victims were identified as Father Mathew Das, parish priest and principal St. John’s H S School, Barama, and Fatima Sisters Milagrine Dantes, Promila Tirkey, and Rossie Nongrum, and teacher Mairan, besides the driver of the vehicle.

“Bible is truly the inspired Word of God. Hence, attentively and devotedly reading the Bible daily is listening to God Himself who is its author,” said Rev. Fr Domenico Soliman, Superior General of the Society of St Paul, at Subodha Nilayam Communications, Eluru, inaugurating the newly-erected Central Office of the “A Bible for Every Home”, a flagship project of the Diocesan Communication Centre, entrusted to the members of the Society of St Paul. The Congregation is also responsible for the pastoral care of St Theresa’s Parish, Eluru, in addition to managing Alberione Book and Media Centre, the only Catholic Book Centre in the region.

The need for a Synodal Church and secular society was stressed at a meeting organized by the Indian Catholic Forum (ICF), an informal platform of like-minded persons concerned about the renewal of the Church and nation building.
As many as 30 delegates, including seven priests, attended the February 17-18 meeting on Synodality and Secularism at Anjali, the provincialate of the Indian Missionary Society in the northern Indian city of Varanasi.

Catholic bishops and leaders of other religions in Karnataka have honored Ronald Colaco, a Catholic layman who has made a name in business and philanthropy.
Colaco has done “immense social service to society and to the needy. He is a role model and an inspiration to all,” said Bishop Peter Paul Saldana of Mangalore addressing the February 24 function to honor the philanthropist in the southern Indian port city of Mangaluru.
Colaco has funded several Church projects and supported all communities by building temples, schools, roads, police stations, and humanitarian projects. He was recently featured in the World Book of Records, London. He has received several other awards both in India and overseas.
Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore, Bishops Gerald Isaac Lobo of Udupi, Lawrence Mukkuzhy of Beltangady, Francis Serrao of Shimoga, and Henry D’Souza of Bellary also attended the function and expressed their appreciation to the Catholic lay man who they termed as “an icon of the Catholic community in Karnataka.”
“Colaco’s generosity went beyond his family and transformed him into a global citizen and his charity and social work reflected the true essence of happiness in giving,” said Archbishop Machado.
Colaco, responding to the felicitations, said his service to society was not aimed at any awards, honors, or fame but was part of his bonded duty toward society.

Thousands of Christians belonging to various denominations and institutions on February 19 staged a peaceful prayer protest in New Delhi.
The protest was to draw the attention of the government, judiciary and civil society to “the sharp escalation of targeted hate and violence against Christian community in many states,” said a press release issued by the organizers of the rally at Jantar Mandir, a popular protest venue close to the Indian Parliament House.
“We are here to demand judicial and government intervention to check the rapid rise in incidents of violence, coercion and false arrests of our people,” Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi Catholic archdiocese told the gathering.
The protesters held placards in Hindi and English that read “Every persecution makes Christians stronger in faith,” “Stop attack against Christians, “stop attacking our churches,” and so on. They sang songs of praise and worship amid chanting of “halleluiah,” “Amen” and “Praise the Lord.”
John Dayal, the spokesperson of the All Indian Catholic Union, pointed out that some 350 Christians are in jail in Uttar Pradesh alone for practicing their faith, hundreds of tribal Christians were forced out of their village in Chhattisgarh.
“We want the government to hear our cries and intervene and take steps to ensure the safety and security of Christians,” he said while addressing the protesters. He appealed the fellow citizens to stand in empathy and solidarity and raise their voices at the targeted and organized injustice happening across the nation against Christians.
The United Christian Forum, a human rights group based in New Delhi that monitors atrocities against Christians in India, has recorded a total of 597 incidents of violence against Christians from 21 states until the end of 2022.
A note from the forum said Christian citizens in India, known for their peaceful attitude, have demonstrated in the national capital hardly five times in the past seven decades since Independence. However, the recent sharp rise in hate and targeted violence against the community have forced them to hold the latest protest.

A national-level group of Catholic women in India has expressed distress about Bishop Franco Mulakkal visiting Pope Francis in the Vatican.
The “Sisters in Solidarity” on February 21 wrote to the Pope that they were distressed to read about Bishop Mula-kkal’s February 8 meeting with the pontiff. They said they read in an Indian newspaper dated February 15 that the Pope was “glad to hear that (Bishop Mu-lakkal) had won the case and consoled him for his suffer-ing.”
Kochurani Abraham, a fe-minist theologian and a group member, told on February 25 that they could deliver the letter to the Pope’s office and con-cerned dicasteries only on Fe-bruary 24 through a Rome-based priest. Copies of the letter were also sent to the apostolic nuncio in New Delhi and Church leaders in India, Abraham said.
The letter apprised the Pope that the rape case involving Bishop Mulakkal is not over as he was acquitted only by the trial court, the first rung in In-dia’s multi-layered appellate system. The group explained that the Kerala state and the survivor nun have appealed against the verdict in the Kerala High Court.
“Therefore, until the survivor nun has exhausted all avenues of appeal – up to the Supreme Court of India – Bishop Mulakkal cannot claim to have ‘won the case’ and be freed of the alleged crime of rape,” the group asserts.

Church officials in South Korea have asked for research and education plans as Catholics in the country experience a drop in priestly ordinations amid decreasing birth rate and religiosity.
The number of newly ordained priests dropped to 87 in 2023 from 131 in 2011, a decrease of 35%, according to the Statistics of the Catholic Church in Korea.
This year, the Jeonju Diocese had no priestly ordination as there was no candidate. The number of priests ordained in the diocese had dropped from six in 2011 to two in 2021.
The Diocese of Daejeon ordained three new priests this year, compared to 19 in 2011 and five in 2016, the data shows.
Although some dioceses saw a slight increase in priestly ordinations, the overall trend shows a decline.
“Research and education plans for vocational development must be established at the parish level, and efforts such as strengthening the vocational manual and increasing the role of the vocational division of the parish must be followed,” said Father John Chrysostom Lee Sang-yong, director of vocations in the Diocese of Suwon.

Asian Bishops and diocesan delegates gathered in Thailand have been urged to be “more attentive to the voices within the Church” as they begin discernment and discussions in the third phase of the synodal process for Asia. “Be more attentive to the voices within the Church, especially to those voices which agitate and also to the ones that ‘do not speak,’” said Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary general of the Secretariat of the Synod in his opening address, a Feb. 24 press statement said.
He reminded the delegates that they were all “learners in Synodality” and stressed that “the success of the process depended on the active participation of the people of God and the pastors [who are also members of the People of God].”
Cardinal Grech also reminded the delegates that synodality is not about pitting the pastors against the faithful, but maintaining them in “constant relation, allowing both to fulfill their own roles and responsibilities.”
The delegates from the Asian dioceses have gathered at the Baan Phu Waan (The Sower’s House) Pastoral Training Centre of the Bangkok Archdiocese for the continental-level phase of the Synod on Synodality being held Feb. 24-26.
The synod has representatives from 17 Conferences of Bishops and two Synods of Bishops, representing 29 countries with more than 80 delegates.