The Damien Social Development Institute managed by Sacred Hearts Fathers in the Odisha capital of Bhubaneswar has held a blood donation camp to help the poor.
“Conducting voluntary blood donation camps on regular basis will increase the stock of blood units in blood banks which will save the lives of poor patients who have no access or means to avail blood in times of emergency,” said Sacred Hearts Father Alexis Nayak, the main organizer of the February 5 camp at Gopabandhu Smruti Sansad in the city.
The camp was organized in partnership with the Odisha unit of the International Human Rights Protection Council (IHRPC). As many as 37 persons volunteered to donate blood.
Father Nayak, who directs the Damien Social Development Institute, said the rich can afford their medical needs, but the poor neither have ways nor means for their lives to be saved.

Archbishop Emeritus Bernard Moras taken over as the apostolic administrator of Mysore diocese after its bishop was “asked to go for leave” by the Vatican.
According to a press release by the Public Relations Officer of the diocese, Archbishop Moras took charge January 7 at a ceremony held at St. Philomena’s Cathedral on in Mysore, a major city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.
Bishop Kannikadass Antony William of Mysore, who is facing several allegations, including sexual assaults, has gone on a “medical leave” until he is proved innocent.
Archbishop Felix Machado, secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCIsays the Dicastery for Evangelization has decided that Bishop William takes a “period of absence from the ministry.”

Talents are God-given gifts, and nurturing them is a divine job, says Apostolic Carmel Sister Maria Gracia, who was among hundreds of Catholic women religious of different congregations preparing students for the latest version of India’s annual interschool cultural festival, which began in 1956.
More than 14,000 students between the ages of 13 and 18 took part in the 61st Kerala Kalolsavam (Kerala Cultural Festi-val) held January 3-7 in Kozhikode, a major town in the southwestern Indian state of Kerala.
The festival, the first after a two-year break because of the COVID-19 pandemic, had 239 events held on 24 stages. It not only showcases the students’ cultural talents, but helps preserve and promote some dying art forms, including three exclusive to Kerala Christians.
The Catholic Church manages nearly 3,000 schools in Kerala. Many are under the management of women religious, who play key roles in promoting students’ talents.  ”We were excited when our district lifted the gold cup in the festival. We are proud of our students who fared well in the competitions. In my 22 years of experience of preparing students for the event, I feel gratified when our students perform well in the cultural competitions in addition to bringing good results in exams. As teachers and guides, we try hard to bring out their best potential. Our school, St. Joseph’s Anglo-Indian School in Kozhikode, won all the events it participated in.”
“Catholic sisters prepare the students for all these events from the school level, spending several hours on these extracurricular activities. We serve students irrespective of their religious, social or cultural differences and help them foster a culture of harmonious living. Promoting talents among children boosts their self-esteem, confidence and a spirit of teamwork.”

The global glow of the 2022 Christmas celebration – with its candles and shining trees, colorful Santas and flying reindeer, gifts and cakes – has faded. However, time cannot diminish the core message of Christmas: Human life is precious. Christmas is the most life-affirming “birthday party” human history has ever witnessed. The birth of Jesus — the Lord of life — in the simple Bethlehem stable brought new life to the world and gave a new direction to human history.

Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Jose Palma of Cebu as a member of the newly-established Dicastery for Culture and Education. “This symbolized the pope’s trust not only in the archbishop but in every Filipino,” Cebu Archdiocese said in a statement while announcing the appointment on Feb. 12.

Two bishops were appointed and one retired on February 4 in the Indian Catholic Church.
Pope Francis appointed Father Wilbert Marwein as the bishop of Nongstoin, a diocese in the northern Indian state of Meghalaya, and Father James Shekhar as the bishop of Buxar diocese in Bihar.
The Pope on the same day accepted the resignation Bishop Devadass Ambrose Mariadoss of Thanjavur diocese in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Archbishop Emeritus Ignatius Paul Pinto of Bangalore, a renowned liturgist who found a middle path to solve the language controversy in the archdiocese, died February 8. He was 98.

A four-century-old chapel in western India dating back to the Portuguese colonial era faces a threat of demolition as the administration aims to acquire land to turn it into a football stadium, local Catholics say.
Catholic leaders say the chapel of Our Lady Of Remedies in Daman faces threat due to a controversial beautification drive planned by Praful Patel, the administrator and a leader of the pro-Hindu Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).
Daman and Diu is a federally ruled territory that comes directly under the administrative control of the BJP-led government in New Delhi.
Territory’s administrator Patel neither confirmed nor denied the move to demolish the chapel to expand the football field.
“No, I have no idea, you ask the local authorities,” he told.
But local Catholics said the administration was firm about the demolition plan.

Unidentified persons have set fire to a Protestant church in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
Police have launched a probe against those behind the burning of the Evangelical Lutheran church under Kesla police station in Narmadapuram district.
People came to know about the incident only on February 12 morning when they went the church for their Sunday service.
“I do not know when it happened, but we came to know it on Sunday morning,” Church pastor Mahesh Kumre told on February 13.
According to him, the vandals entered the church through the grill after breaking it open.
They burnt everything inside the six-year-old church including a copy of the Bible, prayer books, fans and chairs among others.
Since none stayed in the church the vandals had sufficient time to destroy everything in-side the church, the pastor said.

India’s top court has directed seven state governments to present details of the action taken by their law enforcement agencies in cases of alleged attacks against Christians and their institutions.
A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Feb. 6 ordered the state of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh to present the information within three weeks.
The order came while hearing a public interest petition (PIL) filed by Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore along with the National Solidarity Forum and the Evangelical Fellowship of India.
The Supreme Court at an earlier hearing on Sept. 1 last year had directed the federal home ministry to obtain reports from eight states to enable it to assess the claims of the Christian petitioners on the alleged violent incidents against their community members and institutions.
The eights states were to provide information on the incidents of “criminal wrongdoings” that occurred in 2021, as alleged in the petitions, verifying the registration of cases by police on receiving information about the crime, the status of investigations, the arrests made, and charges filed in court for prosecuting the culprits.
The Supreme Court said the verification exercise was needed to determine whether directions issued by it in a number of earlier judgments were being followed by the provincial authorities. The judgments made the states accountable for preventing violence and taking action against perpetrators of sectarian violence, especially the lynchings of minorities.