Kandhamal survivor among three Capuchin priests ordained in Odisha.
Bishop Sarat Chandra Nayak of Berhampur January 4, 2023 ordained Deacons Aspin Digal, Ramesh Parichha and Samant Nayak at San Damiano Capuchin Minor Seminary, Sindurapalli, Chatrapur of Ganjam District of eastern Indian state of Odisha.
“The priest is given a sacred power to serve God’s people, to lead them to union with God. He does this principally by teaching the people, shepherding them through leadership, offering pastoral care and spiritual guidance and sanctifying them through the sacraments. He has the role of priestly, kingly and prophetic,” said the Bishop Nayak in his homily.

A Jesuit priest died January 10 in a road accident in central India a little over two months after his priestly ordination. Father Arun Bara died around 4 pm when his motorcycle was hit by a truck near Bandarchua village near Kunkuri in the Jashpur district of Chhattisgarh state. He was 33 and was ordained a priest on October 26, 2022. He was a Jesuit for 13 years.

Leaders of various Christian denominations in Odisha have held a historical conclave to discuss the present and future of their community in the eastern Indian state.
The January 7 conclave at Hindustan Hotel International in the state capital of Bhubaneswar was the initiative of Christian leaders of in association with the Nabin Bodonaik Foundation.
As many as 300 Christian leaders from across the state attended the day-long event with a few distinguished leaders from other religions.
In his opening remark Manoj Bodonaik, one of the founding members of the conclave, said, “The main objective of the conclave is to unite the Odisha Christian Community beyond the denominational barriers and to promote consistent dialogue with the government machinery concerning the issues and challenges of the Christians in Odisha and seek permanent solutions to the challenges faced.”
The conclave was divided into four-panel discussions.
The opening session was chaired by Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack Bhubaneswar.

A tea garden parish in the Dooars area of Jalpaiguri dis-trict of North Bengal inaugu-rated 100 years celebration of founding of Catholic community at Champaguri, near Naya Sy-lee Tea Garden near Nagrakata on 8th January 2023.
Bishop Clement Tirkey of Jalpaiguri presided over the solemn centenary inaugural Eucharistic with 20 priests, 40 religious Brothers and Sisters; and some 1,000 faithful.
The parish has some 1,020 families with about 4,000 Catholics spread out in 17 sub stations.
As the old parish church was in dilapidated condition and the new church construction was incomplete, the celebra-tions were held in the open.
While congratulating the faith of Christians of the parish, Bishop lamented the fact that “in 100 years, the parish could offer only two priests, one for diocese and another for Jesuit society.”
Parish Priest Fr Samir Tir-key says, “Spiritual preparation for all age group, catechism classes at grass root level, trai-ning for catechists, and on going faith formation through Small Christian Community programs at different tea gardens to be held regularly are being pla-nned.”
Centenary celebrations will conclude in October 2023.
The Pontifical Milan Fa-thers (PIME) started mission at Nya Sylee Tea Garden around 1911 and moved to Champaguri in 1923, to the same bungalow offered by the then Tea Garden Manager.

The president of Hockey India Padma Shri Dilip Tirkey has applauded the Jesuits of Jamshedpur province for reaching out to places where no one dared to go.
“The Jesuits dared forests and mountains and faced all odds in doing God’s mission and shaping the bright future of thousands of children,” Tirkey told a function to mark the platinum jubilee of the Jamshedpur Jesuit Society.
The young hockey icon from Odisha was the chief guest at the January 8 program at Loyola School in Bhubaneswar, the capital of the eastern Indian state.
“I am at the helm of affairs at this time as the hockey world cup starts from January 13-29 in Odisha. However, I could not refrain from coming over here and expressing my gratitude to the Jesuits who deserved the most for their total dedication. Hundred years back the Kolkata Jesuits’ mission reached Rourkela. We are the fruit of their mission,” said Tirkey, a former member of the Rajya Sabha.
As many as 1,500 people, including bishops, priests, religious, and laity, participated in the event.
The celebration was kicked off with a solemn Mass presided over by Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar. Jam-shedpur Jesuit provincial, Odisha Jesuits, and priests in and around Bhubaneswar concelebrated.
Jesuit Father Augustine Ezhakunnel, the superior of the Loyola School Community, welcomed the gathering before the Mass and declared the opening of the platinum jubilee celebration of the Odisha region.

India’s top court has called forced and deceitful conversions “a serious matter” and sought assistance from the federal government’s top law officer in seeking steps to stop them.
“Religious conversions by force, allurement, etc… if that is happening then what should be done? What are the corre-ctive measures?” the Supreme Court bench of Justice M R Shah and Justice C T Ravikumar observed on Jan. 9 while discussing a petition.
The court also requested Attorney General R. Venkata-ramani to act “as amicus curiae or otherwise in any form” in the matter. The bench was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Ashwini Upadhyay, a lawyer and member of the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), seeking a national law to check religious conversions through force and other fraudulent means.
The judges brushed aside questions about the maintain-ability of the petition and the credibility of Upadhyay raised by P. Wilson, government counsel of the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Wilson said the petition for a national anti-conversion law was politically motivated.
“Leave this matter to the legislature. There is no threat of conversion in our state. This is a politically motivated litigation. He [Upadhyay] has made Tamil Nadu, the state govern-ment, a party,” Wilson said, according to The Hindu.
The Court also directed the federal government to step in and make efforts to tackle the “very serious issue” of proselytization through deception, allurement and intimidation.
(See Focus)

Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has ordered former president, Maithripala Sirisena, as well as top defense ministry and intelligence officials, to pay compensation totaling 310 million rupees (US$ 885,670) to victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.
The Jan. 12 order from the top court pointed to a “reckless” intelligence failure, reported The Hindu. “A Victim Fund must be established at the Office for Reparation, which must formulate a scheme to award the sums ordered as compensation in a fair and equitable manner to the victims and families,” the order noted.
Former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara, former Ministry of Defense Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, former head of State Intelligence Service Nilantha Jayawardene, and former National Intelligence Chief Sisira Mendis are among those ordered to pay.
Sirisena was ordered to pay 100 million rupees ($273,300) while the other officials were to pay a total of 210 million rupees ($574,000). The compensation has to be paid from their personal funds.
“The mastermind behind the attack has not yet been traced”
The Supreme Court has also ordered the federal government to pay one million rupees as compensation to each of the victims.
Father Sarath Iddamalgoda, one of a dozen petitioners in the case, said political leaders think they can do anything illegal but the judgment was a reminder that nobody is above the law.
The priest told UCA news that he couldn’t have wished for a better gift on his 78th birthday on Jan. 12.
“As a priest, I tried to seek justice for the victims. But the mastermind behind the attack has not yet been traced. We are waiting for him to be caught,” Father Iddamalgoda said.

In the nine days leading to Christmas, Cristine Pascual goes to bed early as she needs to rise at around 2:30 am instead of 6:00 am like the rest of the year.
Pascual, 42, a Catholic mother of three children aged 14, 13, and 9, finishes her household chores quickly and rushes to the St. James the Great Church in Cavite in the southern part of the Philippine capital Manila.

Catholic Church leaders have sought an “unconditional apology” from the Indian government for the custodial death of Father Stan Swamy after a US based digital forensic firm has found that the late Jesuit was falsely implicated in a sedition case.
“At least at this stage, the government and its probe agency should tender an unconditional apology to people for the unjust arrest, inhuman incarceration and custodial death of Father Swamy for no fault of his,” says Jesuit Father A Santhanam, convener of the National Lawyers Forum of Religious and Priests (NLFRP).
Earlier, the Arsenal Consulting, a digital forensic laboratory based in the United States, had found that Father Swamy was framed after hacking into his computer hard drive and planting incriminating documents as evidences to implicate him.

The pioneer of the Claretians in India, Fr. George Vanchipurackal (79) died on December 25 after celebrating Christmas with his family members. His funeral will take place in Claret Bhavan, Kuravilangad at 2.30 pm on December 26.
Fr. George Vanchipurackal was a pioneering formator and mentor for the Claretian priests in India after he was ordained a Claretian priest in Rome in 1969. He was part of the second batch of students sent by the then Palai bishop Sebastian Vayalil to the Claretian seminary in Germany.