At 63, Biju Uthup is de-termined to continue litigat-ion stretching three decades seeking court intervention to stop his local Catholic diocese from discriminating against people based on “purity of blood.”
Uthup, a retired scientist from India’s Aeronautical Development Agency, began his struggle in 1989 when his diocese refused to recognize his marriage on the grounds that his grandmother belonged to the Latin rite.
His grandmother’s “impure blood” made him impure and hence, he cannot be a member of the diocese, he was told.
“It shocked me. But the Church leaders were not ready to change, forcing me to move civil court to fight this demonic idea,” Uthup said.
His archdiocese of Ko-ttayam, a diocese until 2005, was established in 1911 for an endogamous Catholic community within the Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church. The group, known as the Knanaya community, would not accept those marrying from other Catholic dioceses, who they consider Catholics of impure blood.

Each time Father Shehzad Anwar visits Catholics living scattered in Quetta city on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, having a Baloch or Pushto-speaking guide is as important as carrying the Mass kit or having a car with a tank full of petrol.
The 36-year-old diocesan priest has learned the essential lessons in his pastoral ministry in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province dominated by ethnic Baloch and Pashtun people.
The ethnic Punjabi priest serves as a parish priest of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Loralai, a district famed for marble quarries, about 154 kilometres east of Quetta.
The mission in the mineral-rich and sparsely populated province, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, is extremely challenging and threatening, Father Anwar says.
It is not just because of long-distance travel in the hilly, rugged terrain. For decades, the region has been a battlefield plagued by terrorism, a separatist insurgency and heavy-handed military operations. Deaths from shootings and bombings are routine affairs.
A local guide saves priests like Father Anwar from uncomfortable situations such as grilling from security forces and even gun-toting extremist groups.

What I will describe is a scandal of potentially huge proportions, which the Japanese media is failing to cover, and the news is mostly spreading via Twitter.
Police in the port city of Kobe recently detained a pastor on suspicion of using illegal drugs. Yasuhiko Mori, after a life in organized crime, founded the Kobe Disciple Church in 2010 — part of the Jesus Japan World Mission (started in 1995) — with many branches nationwide including Tokyo, where he currently serves as head pastor.
The 64-year-old former yakuza, whose resume includes criminal activities of all sorts, was ostensibly responsible for providing spiritual guidance and support to members of the church, as well as organizing services, delivering sermons and leading Bible studies.
As much as we would like to think this story came out of a script for a movie, this is not the case.

Kolkata, December 25, 2022 — Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Member of Parliament Abhisek Banerjee attended the mid-night mass at Cathedral of The Most Holy Rosary Kolkata, presided over by Archbishop Thomas D’Souza of Kolkata, along with several civil and church dignitaries.
Other dignitaries present at the Christmas eve function were Vicar General Fr Dominic Gomes, ProVicar of the Cathedral Fr Franklin Menezes, and Kolkata Police Commissioner, Vineet Goyal.
Chief Minister inaugurated the crib and special exhibition on the life of Jesus curated by Don Bosco School Liluah Alumnus and Church Art Kolkata CEO Mr. Subrata Ganguly.
The 20 panels at the special exhibition, created by Church Art Kolkata, displayed in front of the Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary, narrate the story of the announcement of the Birth of Jesus till his Resurrection and the glorification of his Mother Mary.

Indigenous tribal Christians forced to abandon their homes and villages due to social boycotts and violence have urged authorities to take action against the instigators in the eastern Indian state of Chhattisgarh.
Some 1,000 aggrieved Christians camped outside the office of the district collector in Narayanpur on Dec. 18 demanding action against local political leaders influenced by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and other Hindu nationalist organizations.
Many among them including women and children showed their injuries sustained during the public beatings they were subjected to in the villages when they refused to give up Christianity
“At least 300 families from Narayanpur and Kondegaon districts in the Bastar region were driven out of their homes in the past two months,” Pastor Moses Logan, president of the Chhattisgarh State Christian Welfare Society, said.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s funeral service will be marked by full papal honours granted at the behest of Pope Francis, senior officials in the Vatican bureaucracy have suggested.
“It is clear that the Holy Father will ask that Benedict XVI’s funeral be like that of a pontiff still reigning from the throne of Peter,” Il Sismografo reported on December 29, as the Secretariat of State held meetings to discuss funeral arrange-ments.
“Obviously, the Holy Father has no other intention than — as Vicar of Christ, universal Shepherd of the Church, Bishop of Rome — to render the posthumous homage reserved for her eldest children,” the Vatican news aggregator explained.
Speculations over the pope emeritus’ funeral reached a fever pitch in Rome after the Holy See Press Office confirmed that “in the last few hours there has been an aggravation [in Benedict XVI’s condition] due to advancing age.”
“The pope emeritus managed to rest well last night, he is absolutely lucid and alert and today, although his condition remains serious, the situation is currently stable. Pope Francis renews his invitation to pray for him and to accompany him in these difficult hours,” the Holy See Press Office informed journalists in its latest update.
“The situation at the moment remains under control, constantly monitored by doctors,” Matteo Bruni, director of the press office, added. An insider said that Benedict XVI is suffering from aggravated kidney failure and had a recent modification to his pacemaker.
By December 29 morning, the pope emeritus’ condition was reported to have stabilized but was “gradually wearing out and fading away due to his advanced age,” even though he was not suffering from “any particular grave illness.” Benedict has not been able to speak but has remained “astonishingly lucid.”

For months, Father Stan Swamy, an 84-year-old Jesuit priest, claimed his innocence in courts and pleaded for medical care, but Indian authorities denied him bail. He died at a hospital in July 2021 after spending more than eight months in jail on terrorism charges.
Now, an examination of an electronic copy of his computer by Arsenal Consulting, a Massachusetts-based digital forensics firm, concludes that a hacker infiltrated his device and planted evidence, according to a new report by the company. The analysis is more proof that Swamy and his co-defendants were framed in a case that exemplifies the Indian government’s crack-down against civil society and prominent critics, the defense team says.
More than a dozen activists, academics and lawyers have been imprisoned under an anti-terrorism law — some for more than four years — accused of having ties to a banned Maoist armed group that aims to overthrow the government. They deny the charges. The stringent terrorism law has drawn criticism in part because the accused can rarely secure bail and cases brought under the law have a poor conviction rate.
They were accused of plotting to overthrow the Modi government. The evidence was planted, a new report says.
In 2021, The Washington Post reported that devices of at least two defendants in the case had been compromised by hackers who deposited dozens of incriminating documents in the devices. This malware campaign targeted individuals beyond those facing charges in the case.
Separately, the Pegasus Project investigation by The Post and 16 other news organizations revealed that some of the defendants were included on a list of surveillance targets for spyware supplied by the Israeli firm NSO Group to governments or their agencies. The Indian government has neither confirmed nor denied that it is an NSO client. In June, Wired reported links between the hacking campaign and Indian police, who did not respond to the report.

A court in China has jailed a housing rights activist for the second time on the charge of incitement against the state, a common accusation routinely used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to suppress dissent.
The Intermediate People’s Court in Shanghai found Chen Jianfang, 51, guilty of “incitement to subvert state power,” during a closed-door trial wherein she was refused the right to a defence attorney, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on December 1.
The exact jail time is unknown but she has been fined 30,000 yuan (US$4,200) as a monetary penalty.
Her supporters termed the allegations baseless and refused to accept the verdict.
Rights lawyer Wang Yu said that Chen “appeared in court alone, and no one was present, neither family members nor defence attorneys, when the verdict was pronounced.”
Wang said that the exact date of the verdict was not known but officials have recently revealed the sentence.
“Chen Jianfang’s husband was perhaps a little more co-operative, so the authorities let him know the verdict,” Wang said. “Even a one-day sentence would have been too long be-cause she is totally innocent.”

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 are reeling under attacks “since the enactment of the anti-conversion law.”
Prajwal Swamy S, founder member of the organization, said they wanted the police to provide security cover to churches across the southern state during the festive season.
“Christians are apprehensive of participating in carol singing and visiting the houses of church members during the night for good wishes as they may face attacks,” Swamy told The Hindu newspaper.
“Christians in Karnataka are fearful about being target-ed.”
He cited two recent incidents of Hindu nationalists disrupting Christian prayer meetings in Channapatna and Maddur, both located around 60 kilometers from the state capital Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore), by alleging religious conversion activities.

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 the gathering on December 9, at the pro-cathedral. Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar in his welcoming speech said Christians in the state have experienced the chief minister’s care and attention. “We thank you sir wholeheartedly for your coming over here this evening to grace the occasion,” said the Divine Word prelate.
Dilip Tirkey, president of the Hockey Federation India and a native of Odisha present for the inauguration, too expressed the gratitude of Christians of the state to the chief minister.