In this week of prayer for Christian unity, we are called to pay attention to the diversity of Christians as well as to their mutual relations. We explore here some of the ways through which Asian Catholics respond to the presence of evangelical Christians.
Evangelical churches, which stress that one has to be “born again” to follow Christ, have been the trendy Christianity of the past 40 years in Asia. Evangelicals are seen as having strong feelings against ecumenical relations compared to Anglicans and Methodists, who are more supportive.
The evangelical branch of Christianity has grown significantly across Asia. The Evangelical growth was second only to Pentecostalism, which we consider an intrinsically different tradition. It would be interesting to focus on Evangelical-Catholic relations since Evangelicals are a relatively newer Christian force to consider in Asia.
But before focusing on the Catholic-Evangelical encounter, we must first consider the immense diversity of ecclesial, political, and socio-economic situations that Asia represents. Depending on whether we look at Japan, Pakistan, the Philippines, or Bhutan, the socio-economic context, the local history, the vitality of local Churches, and their mutual relations vary tremendously.

In what amounts to the latest failure to resolve an almost 25 year-old liturgical feud, a six-day meeting of bishops of the Syro-Malabar church concluded Saturday without any new consensus on how Mass ought to be celebrated.
Centered in the southern Indian state of Kerala, the Syro-Malabar Church has more than four million followers worldwide, making it the second-largest \of the Eastern churches in communion with Rome after the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine.
Since at least the 1990s, members of the church have been divided over the proper way to celebrate their version of the Mass, known as the “Holy Qurbana.” Historically, some branches of the church celebrated ad populum, meaning facing the people, for virtually the entire liturgy, while others did so ad orientem, meaning facing the East.
In 1999, the church’s bishops agreed on a compromise formula: The Mass would be facing the people during the Liturgy of the Word, and facing East during the Liturgy of the Eucharist. That agreement broke down in practice, however, when some elements of the church refused to accept it, especially the Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly, the largest diocese in the church with around a half-million followers,
Pope Francis intervened last July, insisting on a unfirm liturgy based on the 1999 formula, which was supposed to be adopted in August. Efforts to enforce it, however, have been met with resistance including street fights, hunger strikes, the burning of pastoral letters and the burning in effigy of Cardinal George Alencherry, head of the Syro-Malabar Church.
Meanwhile, representing the priests of Ernakulam-Angamaly, Father Jose Vailikodath said they would continue to say Mass facing the people, claiming that Alencherry’s statement creates more problems than it solves.
Father Paul Thelakat, a former spokesperson of the Syro-Malabar synod, told Crux the dissenters would not object if uniformity were being imposed “on a matter of faith or morals.”
“All we are asking is something we were already doing, [which is] to have the complete Mass facing the people,” Thelakat said. “It is only a question of orientation, where there is nothing wrong at all.”

A Catholic priest sought police protection for his non-governmental organization (NGO) in western India a few days after his staff members were attacked by Hindu nationalists on a running train alleging they were missionaries involved in conversion activities.
Seven teachers of a Catholic NGO working in Dhule district in the western state of Maharashtra were assaulted by a mob of around 15 Hindu youth while traveling by an express train.
The team was out on an education tour when the attack took place at Sangli railway station on the night of Jan. 16.
“I was pulled down from the berth and hit on my head with a steel object until blood began to ooze out from a wound,” says Gunilal Pawara, supervisor of a team of 42 teachers including 14 females who work for the NGO named Shirpur Vishwa Mandal Sevashram.
The mob accused the team of trying to convert indigenous tribal people and kept asking for Father Constancio Rodrigues, the director of the NGO, Pawara said.
Father Rodrigues told UCA News on Jan. 20 that he was to accompany his team but could not join them at the last minute.

For the first time, tribal people in India are a much sought-after community as nine Indian states face elections this year, ahead of the crucial general election next year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek a third term.
Tribal people can tilt the balance in seven of the nine states going to the polls this year, including Christian-majority tribal states of Meghalaya and Nagaland.
The other tribal heartland states that go to polls this year are Tripura and Mizoram along with Karnataka and Telangana. The term of legislatures in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan—the three other tribal stronghold states—are ending early next January and so elections are expected by the end of this year.
Never in the poll history of India have tribal people enjoyed such limelight. Of the 543 seats in the national parliament, 131 seats or close to 25 percent seats have been reserved for tribal and Dalit people since 2008. Tribal people alone get 84 seats.
Modi’s pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominated Droupadi Murmu — a woman from eastern India’s Santal tribe — as president last year, making her India’s first tribal president.

Some 300 Catholics demonstrated demanding the reopening of a cathedral in southern India on Jan. 26, more than a month after police closed it following a violent clash between rival Catholics over a longstanding liturgy dispute.
Police sealed the St Mary’s Cathedral Basilica in Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese in the Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church in Kerala last Christmas eve.
The violence on the altar of the cathedral resulted in the desecration of consecrated holy host and wine and police had to intervene, church officials said.
“Our Church is closed and we have to go to nearby parishes for attending holy Mass and availing other sacraments,” says Thankachan Perayil, convener of Basilica Community, a group of cathedral parishioners, who protested.
Perayil blamed Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, apostolic administrator of the archdiocese, and Father Antony Poothavelil, administrator of the Cathedral, for the violence.
Archbishop Thazhath appointed the administrator after he faced a boycott by the majority of priests and faithful in the archdiocese due to his insistence on implementing the uniform mode of Mass in the archdiocese.
The parishioners and priests in the archdiocese want the Mass with celebrants facing the people, and they rejected the Church Synod-approved Mass, in which the celebrant faces the altar during Eucharistic prayer.

Among more than 7,000 prisoners granted amnesty by Myanmar’s junta this week were about 300 political prisoners, the United Nations said on January 7.
The military junta, which seized power nearly two years ago, announced it would free 7,012 prisoners to mark the 75th anniversary of Myanmar gaining independence.
It did not specify whether the amnesty covered those jailed as part of its brutal crackdown on dissent, but the UN rights office said political prisoners were among those released.
“It’s about 300 who were political prisoners,” spokesman Jeremy Laurence told reporters, citing “credible sources”.
He said that so far, 195 of those cases had been verified.

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.