More than 90 priests, nuns and lay people from across India are attending a four-day specialized training program on project management and fundraising in Kolkata.
The participants for the October 21-24 program at Jesuits’ Dhyana Ashram hail from 30 religious congregations and dioceses. The training aims to train them as development personnel. They came from Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Delhi (National Capital Region), Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
The program is organized under the initiative of the Association of Franciscan Family in India (AFFI).
“We must give utmost importance to uplifting the lives of the poor through our intervention as rooted in Christian values.”

The Churches in Asia need to seize the moment to stress the Asianness of the Church as Pope Francis encourages Church communities to become more grounded through continental contextual theologies, says Redemptorist Father Vimal Tirimanna, one of Asia’s leading theologians.
The 67-year-old professor of theology at the Pontifical Accademia Alfonsiana in Rome says the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conference (FABC) should build on the theological foundations laid by yesteryear Asian theologians.
The priest, also a member of the Theological Commission of the General Secretariat for the Synod 2021-2024,  also believes the synodal process will change “the Church upside down” if the process is taken seriously.
Father Tirimanna spoke with UCA News on Oct. 20 on the sidelines of FABC’s first general conference (Oct.12-30) organized in Bangkok as part of its golden jubilee celebrations. Excerpts from the interview:
“The essence they gave is the Asianness of the Church?” “We need to seize it. But I’m sorry to say I don’t see the enthusiasm and energy to do that. We can do much more than what we are doing because this is our moment. If we lose this, I wonder whether God will give us another moment like this. .. Roman or European theology will not be able to understand and respond to our realities in all their complexities. What we need is an Asian theology.
“Their main common point was that there are three main living realities in Asia: religions, cultures, and the poor. These founding fathers of FABC theology, of course, together with the pioneer FABC bishops, considered that Christian existence in Asia can be appreciated only through triple dialogue — with religions, cultures and the poor. These triple realities characterized Asia in the seventies, and they continue to characterize Asia even today and that will characterize Asia even tomorrow.”
“Environmental issues are here as they are in other parts of the world. Issues of women and youth are also global. We should not lose what characterizes us. Have a dialogue with everybody, but let’s be Asian. If you are not focused well, everything becomes important even with regard to dialogue. That means nothing is important. Have a dialogue but don’t say they are Asian issues alone. But the issues of women in Asia are not that of Europe. So European solutions will not help Asian women. I think I have made my point clear.”

Kandhamal Collector Ashis Ishwar Patil has promised to comply with a court order to give compensation to a kin of a Catholic priest, who died dur-ing the 2008 anti-Christian violence.
“I have received the High Court Order and asked some clarifications and documents,” the collector told Benadicta Di-gal, brother of Father Bernard Diga, when he met Patil Octo-ber 27 in his office in Phulbani, the district headquarters.
Exactly a month ago, the Odisha High Court directed the Kandhamal collector to com-pensate Father Digal’s legal heir.
The documents sought by the collector are legal heir documents, account number and other requirements from the local tehsildar and revenue inspector. “Don’t worry I assure you to disburse 800,000 in your account immediately,” Benedicta quoted the collector as saying.

The Archdiocese of Bhopal has concluded a three-day Bible Mahotsav (grand festival) with the imposition of pallium upon Archbishop Alangaram Arokia Sebastian Durairaj.
The festival, a spiritual retreat for the laity, began with a procession of the Bible at 8:30 am on October 21 at Assumption Church. Father Ishwardas Minj, the vicar general of the archdiocese, inaugurated the retreat by concelebrating Mass.
On the second day, Vincentian Father Shaji, the retreat preacher, emphasized that the Catholics need to be rooted in the love of Christ through communion and participation to carry out the mission of Christ Jesus. It’s an open invitation to become saints of God with Love, Joy and Peace, which are the fruits of the Holy Spirit, he added.
Father Shaji from Jamshedpur also emphasized that everyone has to become a new creation. “God has called each one of us to become saints,” he added.
The retreat concluded with a concelebrated Mass presided over by Divine Word Archbishop Durairaj.

Thousands of fishermen and wo-men on October 28 stormed the under construction Vizhinjam International Port by the Adani groups, throwing police barricades to the Arabian sea as the protest entered 101 days.
The more than 1,500 police force remained calm as the agitated fishing community pulled up the police barricades and threw them into the sea, and burned their own fishing boat as a sign of fru-stration.
“Their life has become stagnated, they are starving for the past 100 days and no force can stop their determination,” said Medical Mission Sister Theramma Prayi-kalam, who has stood with the fisher-people’s cause for the past thirty years.
Sister Prayikalam told that the Fisher people are really frustrated as the govern-ment has failed to give them an empathe-tic response so far. “They are not against any development, but only demanding their right to live in their land and continue their profession as fisher folk,” she ex-plained.
One highlight of the 100th day protest was to expand the strike to also Muthala-pozhy, a fresh entrance used by the Adani groups to transport port construction materials, the nun pointed out. Some incidences of violence were reported from the protest on October 28 as fisher people resisted some media groups from covering the event. It was also reported that the women stormed a police officer for manhandling a Catholic priest during the protests.
“We were not violent for past 100 days, and we don’t know what will happen in the days ahead,” a protester told the media persons.
“We are hungry and angry, jobless and frustrated,” cried an aggrieved woman who demanded their right to live and earn a life in their lands.

Few parishes in Delhi or in India are visualized to look after the spiritual needs of the faithful, be they Indians and foreigners, who would be coming from institutes such as Indian Institute of Technology, Jawaharlal Nehru University and All India Institute of Medical Sciences besides others from the nearby Embassies.

The Archdiocese of Goa and Daman celebrated the Day of Mass Media apostolate by stressing the proper and safe use of social media.
“The media is often used to pro-mote personal agenda or create public opinions that are advantageous to those in power or for the benefit of business houses,” said vicar general Father Jose Remedious Fernandes, the main celebrant of the October 9 Mass at Lar De Estudantes, Altinho, Panaji, the state capital.

Indian Christian leaders joined a protest by the microscopic Anglo-Indian community in the national capital New Delhi demanding the reinstatement of the minority’s representation in parliament and legislative assemblies.
The protesters wanted the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to revoke a 2020 constitutional amendment it carried out, which ended the special provision.

Father Joe D’Souza walked bet-ween the pews, petting a Labrador, speaking gently to a Spaniel, stroking a Pomeranian.
Squeals and barks rent the Sunday morning calm of Church of Our Lady of Health in Cavel, Mumbai, on Oct. 9. Children from neighborhood too were delighted, as they watched proud pet-parents bringing their pets for blessings.

Catholic bishops in Asia began a two-week general conference in Bangkok on Oct 12 marking the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences’ 50th anniversary, with leaders calling for renewed evangelization in the multi-religious region.
“As the third millennium marches along, history beckons and the Spirit moves: together we say: Onward Asian Church! This is the moment for Asia,” Cardinal Charles Bo of Myanmar, the FABC president said during his opening address to some 275 Church leaders from 29 nations. Along with Cardinal Bo, Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, the head of the general conference’s Organizing Committee and Cardinal Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij of Bangkok, the host of the meeting also stressed the role of the Church’s evangelization in the region, where Christians are a tiny minority.
Cardinal Bo told the gathering that their jubilee “is an occasion for proclai-ming that The Saviour of the world was born in Asia … Yes. We accept that challenge today. Christ, born in Asia, needs to be proclaimed to the vast multitude in this biggest continent.”
“As the dream of Christ returning to Asia, the Asian Church is called upon to exhibit an evangelical enthusiasm for justice and peace. The future calls for a pilgrimage of confidence,” he said.
“History beckons; the Spirit moves us; let us proclaim the missionary call to the Asian Church, let us make this a century of Jesus’ Good News to the whole of Asia,” said the Church leader from Myanmar.
In a message to the general conference, Pope Francis stressed the cultural diversity of the Churches in Asia and ask-ed them to meet regularly.
“It is important for the Regional Conferences to meet with some consistency, as in doing so the Church is formed, is strengthened along the way, and the fundamental question is: What is the Spirit saying to the Churches in Asia?