A federal agency dealing with economic offenses has attached close to 10 million rupees of movable assets of a Christian medical college in Kerala as part of its probe into a money laundering case.
A November 22 statement from the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) says it has provisionally attached movable pro-perties worth 9,525,000 rupees from the bank balance of Dr Somervell Memorial Medical College, Karakonam, in Thiruvananthapuram district, under the Church of South India.
The amount is equivalent to the amount of funds the officials of the medical college, including a doctor and Bishop Dharmaraj Rasalam, had collected from parents promising to give their children seats in MBBS and masters courses in the institution. The agency also said it initiated the money laundering investigation on the basis of multiple first information re-ports registered by Vellarada Police Station and Kerala Police’s Crime Branch.
The probe revealed that the officials had indeed collected the amount from their parents but failed to give admissions to their children even after taking the money.
The accused, ED release points out, had used part of the cash for developing infrastructure in the medical college and the remaining amount was di-verted to the parent Organisation – the South Kerala Diocese of the Church of South India.

The arrival of three Mi-ssionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians from India has answered the 22-year long prayers of the parishioners and parents of a Catholic school in Hawaii for the return of nuns to their school. On October 7 their prayers were answered.
They arrived at Lihue airport to assume involvement in parish ministry at St. Catherine of Alexandria Church and School in Kapaa, Kauai. They are Sisters Jincy Thomas from the southern India state of Kerala; Rachel Marius from the northeastern India state of Manipur; and Philisita Jyrwa from the northeastern India state of Meghalaya.
The sisters were warmly greeted by St. Catherine’s ad-ministrator Father Nicholas Apetorgbor and parochial vicar Father Dario Rinaldi, and with more leis of aloha from about a dozen pari-shioners.
The three sisters expand the community’s Hawaii mission to seven members. Four others serve on Oahu.

Sunday Liturgy, the premier liturgical publication, turns golden this month. Published by the Indian Province of the Society of St Paul, the periodical was launched in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, the mother house of the Congregation in India in November, 1972, coinciding with the beginning of the coming liturgical year. The goal of the till-now four- page leaflet was/is to help the Catholic faithful to more actively participate in the Sunday Eucharist.

A Catholic priest from India is reco-vering in a hospital in Ireland after an intruder broke into his residence and stabbed him on October 30. Father Bobit Augusthy was attacked at around 9:30 am at Waterford in the Republic of Ireland.
The property is located in the grounds of Waterford Regional Ho-spital where Father Augusthy is a chaplain and he was rushed for treat-ment and remains in a serious condi-tion. It is understood that the priest, who is originally from India and a member of the Order of St Camillus, was attacked when he came upon the intruder in the home he shares with two other priests.

Father Àngel Fernàndez Artime, head of the Salesians of Don Bosco, says northeastern India experienced Mother Mary’s presence even before his congregation reached the region a century ago.
Father Artime mentioned this when he visited the Salesian novitiate at Sunnyside Upper Shillong, capital of Meghalaya state, October 28 on the second day of his visit to the region.

The first Catholic nun from Odisha’s Kandhamal region thanks God for accompanying her in her 50 years of religious life.
About 50 people, 27 nuns and 7 priests attended the November 5 thanksgiving Mass of Sister Florentia Digal, a member of the Daughter of Charity congregation.
The Mass was presided over by Divine Word Archbishop John Barwa Cuttack-Bhubaneswar at Jatni, Khordha Road.

Fellowship of Indian Missiologists (FOIM) is an inter-denominational fellowship of professional missiologists. It is a unique ecumenical organization in India started by Dr Jacob Kavunkal SVD in 1991. With a ‘rainbow and prism theology’ enabling a deeper understanding of religions as reflecting a ray of the eternal truth which enlightens all people, it has had Catholic and Protestant bishops arising from its ranks.

No relatives or friends turn-ed up to receive Nanjamma when she was released after 14 years from a southern Indian prison. However, the Hindu woman found a Catholic nun waiting for her at the prison gate, ready to take her to a rehabilitation center.
“If the sister had not come to receive me, I do not know where I would have been today,” said Nanjamma, who in April came to Jeevodaya Ashram a center for women in distress located in the suburbs of Bengaluru. (Nanjamma requested that her name be changed.)
Sr. Clara Alappat founded the center 27 years ago to shelter and rehabilitate women who are released from prisons, and girls who are rescued from sex rackets.

Pakistani politician Shunila Ruth and her band of supporters waved the cross as they welcomed Imran Khan, the ousted prime minister who recently launched a long march to the national capital in a bid to regain power.
“I admire the passion of Christians and other minorities for their captain. We are here to welcome and accompany him to Islamabad,” said the Christian member of the National Assembly while addressing the crowds in the eastern city of Gujranwala on Oct. 31.
The video clip of Ruth and her supporters evoked strong reactions on social media with many Christians criticizing her for disrespecting the cross.
Father Morris Jalal, founder and executive director of Lahore-based Catholic TV, called it “a misplaced show of Christian identity.”
“It should not become a tool to serve political interests”
He was clearly against mixing faith with politics and wanted politicians to avoid the use of a symbol of the Christian religion for political purposes.
“The cross contains in itself a mystery of salvation and is above politics. It should not become a tool to serve political interests,” he told.
However, Ruth, who wears two cross necklaces, calls it her shield, a symbol of protection against evil and danger.
“The cross is of great importance to our existence. We believe it will protect us in this jihad and war. My supporters and I also sang psalms and asked for help from God. It is wrong to misinterpret our stance,” she exclaimed.
Ruth pointed out that the Christian community displays the cross inside their homes and even on their vehicles.

A Salesian priest has been training industry professionals in northeastern India.
Father V M Thomas is now busy conducting 19 training programs for the Oil India Ltd company executives.
The two-day programs for 576 in batches of 30 began in July and concludes in November.
Christened Skill Matrix Assessment Retreat and Training or SMART, the program was specially designed as an experiential program, in line with the way the young consume information today.
Speaking to Matters India Father Thomas, former Chancellor of Assam Don Bosco University Guwahati , said: “At the invitation of Oil India, we built a uniquely curated training program that would be delivered to 576 young OIL India employees under 35 years of age. The program helps in identifying leaders of the future and plays a role in succession planning.”
The training was structured as a two-day program with a batch size of approximately 30 each, he said.
The program touched upon four key areas – Self-Awareness, Teamwork, Creativity and Innovation, and Leadership.
“By helping participants get a deep understanding of themselves, they are provided a base to build on and become the best versions of themselves,” Father Thomas said.