The Indian Catholic Women Movement, an ecumenical forum, has expressed “deep distress and anguish” at the killing of civilians in a messed-up counter-insurgency operation in Nagaland.
“The killing of innocent lives calls for a just probe into the matter, in order to identify why and how the operation went wrong. It is important to end the ambush mentality of armed forces to restore a sense of safety and security to the people of Nagaland,” says a statement from the movement issued on December 9.
The text of the statement:
We the members of ICWM express our deep distress and anger at the killing of unarmed civilians and a soldier in the messed-up counter insurgency operation by the Assam Rifles in the Mon District of Nagaland on 5 December 2021.
The Mon incident needs to be seen against the backdrop of the patiently crafted cease-fire in place and peace negotiations backed by almost all Naga groups, amidst the high tension in the region. In this situation, that calls for joint vigilance and action by political leadership, security forces and civil society, extra caution and sensitivity is needed on the part of security forces towards local communities. In this highly volatile context, the state machinery needs to act with great prudence and care towards civilians so that trust can be re-built and peace restored.

A missionary Nun, Betsy Devasia, working in Guwahati, Assam, was conferred with 11th International Human Rights Award for her contribution to women development in the region by Delhi-based Inter-national Human Rights Council on 10 December 2021 at the India Islamic Centre Auditorium, New Delhi.
Sister Betsy Devasia, born on July 1, 1947 as the second child, to Mr. Devasia and Rosamma Pulippara in Kerala’s Kottayam district, has been working in Northeast India for the last 30 years.
“I am not sure if I deserve this honour”, said the septuagenarian Holy Cross Nun. “Serving the people of Northeast India in various roles since 1988 and as Director of Women Development Centre (WDC), Guwahati, since 2008, has been the most rewarding experience of my life. That is an award in itself”.
The WDC, established in the year 2000 as a millennium gift to the women in Northeast India by Archbishop Emeritus Thomas Menamparampil, has been catering to the women from rural areas of the region with slew of initiatives to empower them to take their lives forward.
One of the major activities of WDC is educating school dropped out tribal girls to complete their schooling through National Open School. Started with five students in 2005, more than 500 tribal girls from Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Naga-land, Tripura, Mizoram and Assam have completed their secondary education. The current batch has 65 students.
Accepting the award, Sister Devasia said, “My award is to be able to see the lives of these underprivileged children change completely. The underconfident girls who through our educational portals are never the same. They leave our campus with confidence and courage to face the world to make positive contribution to make it a better place to live in.” Many of the girls who completed their secondary education through WDC have gone on to do higher studies including Masters Degree and 20 of them currently working in various Government and private departments in the region, including a motivational speaker, nurses and a radiologist.

Pope Francis has appointed Auxiliary Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas of Ranchi as the apostolic administrator of the diocese of Daltonganj.
The appointment was announced on December 8 in Rome. “This appointment is an additional to his present office as Auxiliary Bishop of Ranchi,” says a press release from Father Stephen Alathara, deputy secretary general of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (Latin rite).

The national forum of Catholic theologians in India on November 28 mourned the death of Salesian Father Dominic Veliath as a great loss for the Church in the country.
The 79-year-old internationally reputed theologian died November 27 in Bengaluru.
The Church in India has lost “a great theologian who lived Christian faith with deep commitment” in the death of Father Veliath, says a condolence message from the Indian Theological Association. Father Veliath was the executive secretary of the Doctrinal Commission of the Indian bishops that organized annual dialogues between theologians and prelates.
The message also noted with gratitude Father Veliath’s long association with the theologians’ forum. He was its secretary during 1989-1992 and the president from 1992 to 1995. “It is a great loss for the members” of the association, says the message issued by the forum president and executive board members.

In a pastoral letter from Vatican Arch-bishop Antony Kariyil CMI has asked all the priests and faithful to keep the status quo as regards the orientation of the Holy Mass from November 28 which the date to start to new mode of celebration of the Holy Mass as directed by the Synod, Using the provision of CCEO 1538 he is dispensing the archdiocese from the decision of the Synod on uniform celebration of the Holy Mass. On November 25 and 26 he had audiences with Pope Francis and the Prefect of the Congregation for Oriental churches respectively and had consultation with them. He is using the canonical provisions as directed by the church authorities. “In virtue of your office as Vicar of the Major Archbishop for the Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly, Your Grace can apply the faculty of dispensation for those cases, which; in your prudential judgment, would result in grave consequences with the entry into force on 28 November 2021 of the Synodal Decisions concerning the Holy Qurbana” Says the letter of the Prefect cardinal Leonardo Sandri of Oriental Congregation.
In 1990 the Syro-Malabar Synod had made a unanimous decision for a uniform celebration of the Holy Mass but could not put the decision into practise because of the opposition from the priests and faithful. At that time Abp Jacob Thoomkuzhy and Abp Varkey Vithayathil used the same provision to dispense with the decision. The law says the local Ordinary can judge “that a dispensation will contribute to the spiritual good of the Christian faithful who are subject to him according to the norm of the law, the eparchial bishop can dispense from both the common law and the particular laws of his own Church sui iuris in a special case…”. Msgr Antony Nariculam followed to assist the Archbishop. Bp Pauly Kannokadan has done the same thing in the diocese of Irinjalakuda.

Indigenous Christians in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh say they are under increasing pressure to give up their faith due to mounting pressure from Hindu activists.
“Our people are being forced to give up Christianity and join the Hindu religion,” said Patrick Ganava, a Catholic from the predominantly tribal Jhabua district. He said Hindu activists and organizations were conducting special drives in villages to pressurize Christians, which was a cause for worry.
“There is propaganda against Chri-stians in the district but come what may we will not give up our faith in Jesus,” he told on November 16. The anti-Christian campaign, coupled with police arrests of 10 Christians including six pastors on Nov. 10 for alleged religious conversion, has emboldened right-wing Hindu groups, Ganava said.
“It is unfortunate that we are being portrayed as people working only for converting people to Christianity,” said Father Rocky Shah, public relations officer of Jhabua Catholic Diocese.
The priest said he took the initiative and wrote in local newspapers explaining Christian worship and baptism, trying to clarify common misconceptions. “But nothing changed. The situation is such that our prayer services are being falsely depicted as religious conversion activity,” Father Shah told.
He recounted how a mob of over 1,000 tried to demolish a more than a century old grotto of Mother Mary on Nov. 10 in Thandla in their diocese, but the timely intervention of the police saved it. But the mob persisted with their demand for demolishing the grotto, alleging it was serving as a spot for conversion activities.
“Earlier, in September, they threatened to demolish churches that were built illegally at the district headquarters. They are now moving into the interiors. Timely intervention by the police saved us so far, but we are not sure what will happen tomorrow,” the priest said.

Christians in India have welcomed a recent court order saying interfaith marriages need not wait for the nod from authorities as required under the new anti-conversion law in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Allahabad High Court directed that the marriages of 17 interfaith couples in the state be registered without insisting on or waiting for approval from the competent district authority with regard to the couples’ conversion of faith.
The court said the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Un-lawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, does not prohibit interfaith marriages, but indi-viduals marrying outside their religion “can be subjected to harassment” while dismissing the government’s contention that the couples had not got mandatory approval from the district authorities under the provisions of the law.
The Nov. 18 order, passed by Justice Suneet Kumar in a batch of petitions filed by interfaith couples who had entered wedlock after changing their religion, said that “freedom of religion and belief is a basic human right across civilized states, and the state cannot inquire into or take notice of a person’s religious or moral belief.”

The Indian Catholic Forum, a collective of Catho-lics in the country, plans to meet next year to seek the Church’s reform and renewal.
The February 5-6, 2022, program in Bengaluru, known as the Vatican of India, will stress sharing, praying, listening and dialoguing. The two-day deliberations would be recorded and synthesized, says a press note from the forum convener Kanpur-based chho-tebhai.
The meet on “Journeying Together – the Path Ahead” is expected to come up with a 10-page synthesis that would be sent to the Vatican by April 2022, it adds.
The program, the press note says, will have no chief guests, ceremonials or keynote speakers in the spirit of the Synod. “Jesus will be the chief guest and every participant will be a guest of honor,” the press note says.
Pope Francis has called the Synod during 2022-2023.

Catholics in the eastern Indian state of Odisha are celebrating the ordination of a priest who was a victim of India’s worst anti-Christian violence. Fr Vikash Nayak, 29, who hails from Tiangia village in Kandhamal district, was ordained on November 6 by Archbishop Emeritus William D’Souza of Patna, the apostolic administrator of Buxar Diocese in the neighboring state of Bihar.
He visited his village on Nov. 13 and concelebrated his first Eucharist with local people amid much joy and happiness.
In 2008, Father Nayak’s village witnessed seven casua-lties including a Catholic priest, Father Bernard Digal, during violence that followed the murder of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, who was shot dead by Maoist rebels on Aug. 23, the day Janmashtami or the birth of Lord Krishna was being celebrated.
Local Christians including a 13-year-old boy were cornered by irate Hindu mobs, beaten and abandoned at the police station. Then a leader of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), or World Assembly of Hindus, made public their names and declared them accused in the killing of the Hindu leader.
The murder was declared as a “Christian conspiracy” and violence was unleashed against the minority community.