At the age of 83, Sister Elsie Vadakkekara never miss-es her appointment with the poor on the streets, not even during a pandemic lockdown.
Summer, winter or in pouring monsoon rains, the Catholic nun is on the streets at midday every day to dis-tribute food to mentally ill people living rough in her neighborhood in western India’s Gujarat state.
Sister Elsie is a member of the Sisters of St Ann of Providence congregation based in Mithapur in Rajkot Diocese. She has defied the pandemic’s threat to her life to feed these abandoned people, a passion she has continued for a decade.
“I cannot sit in the comfort of my convent when my people are left fending for themselves, especially during this pandemic lockdown,” Sister Elsie told UCA News.
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Father Swamy admitted in Catholic hospital on court orders
Jesuit tribal activist Father Stan Swamy was on May 28 admitted to a Catholic hospital in Mumbai following the Bombay High Court intervention.
Father Swamy arrived at Holy Family Hospital in Bandra, a Mumbai suburb, at 9:45 pm, according to Jesuit Father Arockiasamy Santhanam, spokesperson for the National Lawyers Forum of Religious and Priests, who is monitoring his senior confrere’s case.
“We are happy that the court has understood rightly the health condition, health emergency and the dire need for urgent medical treatments for Stan and granted the relief,” Father Santhanam told Matters India.
According to him, initial investigations at hospital showed Covid symptoms. “Stan is shifted to Covid ICU. He is on oxygen,” he added.
According to him, Father Frazer Mascar-enhas, the former principal of Mumbai’s St Xavier’s college and the visitor permitted by the court, met Father Swamy in the hospital.
In earlier video conference with judges, Father Swamy refused hospitalization and pleaded for interim bail to go to Ranchi, in eastern India, to be with his people.
However, as his health condition deteriorated Father Swamy obliged to the suggestion of hospitalization after his lawyer, with the court permission, interacted with him through the counsel call facility. “He is unable to stand, walk and eat without helpers,” Father Santhanam said.
Earlier in the day, the court directed Maharashtra government to transfer the 84-year-old priest, accused in the Bhima Koregaon caste violence case, to the Holy Family Hospital from Taloja Central Jail and treat him.
Church workers rally to help victims of Indian cyclone
Church workers are struggling to organize food and drinking water for thousands of people a week after Cyclone Tauktae ravaged the coast of western India. What we need urgently is food and water,” said Father Thomas Mathew, director of social work in Rajkot Diocese.
Indian appointed bishop in Papua New Guinea
Pope Francis on May 13 appointed a missionary priest from India as the bishop of Aitape, a diocese in Papua New Guinea, a country in Oceania.
Bishop-elect Siby Mathew Peedikayil is a member of the Heralds of Good News, an India-based congregation. The 50-year-old priest is the current vicar general of the diocese of Vanimo. He was born on December 6, 1970, to Mathew Varkey and Annakutty Peedikayil, a Catholic family in Meloram near Peruvanthanam in the Idukki district of Kerala. He was ordained priest on February 1, 1995.
120 young men take vows to be Salesians in South Asia
In spite of the pandemic times disrupting regular novitiate schedules, in the nine novitiates of South Asia region, this year has more novices making their first profession than last year. Starting from traditional 24th May date for the first professions, this year there are 120 young men making their first profession on varied dates of 24th May, 31st May, 30th June, 15th August and 8th September.
Last year in South Asia region only 93 novices made their first profession as Salesians of Don Bosco.
Church converts hospital into Covid-care centre
The diocese of Balasore in Odisha has converted its 100-bed hospital into a centre for Covid care. The Church gesture was in response to a request from the District Magistrate, says Fr Paul Koonamparampath, the director of Jyoti Hospital in Balasore. Accord-ing to the priest, Odisha has seen a rapid increase in Covid-19 cases and the infection rate in Balasore was 27%.
Catholic press body mourns death of priest-editor
The Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA) on May 27 mourned the passing away of Father Cheriyan Nereveetil, former chief editor of Sathyadeepam (Light of Truth), an Institutional member of the organization. The 49-year-old priest died on May 27 from head injuries sustained in a road accident two weeks ago.
A condolence message from ICPA president Ignatius Gonsalves saluted Father Nereveetil for setting high standards in media while giving an edifying witness as a media person and a pastor.
Dalits refuse to carry bodies, huts torched in Odisha
As many as 30 Dalit houses were set on fire in a village under the Puri district of Odisha, eastern India.
According to Bada Khabar, an Odiya news channel, the houses in Brahmapur village were burnt on May 9 as the Dalit families refused to carry dead bodies to the crematoria.
A few months ago, the Dalit families unanimously decided not to pick up dead bodies, incurring the wrath of other villagers. First, the villagers denied the Dalits access to the village pond and tube well. The villagers also didn’t allow them to walk on the village road. No one talked to them, according to the report.
Later, the village ‘Kangaroo court’ decided to chase away all Dalit families from the village.
The 30 Dalit families of 100 people left the village and settled in Nathupur village and stayed under a plastic tent for three months.
According to “Bada Khabar” reporter, Tapan Lenka, the concerned police officers or district administration took no action during the three months. No one visited the families either, he added.
However, on May 10, Brahmagiri Tahasildar reached Nathupur and forced the Dalit families to vacate the place right away.
The Dalits’ refusal to carry their traditionally expected duty of carrying dead bodies was influenced by their school going children. The children requested them not to perform such jobs any more as they faced ridicule and discrimination from other students.
The Dalit students wanted to study and make different careers.
Social activists say India has seen many such cases. Dalits are attacked and murdered for eating beef, marrying their choice, wearing wrong shoes, going to church, entering temple, doing the job of their ability, giving speeches, singing songs, writing books and so on.
In India, 40,801 atrocities against Dalits were reported in 2016, up from 38,670 in 2015, according to the National Crime Record Bureau data.
Mercy Angels give dignified burials to Indian Covid-19 victims
The Mercy Angels, a 65-member team of volunteers in the Archdiocese of Banga-lore in Karnataka state, help to bury Christians in the Indian Christian Cemetery, a common cemetery for all denominations in Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore).
“We have buried more than 250 bodies of Covid-19 patients in less than 15 days in our archdiocese,” said Father Santosh Royan.
On each day over the past fortnight, they have buried an average of 15 bodies.
“Just now we have done a burial,” volunteer Yohan Joe told UCA News on April 28. “Another 11 more bodies are waiting for burial. We will not leave this place until we bury them all.”
Father Royan said they do not discriminate against “anyone based on their denomination or anything like that. We bury each body with respect.”
“Our mission is to accord a dignified Christian burial to all those who die of Covid-19 infections as they cannot afford to get a dignified burial because of restri-ctions,” the priest told UCA News on April 28.
The government has imposed strict protocols for burials such as trained personnel to handle bodies, protective gear for workers and sanitization of ambulances before and after carrying bodies.
Church officials say the poor cannot arrange money for the sudden expenses and may leave bodies in hospitals to be cremated in government facilities without any funeral prayers. “We seek out those who cannot bury their dead. On average we get 15 and we bury them all before 11 at night,” Father Royan said. Joe, a psycho-logy graduate student, said the gravediggers start work as early as 4am and burials start around 10am as bodies arrive from 9.30am.
Pope prays for India’s emergency workers as pandemic surges
As India faces a massive surge in new infections and deaths caused by Covid-19, Pope Francis said he was praying for all those affected by the huge health emergency.
With so many in India suffering, “I am writing to convey my heartfelt solidarity and spiritual closeness to all the Indian people, together with the assurance of my prayers that God will grant healing and consolation to everyone affected by this grave pandemic,” he wrote.
Smashing global records, on May 5 more than 412,000 new cases and 3,980 deaths were registered in India in just 24 hours; however, health experts estimate the actual numbers are much higher due to unrecorded deaths and infections. The World Health Organization said India has accounted for 46 percent of global cases and 25 percent of global deaths reported in the past week.