Catholic nuns in India are conducting a series of training programs as part of enabling women religious to address cha-llenges posed by sexual abuse, poor mental health, and suicidal tendencies. The Conference of Religious Women India (CRWI) concluded its tenth training work-shop from April 1 to 5 in the western state of Goa. About 50 nuns from across India attended the program, which is conducted in collaboration with the Church-run Christ University in Banga-lore. “We have begun strengthe-ning the resilience of the religious sisters to face challenges at work and to foster community support for mental well-being,” said Sister Molly Mathew, who leads this training project. The organization represents about 103,000 nuns working in various parts of India. The CRWI assistant program coordinator, Sister Renjitha Ravi, said the workshop focused on understanding distress, assessing distress, identifying individuals in need, risk and protective fact-ors, and counseling and ethics. Matthew, a member of the Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians, said they started the Training of Trainers program on Basic Counselling Skills for Mental Health and Wellness in November 2024. She added that about 350 nuns have benefited from it so far. The program was developed with the help of the Department of Psychology of Christ University. The nun noted that the department helps the conference assess the need to revise religious formation. Indian media reported several cases of rape, murder, and suicides of nuns in recent years, prompting Church to discuss the need to help nuns tackle sexual abuse and mental health issues.

The Don Bosco Development Society (DBDOC), the social service arm of the Salesian Province of Calcutta, has reached a significant milestone, handing over the keys to its 500th low-cost house for slum dwellers in Kapali Bagan, Tengra, Kolkata. In a heart-warming ceremony held on April 5, Archbishop Thomas D’Souza of Calcutta blessed and presented the keys to a deserving family, marking the culmination of six years of dedicated effort by DBDOC. The event saw the inauguration of 40 more newly constructed homes, bringing the total number of houses built by the organization to 500. Established in 1997, DBDOC is committed to uplifting underprivileged communities by tackling poverty, ignorance, and malnutrition. This low-cost housing initiative aims to provide a dignified living space for families residing in the challenging conditions of Kapali Bagan slum. Kapali Bagan, located in the Tangra area of Kolkata, is home to numerous families living precariously along a major drainage canal.
Residents often reside under makeshift shelters of plastic sheets and bamboo poles on the canal banks. The area is also characterized by its proximity to dumping grounds, where many locals earn their livelihood by scavenging for recyclable materials. The low-cost housing scheme was initiated by Fr. Mathew George, former Assistant Professor at Salesian College Sonada and Siliguri, during his tenure as Secretary of the Kolkata Provincial.
Recognizing the dire need for safe and stable housing, the Don Bosco Development Society embarked on this mission six years ago. The provision of these low-cost houses offers them a much-needed secure and decent dwelling, a significant step towards a better quality of life.

A Catholic nun-principal of a nursing college in the central Indian Chhattisgarh state has denied as “false and baseless” the charges of trying to convert a female student. Police on April 6 registered a case of “attempted forced conversion” against Sister Bincy Joseph, principal of Holy Cross Nursing College at Kunkuri in the state’s Jashpur district. A police official at Kunkuri police station refused to disclose the case details. “All I can confirm is a case is registered against the nun, and the probe is on,” he told on April 8. The complainant student told the local media that she was barred from taking her final exam of the nursing course and denied entry to the campus for resisting attempts to convert her. In an April 7 statement, the nun said the “student’s allegations are a calculated attempt to defame the institution and cover up her own academic shortcomings.” Joseph, a Sisters of Mercy of Holy Cross member, said the complainant was a general nursing and midwifery student. She had completed a three-year course but skipped the practical sessions, which are mandatory to take the final exam as per the rules framed by the state’s nursing council. “The complainant’s attendance was only 32 percent in practical sessions,” while the guidelines require a student to have 80 percent attendance in theory and practical sessions.

In a historic decision, Pope Francis has elevated the Diocese of Calicut to a Metropolitan Arch-diocese on 12 April 2025, also names Bishop Varghese Chakka-lakal (72) as the first Metropolitan Archbishop of Calicut. The dio-ceses of Kannur and Sultanpet will serve as their suffragans.
The diocese of Calicut in Malabar region has a deep-rooted legacy that dates back over 500 years. Evangelization began in 1498 with the arrival of Trinita-rian missionary Pedro Covilham and others. The first church, dedicated to St. Andrew, was built on the Malabar coast in 1500. In 1878, Pope Pius IX separated territories that now include Mangalore, Kannur, and Calicut from the Vicariate Apostolic of Malabar, handing it to the Jesuits of Venice in Italy. Calicut later emerged as a separate diocese in 1923 under Pope Pius XI, formed from parts of Mangalore, Mysore, and Coimbatore. The diocese played a key role in the Church’s mission in Kerala. In 1954, the Oriental faithful were placed under the new diocese of Telli-cherry. Later, in 1998, Pope John Paul II carved out the Diocese of Kannur from Calicut. Initially under Jesuit leadership, Calicut saw bishops such as Paul Perini, Leo Proserpio, Pancratius Zano-lin, and Aldo Maria Patroni. In 1980, diocesan clergy took over with Bishop Maxwell Noronha. He was followed by Bishop Joseph Kalathiparambil in 2002, and then by Bishop Varghese Chakkalakal in 2012. Archbishop Chakkalakal brings decades of pastoral expe-rience. Born in Mala-Pallipuram in the Diocese of Kottapuram, he studied in Mala and Mangalore and was ordained a priest in 1981. He became the first bishop of Kannur in 1998.
and served there until his transfer to Calicut in 2012. Archbishop Chakkalakal served as Secretary General of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) and the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) and currently leads the Kerala Regional Latin Catholic Bishops’ Council (KRLCBC) and the CCBI Commission for Vocations, Seminaries, Clergy, and Religious.

Four members of a Christian family have been forced to become Hindus to bury the head of their family in a Hindu-majority tribal village in eastern India’s Odisha state, relatives said. Hindus at Siunaguda village in Nabarangpur district refused to bury Kesab Santa, 70, in the village burial ground unless the family members converted to Hinduism, they said. “My cousin Turpu Santa and family had no option but to become a Hindu to bury his father,” Gangadhar Santa, a relative and a Christian, told on March 16. Santa died on March 2 in the village, which is located about 550 kilometres southwest of the state capital, Bhubaneswar. The village had three Christian families following Brothers in Assembly, a neo-Christian Church. They lived alongside 30 Hindu families in the village. A village council member admitted to the forced conversion. “The village burial ground is for the Hindus and not for Christians. So we asked Turpu Santa to become a Hindu to use our burial ground, and he accepted it,” Tularam Dishari, a village panchayat (council) member, told on March 17. Those converted to Hinduism are Turpu Santa, 50, his wife, 48, and their son, 24, and daughter, 20. Santa said despite threats, the other two families refused to become Hindus. “These three families in the village were baptized some 18 years ago,” he said. Three years ago, Hindus did not allow the burial of a Christian man in another village. “So, the body was carried some 15 kilometres away from the village and buried near the roadside,” Santa said. Pastor Benjamin Upadi, who heads the Brothers in Assembly Church in the region, told that the Hindus have become “very intolerant and aggressive” towards the minority Christians. “They do not want any Christian families to live in the village,” he said.
Upadi said the pastors of different denominations have now decided to buy a plot of land for a burial ground, pooling together some US$7,000. Catholic priest Dibakar Parichha, the chancellor of the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar that covers the region, said the intolerance toward Christians increased since last year after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in the state.

The Capuchin Catholic religious order in India has donated the body of a member priest for medical research and studies, following the rare wish of the dead priest. Capuchin Father Xavier Vadakkekara, a former editor of the Catholic newsweekly Indian Currents, died in New Delhi at 72 on March 16. His body was handed over to New Delhi’s government-run All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences on March 18 “as per his last wish,” said Father Suresh Mathew, a confrere of the diseased priest. The last wish of Vadakkekara “reflects in his final act of generosity and lifelong commitment to serving humanity,” Mathew told UCA News March 19. Vadakkekara, who has been under treatment for partial blindness and had a complicated medical history for more than two decades, died at Holy Family Hospital in New Delhi while undergoing “treatment for acute respiratory insufficiency,” said an official statement from Capuchin order. Mathew, also a former editor of Indian Currents, remembered Vadakkekara as “a veteran journalist and editor known for his objectivity and great acumen for news.” He credited his senior confrere for mentoring and encouraging many journalists to work in various Indian media. “He left an indelible mark on the Catholic media landscape in India,” Mathew added.

The president of the Asian bishops’ body has urged churches in the continent to safeguard the earth for future generations, stressing the need to “rise to the moment with courage and determination.” “Across Asia, we see creation groaning under the weight of human indifference, abuse, and exploitation,” said Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao, president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC). In his March 15 pastoral letter titled “To the Local Churches in Asia on the Care of Creation: A Call to Ecological Conversion,” Ferrao, who is the archbishop of Goa and Daman, said, “the consequences are already visible and scientifically attested.” He noted the devastation of rainforests in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Myanmar, and the Philippines and the displacement of indigenous communities. “These forests, vital for the survival of the planet, are under immense pressure from illegal logging, agricultural expansion, and mining,” he said. Ferrao also cited biodiversity loss, rising sea levels, coastal displacement, water security, air pollution, stronger and frequent extreme weather events, agricultural crises, and food security. “Warming in the Pacific Ocean has intensified typhoons, flooding, and rising sea levels, which threaten the existence of entire villages in countries like the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Vietnam,” the prelate said. He further said the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas and drying rivers in South and Central Asia are endangering the water supply for millions.

The Supreme head of the Syriac Orthodox Church anointed the new leader of their Church in India during a solemn ceremony in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, on Mar. 25. Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, the Patriarch of Syriac Orthodox Church, led the special ceremony in St Mary’s Syrian Orthodox Cathedral to anoint Joseph Mor Gregorios as Catho-licos, the head of the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church in India. Catholicos is the second-highest title in the Church after Patriarch. Gregorios has now assumed the title of Catholicos Aboon Mor Baselios Joseph I. His elevation follows the death of Aboon Mor Baselios Thomas I, who was known for strong leadership and connection with people from all walks of life. Dignitaries, including ministers from the federal and provincial governments of Kerala state in southern India, the home state of the Catholicos, attended the special ceremony in Lebanon. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the dignitaries who expressed their happiness over Gregorios’ elevation. In a mess-age sent through an emissary, Modi said, “In various fields of the Church, the Catholicos has shown remarkable excellence.” He wished “the Jacobite Syrian Church continued progress under his leadership.” In his congratu-latory message, Major Abp Raphael Thattil, the head of India-based Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church, said that the “Catholi-cos’ spiritual leadership will be a blessing for the Jacobite Church and society at large.” Thattil also expressed the hope that the Catholicos will work towards the progress and welfare of the Christian community globally.”

The Indian government has slammed the US government’s religious freedom watchdog after its latest report said faith freedom is seriously shrinking in India. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) should be called “an entity of concern” because of its “efforts to undermine India’s standing as a beacon of democracy,” a federal government official told media on March 26 in New Delhi. Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of External Affairs, made this statement the day after the US watchdog released its report. The report urged the US government to designate India as a “country of particular concern” due to its engagement in and tolerance of systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act. The report also urged the US to impose “targeted sanctions” on entities such as India’s foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), for “their culpability in serious violations of religious freedom.” India dismissed the report as “biased and politically motivated” and said USCIRF was misrepresenting “isolated incidents and cast aspersions on India’s vibrant multicultural society.” The US report said India “increasingly enforced sectarian policies seeking to establish India as an overtly Hindu state, in contrast with the secular principles of the constitution” during the past 10 years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power more than 10 years ago in 2014 and won the next two elections in 2019 and 2024, leading his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the promise of prioritizing Hindu interests. The report accused top BJP leaders of engaging in “hateful rhetoric and disinformation against Muslims and other religious minorities to gather political support” ahead of the general elections in 2024. “Such rhetoric fueled attacks on religious minorities that continued after the election, including vigilante violence, targeted and arbitrary killings, and demolition of property and places of worship”, it said.

More than 50,000 Christians in India’s Arunachal Pradesh state gathered to protest a government plan to revive a stringent 40-year-old anti-conversion law, fearing its misuse to target and victimize them. “We oppose the Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 1978 because it curtails our religious rights,” said Tara Miri, the president of the Arunachal Christian Forum (ACF). Christians from all 29 districts and different church denominations turned up for the March 6 protest and “filled all our 50,000 chairs” in an open ground state capital, Itanagar, Miri told on March 7. “There are 46 Christian denominations in the state, and members of all of them joined the protest because we feel the state government should not implement the law,” Miri said. The anti-conversion law was first introduced in 1978 to protect the traditional religious practices of indigenous communities from external influence or coercion. But it remained dormant for over 45 years as successive governments failed to frame the rules. On Sept. 30 last year, the Gauhati High Court’s permanent bench in Itanagar directed the state government to finalize the rules within six months after a public interest litigation by a citizen against the government’s failure to enforce the law. The law prohibits religious conversion “by use of force or inducement or by fraudulent means” and has provision for a two-year jail term or a fine up to Rs 10,000 (US$115) if found guilty. The law also mandates that every conversion has to be reported to the deputy commissioner, a top officer in the state’s districts. A failure to report an intended conversion shall attract a penalty.