An ashram started by a group of nuns in southern Indian town has completed 25 years promoting interfaith harmony. The Franciscan Missionaries of Mary congregation founded the Ishalaya Ashram in 2000 at Palamaner in Andhra Pradesh state in response to the Second Vatican Council’s recommendation to reach out to people of other faiths. The ashram was an answer to the congregation’s 1978 General Chapter that called for integrating intercultural elements into the Franciscan spirituality, says Sister Vimala Varapragasam, the vice president of the National Ashram Aikya, an association of Catholic priests and nuns who have opted to live like hermits. She recounted how in the 1980’s her congregation engaged in interfaith dialogue meetings to proclaim Christ’s uniqueness and universality amid diverse faiths. Strengthening this dialogue, they immersed in local communities, learning customs and traditions, and fostering communal harmony. Mobilizing children and women, they imparted values promoting self-confidence, neighborliness, sharing, and cleanliness, Sister Vimala explained. Through this, the nuns embraced a simpler life and experienced the warm hospitality from those they served, said the nun, who has lived in the ashram for more than a decade. “My inspiration stems from the words of our founder, Blessed Mary of the Passion: ‘Be like the little sanctuary lamp that burns itself quietly. She said she did not choose the religious life to become a teacher, accountant, or administrator. “Rather, my calling is to dwell in the presence of the Lord and to serve His people—individuals of goodwill from all faiths,” This journey leads them to care not only their fellow beings but the environment.”India has 50 Catholic ashrams dedicated to prayer and spiritual experiences. They are organized by the wing of National Ashram Aikya. Ashramites opt for a modest lifestyle marked by austerity, adhere to vegetarianism, and wholeheartedly embrace people from all religious backgrounds, Sister Vimala explained.

A Salesian college in West Bengal has received a certificate of recognition from the United Nations Association for Develop-ment and Peace (UNADAP). “This accolade is awarded to Salesian College (Autonomous) Siliguri, India, in recognition of conducting the Salesian Model United Nations under the theme: United Nations Sustainable De-velopment Goal 2 – Zero Hunger, held April 13-15 at Siliguri,” reads the citation. UNADAP executive director Dominic F. Dixon, who inaugurated the event and participated in the proceed-ings, was the chief guest at the closing ceremony during which he handed over the certificate to Salesian Father Babu Joseph, principal of Salesian College Siliguri and Sonada in northern Bengal. The certificate signed and sealed by Dixon further reads, “Salesian College’s mission, hard work, dedication, and per- severance of its prin-cipals and faculty members and its vi-brant student com-munity since 1938 have been instrumental in gaining autono-mous status for Salesian College, and we are honoured to recognise its accomplishments.” More than 160 delegates from 18 schools participated in the third Salesian Model United Nations (SMUN) organised by students.
The delegates were divided into seven committees: United Nation’s Security Council; UN Human Rights Council; UN Commission on the Status of Women; UN General Assembly on Disarmament and International Security Council; All India Political Parties Meet; Viceroy’s Partition Council; and International Press Corps (IPC). Speaking at the concluding ceremony, Dixon offered UNADAP internships, a 7-week Masterclass on “Business and International Relations” as well as a second 7-week online course on “Spirit of Excellence, to students.”The suggestions from SMUN 2024 on Zero Hunger will be submitted to the UNADAP.

A UK-based Christian advocacy group has urged India to repeal the sweeping anti-conversion laws enacted by about a dozen states after the national polls. Release International, which supports persecuted Churches worldwide, said: “We have seen a dramatic rise in intolerance towards Christians since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) first came to power in 2014.” Eleven Indian states, most of them ruled by the BJP of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have in place anti-conversion laws. Polls to the Indian parliament’s lower house (Lok Sabha) are being conducted in seven phases, starting April 19. The results will be declared on June 4.
Paul Robinson, chief executive officer of Release International, urged India to act immediately to halt the spread of intolerance and repeal anti-conversion laws after the polls. The anti-conversion laws prohibit change of religion or any attempt to convert from one religion to another through misrepresentation, use of threat or force, fraud, undue influence, coercion, allurement, or marriage. These laws fly in the face of India’s constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion, Robinson noted on April 15.”
These laws prevent Christians from sharing their faith with others.” The anti-conversion law is in full force in these three states. ”What we’re seeing in India is the rise in right-wing militancy, underpinned by intolerance from the state,” added Robinson. Release International has a presence in 25 countries across the globe.

A court has appointed two retired judges to administer the finances and all temporal goods of the crisis-ridden Church of South India (CSI), asking them to oversee the formation of a new synod, the Church’s top decision-making body. Justices R Balasu-bramanian and V Bharathidasan reached the CSI headquarters in Chennai, the capital of southern Tamil Nadu state, on April 18 and took over the administration of the church, which has 24 dioceses in India and Sri Lanka. The Madras High Court, based in Chennai, appointed the judges on April 12 following admini-strative disputes. The court-appointed administrators will continue until a fresh synod is elected, the court said. The court asked the administrators “to ensure that the elections for all the Diocesan Councils are con-ducted and representatives of the Synod are also elected by the respective Diocesan Councils and a special meeting of the Synod is convened at the earliest possible opportunity to elect new office bearers of the Synod.” In 2022, the laity moved the high court against former moderator Bishop Dharmaraj Rasalam. The high court removed him from the mo-derator post in September last year. The petitioners have accused him and the Synod under him of arbitrarily amending the Church’s constitution and being involved in corruption and other irregulari-ties. The petitioners said ten cri-minal cases were pending against the moderator, and his continuance in the office would not be appro-priate. They expressed their ina-bility to remove him from office because the Church lacked a law to remove a moderator. The CSI was formed in 1947 after India’s independence from Britain as a union of all Protestant denominations.

People in six districts of the Christian-majority Nagaland state in India’s northeast refused to vote in the ongoing national election to stress their demand for a separate state. The Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO), comprising seven tribal bodies in Nagaland, had urged people in six districts not to vote in the polls on April 19. “The demand by the ENPO is genuine,” said Paul Magh of the North Eastern Regional Youth Commission. The ENPO influences Kiphire, Longleng, Mon, Noklak, Shamator and Tuensang districts, which have nearly half a million voters. Magh told UCA News on April 22 that the voters believed that the demand for a separate state was justified as the government did not do justice to them in terms of development. He said ENPO had held talks with the government to chalk out a unique arrangement called ‘Frontier Naga Territory’ within the state with a separate legislature and financial powers. “They believe if they were given a separate state, their life would be better,” said Magh, a Catholic lay leader. Ahead of the polls, the ENPO declared a “public emergency” in six districts and prohibited candidates from campaigning. Chumben Murry of the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party and Supongmeren Jamir of the Congress party were the candidates in Nagaland’s lone parlia-mentary constituency. However, overall voter turnout in the state, comprising 16 districts, stood at 56 percent compared with 83.08 percent in the 2019 polls. Starting April 19, India’s general elections will be conducted in seven phases. The results will be declared on June 4. The demand for autonomy for six districts figured prominently at last year’s assembly polls in February.

The Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople has expressed his desire for Christians in the East and West to begin celebrating Easter on a “unified date” instead of adhering to separate Lenten calendars. “It is a scandal to celebrate separately the unique event of the one re-surrection of the one Lord,” said Patriarch Bartholomew I, who holds the title of “primus inter pares” in Eastern Orthodoxy. The Ecumenical Patriarch made these comments during a homily on March 31, which marked Easter on the Western calendar and the second Sunday of Lent on the Eastern calendar. “We extend a greeting full of love to all Chri-stians around the world who cele-brate Holy Easter today,” said Bartholomew during the homily. “We implore the Lord of Glory that the next celebration of Easter will not simply be a random event, but the beginning of a unified date for its observance by both Eastern and Western Christianity.” The Ecumenical Patriarch noted that the Eastern Orthodox Church in Constantinople sent representa-tives to Christian communities that celebrated Easter on March 31 “to extend our sincere wishes.” He also said that this effort is “particularly significant” because the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea in 325 is approaching. That meeting took place at a time when the Eastern and Western Churches were in full communion with each other. “Among the key discussions of the Council of Nicaea was the matter of establishing a common timeframe for Easter festivities,” Bartholomew said. “We are opti-mistic, as there is goodwill and readiness on both sides.” Pope Francis has also expressed his intention to reach an agreement to establish a common date for Easter.
In 2015, the pontiff said that the two churches “have to reach an agreement.” The pontiff also said that the lack of unity is a scandal and joked that Christians could say to each other, “When did Christ rise from the dead? My Christ rose today, and yours next week.”
The Roman Catholic Church adopted the Gregorian calendar, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII, in the late 16th century. This replaced the Julian calendar, which was promulgated in the Roman Empire by Julius Caesar in 45 BC. The Gregorian calendar was eventually adopted by most of the world as the standard calendar because its revision of leap years more accurately accounted for the Earth’s revolution around the sun than the Julian calendar, ensuring that dates more precisely reflected the seasons. In the Eastern Church, however, the liturgical calendar remained based on the Julian calendar for several more centuries. In the 20th century, most Orthodox churches adopted a revised version of the Julian calendar. Some Orthodox churches still adhere to the old Julian calendar, including the largest patriarchate, which is Moscow. Adherence to the old Julian calendar or the revised version leads to major festivities such as Christmas and Easter falling on different days than followers of the Gregorian calendar.

Archbishop in the southern Indian state of Karnataka has urged Catholics to vote for a secular government in the country’s upcoming general election. “Choose a leader who is secular, non-communal, believes in the constitution, and is less corrupt,” Archbishop Peter Machado of Bengaluru said on April 7. He explained that by secular he meant one who respects all people without any discri-mination, and non-communal meant one who accepts all religions. Machado, while deli-vering the homily at Logos Retreat Center in Bengaluru, said that all Catholics must cast their vote as the coming election was very important and a historic one. “It is a sin if we don’t vote,” he said adding that it was futile to later sit and complain about growing persecution against Christians and their institutions in the country. Machado, who is also president of Karnataka Regional Catholic Bishop’s Council, said those eligible to vote “should take time out by canceling all other engagements on the day of voting.” The national election will be held in seven phases in April, May and June. Karnataka state will vote on April 26 and May 7. Father Faustine Lucas Lobo, spokesperson of the regional bishops’ council said the archbishop’s guidance will help people to choose the right candidates to represent them in the national parliament. “Archbishop Machado is right… as the situa tion in the country is quite difficult for religious minorities who are facing increasing persecution since the past decade or so,” he told on April 10.The Indian constitution gives all citizens equal rights and the freedom to choose and practice any religion of their choice, the priest added. Lobo said the archbishop has been a vocal defender of human rights and had called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to act against those who “fail to rise above petty politics and indulge in hate speeches.” Catholic bishops in India had urged their people to pray and fast on March 22.The intention was “to intercede for our nation, especially in the forthcoming general election this year,” said Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi, secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. Christians make up 1.87 percent of Karnataka’s 68.4 million people.

Focusing on bioethical issues is to offer a partial (and too easy) reading of Dignitatis Infinita, the doctrinal declaration on human rights released by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, a view supported by Card Anthony Poola, archbishop of Hyderabad, in comments he shared with Asia-News, starting with the reactions generated in India and beyond by the Vatican document.
“We need to confront those socio-cultural and religious thought-patterns that are behind why many in India still live in subhuman conditions,” something that Dignitas Infinita challenges. The Archbishop of Hyderabad looks at the media reaction to the declaration released by the Dica-stery for the Doctrine of the Faith on human dignity. The media are “focused on gender theory, sex change, surrogacy etc., but” peo-ple who “struggle with poverty, exploitation, discrimination, lack of access to primary healthcare” cannot leave others indifferent.
It is significant to note that Card Poola is the first Indian from a Dalit family to be raised to the cardinalship in the consistory convened in 2022 by Pope Francis. Because of his direct knowledge of a form of negation of human dignity, his testimony takes on particular significance.