Indian bishops have joined the nation’s top leaders and industry captains in mourning the death of Ratan Tata, an iconic business leader, philanthropist, and visio-nary. Tata, the former chairman of Tata Group died on Oct. 9 at 86 in Mumbai, the state capital of Maharashtra. He is credited with putting the Indian conglo-merate on the global map. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) said his life was a testament to an “unwavering commitment to excellence, inte-grity, and compassion.”
“Tata transformed the conglo-merate into a global powerhouse while upholding the values of social responsibility and ethics. His legacy will continue to inspire future generations,” the CBCI said in a statement on Oct 10. The bishops’ body hailed “his philanthropic endeavours, parti-cularly through the Tata Trusts,” which “positively impacted coun-tless lives, fostering education, healthcare, and social welfare initiatives across India.”
India’s Latin-rite Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) said: “Ratan Tata was not merely a titan of industry, but a beacon of compassion and generosity.” Through the Tata Trusts and his numerous philan-thropic initiatives, he transformed the lives of millions, championing the cause of the marginalized and playing a pivotal role in India’s development, it said in a state-ment. “Tata’s unwavering commitment to social justice, education, healthcare, and rural development deeply resonated with the core values of the Catholic Church, particularly in its mission to serve the poor and vulnerable,” the statement added.
The CCBI also acknowledged his significant contributions to nation-building and his role in positioning India as a global economic powerhouse while never losing sight of the need to uplift the underprivileged. “His life’s work will continue to serve as a guiding light, inspiring future generations to strive for the betterment of society and to serve others with selflessness and compassion,” it noted. The Catholic Church in India has offered prayers for Tata’s soul and extended condolences to his family, friends, and those touched by his life’s work.

An Indian cardinal attending the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican says the Church in Asia emphasizes its role as a “bridge builder” by developing respect for other faiths. “We no longer refer to them as non-Christian religions or other religions,” said Card. Oswald Gracias of Bombay in an Oct. 7 press briefing, the news service of the Catholic Bishops’ Council of the Phili-ppines (CBCP) reported. “We begin to refer to them after the conference as ‘neighbour reli-gions,’” Gracias added. Gracias while referring to the outcome of the 2022 gathering of the Fe-deration of the Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) in Bangkok said that a “certain closeness” has been created among the conference attendees. ”All of us working together, searching for God and feeling a bond among ourselves that has come out,” Gracias said, referring to the conference. Gracias is among the hundreds of other cardinals, bi-shops, priests, and laity attending the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bi-shops, held from Oct. 2 to 27 in Vatican City. Gracias, who is among the top Asian voices representing the region’s Chri-stian minority, stressed Vatican II’s call for a greater under-standing of other religions and the need to inculturate the faith. “I feel there is a great richness in Asia, in India, in Korea, in Japan, all these countries. The local culture will help us,” Gracias said. “If we try to, not because we’re trying to convert, if we’re trying to build the kingdom of God also in Asia, we’ve got to take the values of Asia,” he emphasized.
Gracias also pointed out the impact of digital media, recalling a message by a youth representative during the 2022 Asian assembly that called upon bishops to come into the digital world. “A very, very powerful message and a challenging message to all of us who are resisting a bit but cannot resist anymore because that’s the world we are in,” he said. Gracias, also a member of Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals, pointed out that the Asian delegates were comfortable with the synodal process given the experience of the 2022 Asian assembly. “What came out very strongly was we’ve got to work together, respecting lay people, respecting religions, respecting lay movements, respecting the baptismal consecration of each one, which has come out very strongly in the synod,” he said. The prelate also pointed out that the synod gathering displayed the “great fraternity, the great love for the Church, the great passion to do something to revitalize the Church that comes out very strongly.” “I feel that the synod should have an effect not only in transforming the Catholic Church, [but] the Christian churches and also the world,” Gracias emphasized.

India’s Hindu right-wing government has rejected a United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) report on India, calling the US agency “biased” and the findings “malicious.” The USCIRF ”is a biased organization with a political agenda,” Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told reporters in the capital New Delhi. “We reject this malicious report, which only serves to discredit the USCIRF further,” he added on Oct. 3.The US independent bipartisan agency in its Oct. 2 report on India’s religious freedom said, “Individuals have been killed, beaten, and lynched by vigilante groups, religious leaders have been arbitrarily arrested, and homes and places of worship have been demolished.” These events “constitute particularly severe violations of religious freedom,” the commission said and asked the US State Department to designate India as a “Country of Particular Concern.” This is the fifth time the commission has asked the US administration to declare India a “Country of Particular Concern (CPC)” which is the designation for a country responsible for particularly severe violations of religious freedom under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. India is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The pro-Hindu party is against the missionary activities of the Indian Church.

Since Modi came to power in 2014, violence against Christians has increased, but India’s prime minister enjoys cordial ties with the US administration. The USCIRF annually releases policy recommendations to the State Department on international religious freedom. USCIRF’s report on India said, “The government, led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), reinforced discriminatory nationalist policies, perpetuated hateful rhetoric and failed to address communal violence. “The ministry spokesperson called on the USCIRF to “desist from such agenda-driven efforts” and asked it to focus on addressing human rights issues within the United States. “It is sad that the Indian government is sweeping the report under the carpet, terming it “biased,” said A C Michael, National Coordinator of the United Christian Forum (UCF), an ecumenical body that records persecution against Christians in the country. The government should take necessary steps to protect the religious rights of minorities, Michael, a former member of the Delhi minority commission, told UCA News on Oct. 4.”At least two Christians are attacked every day in the country for their faith.” According to the UCF, India has recorded “447 incidents of violence against Christians this year from January to Aug. 10.” The ecumenical body recorded 731 incidents of violence in the country in 2023, excluding strife-torn Manipur where over 230 people have been killed, 60,000 others displaced and over 360 churches destroyed during 16 months of sectarian strife. According to Church leaders, the Uttar Pradesh government, the most populous state in the country with 200 million people and ruled by the pro-Hindu party, has registered 835 cases against Christians and Muslims under a sweeping anti-conversion law since it was enacted in 2020. Nearly 1,682 people have been arrested on conversion charges as of July 31, 2024. These cases are “closely monitored by senior officials,” said the state’s director general of police Prashant Kumar while briefing the media. Eleven states, most of them ruled by the BJP, have enacted a draconian anti-conversion law. This year’s USCIRF report recommended that 12 nations designated in 2023 by the State Department to be of “particular concern” be named again, including Russia and China.

Catholic bishops in southern Indian Kerala state have petitioned a parliamentary panel seeking justice for over 600 families, the majority of them Christians, after a Muslim body claimed that their land and homes were once donated as charity for Muslim welfare. Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, president of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Conference, petitioned the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), which is studying amendments pro-posed to a 1995 law meant to manage donated properties of the Muslim community across India. Father Michael Pulickal, who heads the bishops’ Commission for Social Harmony and Vigilance, said the Waqf Board’s claim, first made in 2019, has caused “severe hard-ship” to hundreds of families in the coastal villages of Ernakulam district. The board claims an area covering some 1,000 land titles currently occupied by 600 families of various religious backgrounds was donated as Waqaf land for Muslim charity. These families face the threat of being vacated from the land “they have legally purchased,” the priest told on Sept. 25. “Our aim is to ensure that no one shall be displaced from their rightful properties,” Pulickal, who has conducted extensive study into this dispute, told on Sept. 25. “This situation has led to serious human rights violations, infringing on their constitutional rights to live and own property,” he said. The Cardinal in his Sept. 10 petition, a copy of which was made available on Sept. 25, said the government must “take immediate and decisive action to resolve this issue.” The Waqf Board’s claim has no legal validity and once such a claim is made on any land, “it will go through extremely complicated legal procedures. If necessary judicial and government inter-vention is not done in time, the land will be permanently vested in the Waqf Board,” Pulickal said.

A petition seeking a special probe into shelter homes, including those run by the Missionaries of Charity (MC), in a central Indian state has been dismissed by the country’s top court. “Yes, we are aware of the case; but don’t want to comment on it,” said a nun from the Mother House, the headquarters of the congregation started by St. Mother Teresa, in the eastern Kolkata city, on Sept. 25. The petition was filed by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in 2020, two years after MC sisters were accused of selling babies from their shelter homes in the central state of Jharkhand. In 2018, a raid was ordered by the then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state. That same year, Jharkhand police arrested a nun from the Kolkota-based congregation and sent her to jail for close to three months following a complaint from a couple over payment made while adopting a child. The NCPCR said it approached the top court after the new state government made continuous attempts to sabotage its probe. Its counsel said the child rights panel wanted a “court-monitored, time-bound” probe into all shelter homes in Jharkhand. The Supreme Court on Sept. 24 dismissed the petition saying it “is totally misconstrued.” “Don’t drag the Supreme Court into your agenda,” a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh told the child rights panel, which reports to the federal government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The ruling BJP used the allegations against the MC nuns to target other shelter homes and sought scrapping of the congregation’s license to receive foreign funds. In 2019, the right-wing party lost power and a secular regional party came to power in Jharkhand.
“It is shocking to learn that a federal statutory body like the NCPCR can file a frivolous petition before the top court,” said A. C. Michael, a Catholic leader based in the national capital New Delhi. On the other hand, the court should appoint a special team to probe the NCPCR as it often oversteps “into areas beyond its jurisdiction to harass Christian institutions,” added Michael, a former member of the minority commission in the Delhi government. Christian leaders have accused the NCPCR under its current chairperson Priyank Kanoongo of conducting raids on their institutions in violation of the laid down norms and registering false cases against bishops, priests, and nuns.

The sensitive border state of Manipur “is engulfed in violent anarchy,” says M.G. Devasaha-yam, a retired bureaucrat from India’s elite civil service cadre, who previously served as an army officer seeing action in war and engaging in internal security matters. Devasahayam, a guiding force of an exceptionally influen-tial group of retired civil servants and judges who have taken on the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this week cau-tioned that the decision to arm police with mortars and machine guns is not the way to a “Manipur solution.” He quotes another retired army officer living in the state, Lieutenant General L. Ni-shikanta Singh, saying Manipur is now “stateless” where life and property can be destroyed by anyone at any time, “as it happens in Libya, Lebanon, Nigeria, Sy-ria.” “It seems that Manipur has been left to dissolve in its own juice. Is anyone listening?” he adds. Among those not listening is the Indian prime minister, who was in New York recently to add-ress the United Nations General Assembly. He attends such inter-national events regularly and torus other pasts of India but has not visited Manipur once. He has also failed to announce any action program on restoring peace and providing relief to the more than 60,000 people living in refugee camps in the state or scattered elsewhere in the country without any livelihood, and often with little food or medicines. The fact that most of the 250 or so dead are Christians and over 400 churches have been destroyed in the state has helped consolidate the argument that the persecution is both ethnic and targeted against Christians.
All the Kuki-Zo-Hmar are Christians, of Catholic and several Protestant denominations. The government says it is just ethnic strife. Amnesty International in a recent report on Manipur found “a picture of a state missing-in-action” despite the claims of “timely intervention” and a promise of financial aid. The London-based rights group accused the state government of a “violation of UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.”

Abp Linus Neli of Imphal has requested Pope Francis to pray for the people of Manipur state in north-eastern India. The archbishop made the plea on September 21 during an audience with the Pope. He was in Rome to attend the September 15-22 formation course for newly appointed bishops organized by the Dicastery for Evangelization. In a message shared with the people of Manipur via social me-dia, Abp Neli expressed his heart-felt prayers for his community, emphasizing the urgent need for God’s intervention to restore peace in the troubled region. He conveyed to the Pope the dire si-tuation in Manipur and requested the pontiff to pray that the people there might live in harmony, em-bracing forgiveness and recon-ciliation. Ethnic violence, raging in Manipur since May 3, 2023, has led to the deaths of at least 220 people and driven thousands to relief camps. “It is difficult, yet forgiveness and love for ene-mies are the only ways forward, as our divine Saviour Christ tau-ght us on the cross at Calvary,” Abp Neli stated, urging people to recognize their shared huma-nity amid the ongoing turmoil. The unrest in Manipur started after the Manipur High Court directed the local government to study the possibility of extending the reservation for tribal commu-nities to Meiteis, the largest ethnic group in the state. The special economic advantages and quotas in government employment and education is currently enjoyed by the Kuki community. The ruling has intensified pre-existing ten-sions between the two groups, deepening ethnic divides and triggering widespread turmoil.
The unrest has had serious repercussions for Manipur, which borders Myanmar. Around 60,000 people have been displaced, with numerous families compelled to abandon their homes in search of safety. Reports suggest that thousands are still living in precarious conditions, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the area. Archbishop Neli became the head of the Catholic Church in October 2023 during the challenging time for the community. Many homes, buildings, and churches have been destroyed, impacting both the local people and the church. In response, many supporters have stepped up to help those affected by the violence. Archbishop Neli’s request for the Pope’s prayers highlights the urgent need for peace and reconciliation in Manipur. The 67-year-old prelate has encouraged the Catholic community to keep Manipur in their prayers during October, the month of the Rosary. In a separate message to Matters India, the archbishop said he also appealed to the Pope to pray and bless for Myanmar in civil war, Bangladesh in political instability. The Pope “showed great concerns of such gravity and he encouraged us not to lose heart,” Archbishop Neli said.

The top court of India’s Maharashtra state has, for an eighth time, refused to hear a plea seeking to clear late Jesuit Father Stan Swamy from an anti-terror case that includes a plot to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Justice Revati Mohite-Dere of the Bombay High Court recused herself from hearing the plea on Sept. 20 that wanted to remove Swamy’s name from the seven-year-old Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case filed against 16 leading activists in the country. The legal term recuse means that a person is unqualified to perform legal duties because of a potential conflict of interest or lack of impartiality. The judges have rescued themselves from hearing the case on seven earlier occasions. However, a lawyer following the case told that these judges have not explicitly expressed their potential conflicts of interest in the case. Petitioner, Jesuit Father Frazer Mascarenhas, based in Mumbai, Maharashtra’s capital, said “this was the eighth bench in the high court refusing to hear the case.” No bench in the high court is willing to hear the case “because it is clearly in our favour,” said Mascarenhas, whom the Jesuits appointed as a delegate to file the case in December 2021 after Swamy’s custodial death on July 5, 2021. “We still do not know why eight benches refused to hear this case. It is a clear case of justice being denied to Father Swamy,” Mascarenhas said. The judges fear “retribution from the government,” Father Mascarenhas told on Sept. 23. The 84-year-old Swamy was arrested on Oct. 8, 2020, from his residence in Ranchi in eastern Jharkhand state. He was accused of offenses such as sedition, having links with the outlawed Maoist group, and being part of a conspiracy to kill Modi. He died in a Mumbai hospital as a prisoner on July 5, 2021, after being denied bail on medical grounds despite suffering from multiple age-related ailments.
Rights activists say Swamy was arrested because he opposed the policies of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in his state and marshalled tribal people to oppose them. A recent report by Massachusetts-based Arsenal Consulting, a digital forensics firm, disclosed Swamy was arrested based on evidence planted on his computer’s hard drive by hacking it. Along with 15 others, Swamy was accused of a role in instigating mob violence in Bhima Koregaon in Maharashtra on Jan. 1, 2018, which left one dead and several others hurt. All the accused persons in the Bhima Koregaon case are leading academics, writers and human rights activists like Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves, Sudha Bharadwaj, Anand Teltumbde, Gautam Navlakha, and poet Varavara Rao. In 1818, the battle of Bhima Koregaon was fought between the Maratha confederacy and the British East India Company, whose forces included members of the Dalit community. The celebration of the 200th anniversary by Dalits turned violent as they were opposed by pro-Hindu groups.

The Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) on September 10 launched a set of 115 textbooks for schools under the Central Board of Secondary Education and the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education. CCBI president Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao, Archbishop of Goa and Daman, unveiled the textbooks at an event held at St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, Bengaluru.Present on the occasion were 40 bishops, including Cardinals Oswald Gracias and Anthony Poola, attending the CCBI Executive Committee meeting, along with educationists, major superiors, secretaries of the CCBI Commissions, and other dignitaries. “Education is a primary mission of the Church in India. With numerous schools across the country, we are committed to providing quality education to future generations. This new series of textbooks will further strengthen our education,” said Cardinal Ferrão. Cardinal Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, congratulated those involved in publishing the textbook series for Catholic schools. Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore stressed the church’s responsibility in shaping future citizens who uphold both human and constitutional values. He also referred to the CCBI’s value education textbooks, launched in 2022, as an essential tool in this mission. The textbooks were published by Arclight Global, the CCBI’s publishing arm, established in 2022.The launch marks a significant step forward in the Church’s efforts to enhance educational resources in its schools across India, says Father Alathara.

Police in a northern Indian state have booked two people for allegedly trying to sell off a more than a century-old Protestant church by posing as its office bearers. Police said Jordan Masih and Mary Wilson were arrested after they tried to sell the 129-year-old Golaknath Memorial Church in Punjab state’s Jalandhar city, posing as the treasurer and member of the church.Sanwar Bhatti, president of the United Church of Northern India Trust Association, which claims to hold a power of attorney for the church, told UCA News on Sept. 10 that they learnt about the fraud last week and complained to the police. Jalandhar police said the duo struck a deal with a prospective buyer and collected a token amount of 500,000 rupees (some $5,000) in June. “The duo is absconding, and police are trying to trace them,” Bhatti said. Pastor Nanook Bhatti, a Jalandhar-based Christian leader, told UCA News that media reports of the incident have shocked the local Christian community. “It is a very unfortunate thing to happen. But it is also a lesson to all Christians that they must be very alert about their church properties,” he said. Church sources said the church, located in the Mission Compound in Jalandhar city, is spread over 0.5 hectares of land and is valued at 1.5 billion Indian rupees (some US$19 million). The church also has historic significance as it is named after Golaknath Chatterjee, a Bengali Hindu convert to Christianity who renounced his home and became the first Indian missionary in the Punjab around 1830. Before him, the region was served by foreign missionaries. Pastor Amit Prakash, secretary of the Chandigarh diocese of the Church of North India (CNI), thanked the police for timely action as Masih was trying to register the deal at the land records office. Jordan Masih “is not a member of the CNI Church. He has a history of fraudulently selling church properties,” Prakash said. He said several people, like Masih, are targeting the properties owned by the CNI. “They pretend to be members and try to forge documents to make fraudulent deals,” the pastor added. Punjab is a Sikh-majority state where the rate of conversion to Christianity has been on the rise in recent decades, causing concern among the state’s Sikhs. Sikh preachers allege that Christians now constitute 10 percent of the northern state’s 28 million people.