India today saw the consecration of the Ram Mandir, the monumental temple in Ayodhya desired by Hindu nationalists at the site where, according to Hindu tradition, the god Ram was born.
“The consecration and inauguration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya is a matter of joy for millions of Ram bhaktas or devotees of Lord Ram,” said Bishop Gerald Mathias of Lucknow, a large city in Uttar Pradesh, speaking to AsiaNews about the event.
“I wish and pray that this ceremony and inauguration will also inaugurate the Ram Rajya that Mahatma Gandhi dreamt of for our beloved country. Ram Rajya or the Kingdom of God is characterised by the divine and human values of justice, peace, love, brotherhood, tolerance, and religious harmony.
The solemn ceremony, which represents a personal triumph for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, comes at the end of the long controversy with Muslims whose Babri mosque stood at the same site, but was razed to the ground by Hindu fundamentalists in 1992 in an event that triggered a spiral of communal violence that cost thousands of deaths.
It was designed to accommodate up to a million people at any one time, with the ambition of exceeding the number of visitors who travel to the Vatican and Makkah every year.

The Ram temple that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated this week is a mile-stone in assessing how his lea-dership is changing India’s con-cept of secularism and democracy with far-reaching implications for its religious minorities, particu-larly Muslims and Christians.
When Modi became prime minister for the first time, leading his pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to a landslide victory in the 2014 parliamentary elect-ions, he was just a chief minister of Gujarat state, one of 28 Indian states.
The victory was powered by the groundwork done for decades by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is an umbrella forum of Hindu organizations that work to make India a nation of Hindu hegemony.
Since 2014, Modi’s BJP and the RSS have been working with-out losing sight of their prime objective – making India a Hindu nation.
Many believed a second term for the BJP in 2019 after winning more seats in parliament would lead to changing certain features of India’s secular constitution in the push for a Hindu nation. But the Modi administration showed no rush to do that.
“As prime minister, he does not need to change the written constitution as his political oppo-nents keep saying. Looking at it carefully, you will realize Modi has effectively reshaped the coun-try with his governance strategies already,” according to Assam-based social scientist Ashutosh Talukdar.

Jesuit managed St. Aloysius College, Mangaluru has received the status of ‘Deemed to be Uni-versity,’, approved by the Univer-sity Grants Commission and the federal Ministry of Education.
“This status gives us several opportunities to further improve the education mission with exce-llence and commitment,” rector Jesuit Father Melwyn Pinto told Matters India.
“This is a unique opportunity to serve the cause of higher edu-cation, including designing sy-llabus, conducting examinations and issuing certificates indepe-ndently,” said the rector, adding they have further plans to expand the college campus and start new courses.
Established in 1880 the college has been a premier higher edu-cational institution in coastal Karnataka with several distinctive achievements. The college was elevated to the autonomous status in 2007 allowing it to make na-tional and global presence.
The UGC and the Ministry of Education granted the university status to the college after studying its proposal on various paramet-ers like physical and digital infra-structure, curricular design, re-search and innovation, graduate outcomes, student attainment le-vels, placements, vision and mi-ssion of the institution and its impact on society.
Earlier, the college was re-peatedly given accreditations by National Assessment and Accre-ditation Council (NAAC) and Na-tional Institutional Ranking Fra-mework (NIRF) and other distin-ctive rankings, Father D’Souza said.

In the wake of anti-Christian assaults by Hindu activists in central India, which featured the placement of saffron flags on the rooftops of four Protestant churches, local Catholic leaders are calling for increased security ahead of the installation of a new bishop for the local diocese.
The incidents occurred Jan. 21 following Sunday services in the four churches in the Jhabua district of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. According to local media reports, the Hindu militants were celebrating the Jan. 22 consecration of a new temple to the Lord Ram in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh state on a site believed to be the Hindu deity’s birthplace.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who attended the consecration ceremony, has touted the massive new temple as the cornerstone of a Hindu nationalist renaissance in India.
According to local sources, activists energized on the eve of the consecration ceremony climbed on top of the four churches and prayer halls in Jhabua, shouting Jai Shri Ram (“Hail Lord Ram”), a frequent battle cry of Hindu nationalists, and planted saffron flags on the roofs.
Saffron is the color symbolically associated with Hindu identity in India, and some analysts have described the rise to power of right-wing Hindu nationalism under Modi as representing the “saffronization” of India’s democracy.
Three of the churches involved were Pentecostal prayer halls managed by the Shalom Church, while the fourth was part of the Church of South India, one of the country’s largest Protestant denominations. Visuals of the incident showed a group of youths standing on top of a prayer hall, one of them tying a saffron flag with Lord Ram’s image to the holy cross on the building.
Pastor Kidar Singh of the Church of South India told Crux that around 4:00 p.m. on Jan. 21, over 50 right-wing activists gathered near his house, waiving saffron flags and shouting slogans near the church compound.
“They were chanting slogans, such as Ek hi Rashtra, ek hi Ram (‘only one nation, only one Ram’),” he said.

The Catholic Church has postponed a function to celebrate the Vatican recognition of the Kandhamal martyrs after the civil administration denied security.
More than 10,000 people were expected to attend the January 9 function at Raikia to honor 35 Servants of God who were martyred for their faith during the 2008 anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal, a district in the eastern Indian state of Odisha.
The Vatican on October 2, 2023, gave the archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar a go-ahead to start the beatification process for the martyrs.
A message from Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli to Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar said the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints has granted “no objection” to initiate the process of beatification for the Servant of God Kanteeswar Digal and companions, “martyrs of Kandhamal.”
The archdiocese shared the letter with the media on October 15.
It says the nuncio is pleased to forward the letter from the dicastery to the archbishop.
The dicastery was responding to Archbishop Barwa’s May 31 letter requesting the Vatican to consider beatification for the 35.

“We are approaching Christmas” and “traditionally we look forward to this great celebration”, but “this year several parishes in our archdiocese will not be able to carry out Christmas liturgies or gather families and loved ones as happened in the past due to ethnic violence.” For this reason the Church invites us to “refrain from grandiose festive celebrations”.
With these words the archbishop of Imphal, Msgr. Linus Neli, addresses the Christians of the north-eastern Indian state of Manipur in his Christmas letter. The clashes broke out in May and involved the main tribal groups in the region, the Kuki and the Meitei. Despite a decline in violence, the situation continues to remain tense.
“God adds joy to our hearts by gathering the human family around his Son regardless of race, tribe, language, culture, status, gender or community. We are all one in humanity”, underlined the archbishop.
But around the world there are different situations in which Christmas celebrations are interrupted due to violence: “The same difficulty prevails in many parts of the world due to wars and conflicts. Many suffer from stress and anxiety while staying in shelters for an extended period of time. It is even worse in the case of women and children. There are difficulties for people coming together, especially not being able to communicate with each other over long distances, helping to keep their bonds alive through digital media.”

The Chandigarh administration has issued a show-cause notice to Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity Home for allegedly violating building laws.
The administration of the federally-ruled territory has asked the institution in Sector 23 of the city to appear for a personal hearing on February 10, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported January 9.
The administration alleged that the Catholic home violated building laws by setting up plants in parking places on its premises.
The sub-divisional magistrate (Central), who issued the notice, has also calculated a fine of 53,000 rupees a day since October 9, 2020, which amounts to around 54 million rupees.
Established in 1980, the home takes care of 40 disabled people.
According to the notice, the parking adjoining the right-hand side of the main gate has been covered with landscaping, covering a 900 square feet area. Similarly, another parking adjoining the left-hand side, with 16,800 square feet area, has also been covered with landscaping.
For this violation, the home is liable to pay 3 rupees per day per square foot, which comes to around 53,000 rupees a day,
The notice further states if violations at the site or building are established, the charges for violations at the specified rate shall be payable within 15 days of the order.
For any delay in payment, interest shall be charged at 1.25 percent for each month. Failing to pay the fine will result in resumption, cancellation and sealing of the site.

Thousands of Indian Christians have distanced themselves from their leaders who attended a Christmas lunch hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, criticizing their silence over the ongoing anti-Christian violence in the country.
Over 3,000 Christians signed an online signature campaign, saying the Christian leaders, including Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai and several bishops from various Christian denominations, did not represent them at the gathering at Modi’s official residence.
The two-day virtual campaign, “Not in our name,” was started on Jan. 1 by Jesuit Fathers Cedric Prakash and Prakash Louis, and lay Catholic leader John Dayal.
Christian leaders say in 2023 India recorded some 650 cases of violence against Christians. Since Modi came to power in 2014, violence against Muslims and Christians has increased, they argue.
Sporadic violence continues in the northeastern state of Manipur, where more than 200 tribal Christians died and over 50,000 people were displaced in the sectarian flare-up after it started in May 2023.
Rights groups blame pro-Hindu groups that support Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the violence against Christian and Muslim religious minorities.
Modi, who seeks a third consecutive term in this year’s parliamentary polls, has never condemned the atrocities against minorities nor has he visited strife-torn Manipur, where a Christian woman was gang-raped and paraded naked in July last year.

India’s most senior Catholic cardinal and a close advisor to Pope Francis has said the Fiducia Supplicans, a controversial new Vatican text approving non-liturgical blessings for same-sex unions, is a “natural” for his country, calling it “an affirmation of our spirituality and a gift.”
Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai told Crux that in Indian culture, asking for and giving blessings is a widely accepted custom.
“I once met the Prime Minister, and he asked for prayers. I assured him of our prayers and our blessings,” Gracias said.
“Our Indian mentality is so inclusive, understanding people of other religions and other faiths,” Gracias said. “All are searching for God, all are searching for the truth, all are searching for spirituality.”
To the extent there’s controversy over Fiducia Supplicans in India, Gracias said, it’s because it’s been misunderstood.
“There is no change at all in the Church doctrine of a marriage between a man and a woman. The tradition of the Church, the magisterium is very clear and there is no contradiction at all,” he said.
“The blessing is like when a person is going on a journey, when they have come on a pilgrimage, they want a blessing asking God to be with them,” Gracias said. “Everybody has a right to God’s love and God’s compassion, calling the teaching on blessings in the document a “natural consequence” of this principle.
Gracias also said that Fiducia Supplicans is consistent with his own pastoral practice with the LGBTQ+ community.
“In the past I have said this and I want to say it again, they are part of our family, they need our pastoral care. I have met them when they have come to me sometimes privately in my office.”
“Jesus never refused a blessing … that’s the idea,” he said.
As a concrete example, in October 2018 the late Indian fashion designer Wendell Rodricks met Gracias. Rodricks also headed a group called the “Global Network of Rainbow Catholics,” which worked on the pastoral care of LGBTQ+ Catholics. The purpose of the meeting was for Rodricks to ask Gracias’s blessing on a plan to open a hotline for the LGBTQ+ community, in part to being them closer to the Church.
In a social media post after the meeting, Rodricks described his deep emotion when Gracias responded positively.

Church groups in India on December 20 expressed joy after a court granted bail to a priest and three Catholics in judicial custody for nearly three months for allegedly violating an anti-conversion law.
The Allahabad High Court, the top court of Uttar Pradesh in northern India, granted bail to Father Babu Francis, the director of social work in Allahabad diocese and others on December 18.
“With God’s grace and your prayers Fr. Babu Francis has been granted bail. We received the bail order at 5:10 pm today. He will come out very soon along with others. Let’s thank God for His great gift for Christmas 2023,” said a message from Bishop Louis Mascarenhas of Allahabad addressed to his people.
The prelate urged the priests, nuns and Brothers in the diocese to offer a thanksgiving Mass on December 21.
While thanking his people for their “constant prayers and support during this difficult time,” the bishop pointed out that “their innocent suffering will not go in vain, it will strengthen the Church and faith to work for the Lord.”