The head of the Catholic Church in India on Christmas eve called for prayers for war-torn regions of the world, including Manipur in the country.
“In the spirit of Christmas, I earnestly request your prayers for those in violence-affected and war-torn regions of our world, including the state of Manipur in our beloved country, and the conflict zones of Israel-Palestine war, and Ukraine,” says the Christmas message from Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Trichur, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.
Ethnic violence has raged in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur since May 3, rendering thousands homeless.
The prelate wants the “collective prayers” to become a beacon of hope and healing for those enduring the harsh realities of conflict.
“As we celebrate the joyous occasion of Christmas and welcome the dawn of the New Year, I, along with all the Catholic bishops in India, extend heartfelt greetings to each one of you. May this season be filled with the love, peace, and joy that the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ brings into our lives.”
Archbishop Thazhath prays for the coming year to “witness a transformation, where peace triumphs over discord, and compassion reigns over cruelty, fostering understanding and harmony in the troubled areas of Manipur and bringing solace to the people of Israel, Palestine, and Ukraine.”
The Indian Church leader wants those celebrating the festival to pause to reflect on Christmas’ true essence. “It is not merely about Santa Claus and Christmas trees adorned with glittering ornaments. Christmas is, above all, a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior, whose life embodies the principles of love, justice, and compassion.”

“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.”

A senior Indian cardinal has welcomed a new state administration led by a party which represents the main rival to the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist BJP party, and which came to power in part on the basis on promises to respect minority rights.
Cardinal Anthony Poola of Hyderabad congratulated A. Revanth Reddy of the Congress Party, who led his coalition to victory in Telangana state in the south-central region of India on Nov. 30 and who recently took office as the state’s Chief Minister.
“Revanth Reddy’s ascension to this significant responsibility reflects the trust and confidence vested in his leadership capabilities by the people of our vibrant state,” said Poola, who also leads the Telugu Catholic Bishops’ Council (TCBC).
“Revanth Reddy embarks on a new journey. We are optimistic that under his leadership, Telangana will continue to prosper and flourish, reaching new heights of development and inclusivity,” said Poola, the first cardinal from India’s traditionally marginalized Dalit community.
“The Archdiocese of Hyderabad and the TCBC are eager to collaborate and support Revanth Reddy’s vision for a harmonious, progressive and equitable Telangana state,” he said. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to contributing to the welfare and upliftment of our communities, working hand in hand with the new government for the greater good of all citizens.”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi says the nation “proudly acknowledges the contribution of the Christian Community.”
The prime minister said this while interacting with leaders of Christian community on the occasion of Christmas on December 25 at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, New Delhi, the official residence of the Prime Minister of India.
The prime minister praised Christian contributions to the freedom movement and highlighted the various intellectual thinkers and leaders. He underlined that Gandhiji himself had said that the Non-Cooperation Movement was conceived under the patronage of Sushil Kumar Rudra, principal of St. Stephen’s College.
Modi, who is completing 10 years as the Indian prime minister, highlighted the crucial role played by the Christian community in giving direction to society and mentioned active participation in social service towards the poor and the deprived.
He also noted their contributions in important areas of education and healthcare.
Wishing everyone, especially people of the Christian community a Merry Christmas, the prime minister thanked everyone present for joining him on this very special and sacred occasion. He expressed delight in accepting the Indian Minority Foundation’s proposal to celebrate Christmas together and thanked them for the initiative, says a press release from the Press Information Bureau of the government of India.
Throwing light on his relations with the Christian community for a long time, the prime minister recalled holding frequent meetings with the Christian community and their leaders when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. He also recalled his interaction with Pope Francis Pope on October 30, 2021, as a memorable moment.
He said the two leaders discussed issues such as social harmony, global brotherhood, climate change and inclusive development to make earth a better place.
Noting that Christmas is not just the day to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ but also to remember his life, message and values, the 73-year-old Indian leader underlined the values of compassion and service that Jesus lived by.
He said Jesus worked to create an inclusive society where justice prevails for all and it is these values that are illuminating the way like a guiding light in the development journey of India.

Putting an end to speculations and rumors over the Vatican ambassador’s sudden and brief visit to the Kochi airport, the Syro-Malabar Church on December 7 announced that Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of its major archbishop Cardinal George Alencherry.
The Pope has also accepted the resignation of Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Trichur from the post of apostolic administrator of the archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, it was announced at a press conference held at St.Thomas Mount, the headquarters of the Oriental Church at Kakkanad, a suburb of Kochi, Kerala.
The press conference at 4:30 pm was addressed by Cardinal Alencherry and Curia Bishop Sebastian Vaniyapurackal.
It was also announced that until a new major archbishop is elected at the next Synod meeting in January, Bishop Vaniyapurackal will function as the administrator of the Syro-Malabar Church.
Bishop Emeritus Bosco Puthur of Melbourne has been appointed the temporary administrator of the archdiocese of Ernakulam
At the press conference, the cardinal thanked the Pope for accepting his resignation.
The two resignations took place two days after Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli gave Cardinal Alencherry two letters from the Pope at the Kochi airport lounge.
The Pope’s letter in Latin accepting the resignations noted Cardinal Alencherry’s zeal and generosity in the past 12 years to help the Oriental Church achieve various important milestones. The Pope also noted that Cardinal Alencherry had last year celebrated the 50th anniversary of his priestly ordination and 25th anniversary as a bishop.

The apex body of Christian denominations in the Telugu speaking states has congratulated the new government of Telangana state.
The Federation of Telugu Churches (FTC) and its state wing, the Telangana State Fe-deration of Churches (TSFC) also expressed happiness over the A. Revanth Redd government.
“The Christian Community in Telangana state has been ma-king efforts to usher in a government that upholds the values of secularism, democracy, concern for the poor and the marginalised, and the welfare of the Christian Community,” said the federation’s December 8 statement.
It expressed the hope that the new government will honor all the promises it has made to the minorities and in particular to the Christian Community. The Congress party that formed the government had promised to provide adequate representation to the Christian community in the government at different le-vels, including the state Cabinet.
The new government headed by Anumula Revanth Reddy took oath as the chief minister of Telangana on December 7.
Among those present at the ceremony were Cardinal Anthony Poola, Archbishop of Hyderabad, Church of South India Bi-shop K. Padma Rao of Dornakal and Methodist Bishop M.A. Daniel and Free Methodist Church Bishop John Gollapalli.
Ahead of the state election on November 30, the Christian groups had presented to political parties 20 demands, including separate parliamentary and legislative seats, land for cemeteries and scholarships.
The Telangana State Federation of Churches, Telangana Council of Churches and Synod of Telangana, representing the entire Christian community in the state, had met in the state capital of Hyderabad early October and decided to ask the parties to include their demands in their manifestos.
The community wanted political parties to give two tickets to Christians for the assembly election and two Member of Legislative Council seats.

Liturgy is the source and summit of Christian life. It is a nursery of Christian life wherein one learns the basic principles and understands the importance of celebrating one’s life.
It is in the liturgy that one can experience the Love of Christ and rediscover oneself. Sadly, the focus of the current strife among the Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Catholic Church, the Syro-Malabar Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly, is the priest’s orientation (Facing the Altar or Facing the Congregation) during various sections of the Holy Qur-bana (Eucharistic celebration).
Uniform rubrics were released in 1999 by the Synod of Bi-shops of the Syro-Malabar Church to standardize Eucharistic celebrations. The choice was made to have the priest face the altar throughout the Eucharistic Prayer, but turn to face the people after Communion and during the Liturgy of the Word. Dispensations, on the other hand, were given in a few dioceses, such as the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, enabling priests to face the congregation the whole liturgy.
When the bishops planned to terminate these dispensations in November 2021, the Archdiocesan Movement for Transparency, a group inside the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese, protested and showed resistance.

Dissident Catholic leaders in an Indian archdiocese have ex-pressed reluctance to follow the official liturgy of their Syro-Malabar Church despite a direction from Pope Francis to do so, forcing Church officials to say those who challenge the pope have no place in the Catholic Church.
“We want our newly appointed apostolic administrator to apprise Pope Francis about the truth” that people want celebrants to face them during the Mass, said retired Justice Kurian Joseph, a member of the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese and a former judge of India’s Supreme Court (SC) said on Dec.10.
Joseph and several other leaders made similar demands while addressing a gathering of Catholics and some 500 priests, religious and nuns as they concluded the centenary of the establishment of the Syro-Malabar Hierarchy in the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese (1923-2023). Organizers said some 50,000 people gathered for the celebrations.
Their gathering came three days after the Church officials announced the resignation of the Church’s major archbishop Cardinal George Alencherry and the administrator Archbishop Andrew Thazhath.
The papal message also warned not to force authorities to declare them as people “no longer in communion” with the Church because they refused to follow the Church-approved liturgy.

Sister Seli Thomas, a member of the Sisters of Mary Immaculate from India, was among three nuns who received the inaugural Sisters Anti-Trafficking Awards (SATA) on October 31.
Also honored were Sr.Patricia Ebegbulem from Nigeria and Sr.Francoise Jiranonda from Thailand. The three have been rescuing women from networks that profit from sexual and labor trafficking. Thomas won the Common Good Award for courage and creativity in addressing exploitation.
Co-hosted by Arise, the International Union of Superiors General and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the awards ceremony in London drew 200 people. Thomas, a lawyer, is based in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata. Her congregation is also known as the Krishnagar Sisters, as it was founded in a city with the same name in West Bengal.
Thomas spoke with GSR about campaigns against human trafficking and attempts to make village women self-reliant.
“Sr.Lisette Thuruthimattam, the then-superior general of our congregation, after attending the UISG plenary assembly in 2009, inspired me to venture into the anti-trafficking mission in West Bengal. Bishop Louis Larravoire Morrow [of Krishnagar] founded our congregation – the Sisters of Mary Immaculate – for evangelization and catechesis with a specific thrust toward women, girls and children.

Christians should serve others without fear or expectations in a multireligious society, says Theo-dosius Mar Thoma Metropolitan, the supreme head of the Kerala-based Mar Thoma Church.
“Whatever place you are, try to do something for the betterment of people around you,” the prelate said while addressing the vale-dictory function of Jaipur’s Mar Thoma parish’s golden jubilee.
The metropolitan, who was the chief guest, urged the parish community to develop a plan to support all the people around.
He also asked the parish community what it has done for the wider community for all the blessings it has received in the last 50 years.
‘Try to do big things for God. One should understand what God is expecting from us and submit ourselves to God’s plan. Spread-ing the message of love makes a parish relevant,” he added.
While interacting with the church executive committee the previous day, the metropolitan said, “In the present multi religious and pluralistic context in India, Christians should spread the message of love, and extend dedicated service to the wider community, without any fear and without expecting anything in return.”
Mumtaz Masih, the chairman of the Rajasthan government’s Voluntary Sector Development Centre, who was the guest of honour at the function, reminded the gathering that the foundation of Christianity is love. “Love means service to others, whether it is in the area of education or health or any other sector. We should reach out to the people in need,” he added.