The decades-old liturgical dispute in India’s eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church reached the Vatican when a group of Catholics raised placards during the general audience of Pope Francis.
The close to 100 faithful including women from the Kerala-based Church on Oct. 5 tried to grab the Pope’s attention by dis-playing placards demanding to allow their priests to say Mass facing the congregation, rather than facing the altar.
At least 48 of the protesters were on a pilgrimage to the Vatican while the rest were part of the Indian community in Italy.
The dispute took a dramatic turn last week when Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, the apostolic administrator of Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, tried to impose the liturgical pattern approved by the bishops’ synod that requires priests to face the altar against the congregation during the Eucharistic prayer until Communion.
The group carried placards with slogans in support of “La santa Messa versus Populum” (the holy Mass facing the people) to the regular papal audience on Wednesday with tens of thousands of people from across the globe present.
“We are happy that the Pope noticed our placards,” claimed Josemon Kammattil, one of the protestors, who is based in Italy.
Kammattil told that they stood at a stra-tegic spot from where Pope returns to his residence after the public audience.
“As he (Pope) moved on while accepting the salutations of the people, he stood still for a second and noticed us holding the placards in silence,” Kammattil added.
He hoped the effort may place the truth before the Pope as the apostolic administrator seems to have misguided the authorities in the Vatican.
“We plan to continue our protests against the synod Mass on Wednesdays and Sundays strictly abiding by the local law,” Kammattil said.
He said close to 8,000 Catholics from the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese are living and working in Italy and the majority among them were against the synod-approved Mass form.
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Hijab row hits Catholic school in Kerala
The row over wearing hijab on September 26 led clashes and disruption of classes in Providence School in Kozhikode, a town in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Some activists of the Students Islamic Organization of India stormed the girls’ school in the morning and in the clashes at the entrance three police people were wounded. The police block-ed the protesters and arrested 10 activists.
A new controversy arose in the century-old school managed by the Apostolic Carmel congregation after its management de-cided to ban hijab in the campus in line with their congregation’s policy.
The immediate provocation for the protests was the college refusing entry to an eleventh grader wearing hijab.
“Hijab is not the part of their uniforms and girls should adhere to the uniform policy,” the principal was quoted as saying by Janam Online, a news portal in Kerala. The same policy is being followed in the century-old St. Agnes School and College in Mangaluru, a major town in the neighboring state of Karnataka. Last year, several schools and colleges in an around Mangaluru was hit by the hijab controversy and the case is in the Supreme Court.
The Students Islamic Organization of India targeted the Providence School three days after Kerala observed a shut in protest against raids by the Enforcement Directorate on the Popular Front on India, another Islamic political movement.
Hijab row hits Catholic school in Kerala
Sikkim political secretary denies conversion allegations
The political secretary of the Sikkim Chief Minister on Sept. 30 denied allegations that he was using his position to spread Christianity in the northeastern Indian Himalayan state.
“Today, I am shocked and pained to learn about the wild, unfounded and dubious allegations leveled against me by a former minister and present Dentam MLA N.K. Subba about my faith,” Jacob Khaling Rai, a Protestant Christian who serves as the political secretary of Prem Singh Tamang, says in a statement issu-ed September 30.
A day earlier, ANI news age-ncy reported from New Delhi that Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP, World Hindu Council) working president Alok Kumar had written to federal Home Minister Amit Shah alleging that Rai indulged in “conversions.”
Kumar alleged that Rai was using his post to “spread Christianity and conversion to Christianity” in Sikkim.
He also said that Subba had met him and handed over a compilation of news of public appearances of Rai, “all for the promotion of Christianity and Christian Institutions in Sikkim.”
The VHP leader, a lawyer, also said that he believed that the assignment of a chief minister’s political secretary and the responsibility of a pastor engaged in promoting Christianity are different. “They should not be allow-ed to be mixed,” Kumar asserted in his letter.
Vizhinjam project: Archdiocese to continue protests despite High Court order
The Latin rite archdiocese of Trivandrum says it will continue its agitation against the Vizhinjam seaport, despite a High Court order to remove tents used by the protesters.
“It is only an interim order and the Church would file a petition to review it,” Father Eugine Pereira,, the vicar general of the archdiocese told on October 8.
“We have some 500 women currently protesting under the tents,” Father Pereira added.
The previous day, the high court directed the state government to demolish the protest tents pitched outside the under-construction Vizhinjam port that blocked the entrance of the project.
The high court, that heard a contempt petition filed by Adani Group, said the ongoing work of the seaport should not be disrupted at any cost and com-plaints regarding the project can be raised at appropriate forums.
Father Pereira said the Adani group could use a parallel road to resume the port work.
The government has appointed one more commission to study the demands of the fisher people and the environmental impacts, and “we will wait until the report is submitted,” the priest added.
The fisher people have demanded a rehabilitation package for those who have lost houses and occupation because of the port, subsidized kerosene, and a study about the environmental impact of the project.
The port is being built by Gautam Adani, an Indian businessman who already owns 13 seaports and airports in the country. The new seaport is coming up at Vizhinjam, south of Thiruvananthapuram, under an agreement with the Kerala government and the patronage of the federal government.
Indian govt to look into quotas for Dalit Christians, Muslims
A Catholic Church official has welcomed the Indian government’s decision to appoint a commission to examine if Dalits who converted to Christianity or Islam can be accorded Scheduled Caste (SC) status.
The federal government in a notification issued on Oct. 6 announced the setting up of a three-member inquiry commission headed by former Chief Justice of India, Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, to look into granting SC status, its implications and submit a report within two years.
However, Dalit Christian leaders dismissed this as a tactic to delay their recognition as SCs, the official name for former untouchables in the country.
The SC status will ensure them a share in the 15% reserved quota in parliament and state legislatures, government jobs and education, at present extended only to Dalits belonging to Hindu, Sikh, or Buddhist religions
“It is a welcome move. We have to take it positively as it will give us an opportunity to highlight the issues plaguing our brothers and sisters,” Bishop Moses D Prakasam, a member of Indian Bishops’ Conference’s Office of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes, told on Oct. 8.
Plan to end Sikh-Christian ‘conversion’ rift in India
Representatives of different faiths in New Delhi have begun work to establish peace between Christian and Sikh minorities at loggerheads in Punjab over religious con-versions. The growing number of churches and churchgoers in the Sikh-majority state in north India has led to sporadic friction with Sikh religious organizations who accuse Christians of using forceful and fraudulent means of conversion.
A C Michael, convener of the Concerned Citizens Group in New Delhi said in a press note issued on Aug. 12 that the group at its recent meeting decided to meet Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is also the founder and leader of the Aam Adami Party (AAP) that rules Punjab.
The interreligious group “feels that the good offices of Mr. Kejriwal could play an important role in bringing about a much-needed peaceful atmosphere between two clashing groups as Mr. Kejriwal enjoys the goodwill of both communities,” Michael said. AAP’s Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had called the latest attack on a church “unfortunate” and assured he will not allow anybody to disturb the communal harmony in the state.
In the attack on Aug. 31, masked men had vandalized a church in Tarn Taran district, on the border with Pakistan, and set the pastor’s car on fire.
A day before the Tarn Taran incident, Giani Harpreet Singh, head of Akal Takht, one of the highest seats of power for the Sikhs, had condemned alleged forced con-versions by Christian groups and demanded a law against such activities.
Earlier, a group of armed Nihang Sikhs reportedly disrupted an event organized by Christians at a village in the Amritsar district on August 28.
The group in Delhi in their attempt to build peace brought together representatives of Christians, Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims to work out an action plan.
It also proposes to have Christians, both denominational and non-denominational groups, initiate a dialogue among themselves.
The group also has plans to visit Punjab for a dialogue with all affected people and to undertake a fact-finding mission to establish the truth behind the alleged religious conversions in the state.
Indian Catholics form human chain against Kerala port
Catholics in the southern Indian state of Kerala formed a 17-kilometre-long human chain to support an ongoing fishermen’s protest against a multi-billion dollar Vizhinjam port project.
The human chain along the Chellanam-Fort Kochi coastal corridor on Sept. 10 was a show of solidarity against the project, which is a “man-made disaster,” said Father Jacob G Palakkappilly, spokesman of the Kerala Catholic Bishop’s Council (KCBC).
Thousands of fishermen and their families including women and children have been protesting since July 20 demanding an immediate halt to work at the site of the Adani port at Vizhinjam, close to the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.
The Latin Archdiocese of Trivandrum is spearheading the protest as a majority of the fisher-men are Catholics and members of the archdiocese.
Archbishop Thomas J Netto in his latest pastoral letter appeal-ed to Catholics to expand the protest across Kerala as the state government refused to stop construction work.
The letter was read out in churches across the archdiocese during Sunday Mass on Sept.11.
The unholy nexus between the politicians and the corporate company led to legal clearance”
The protesting fishermen, their families, bishops, priests and nuns from the archdiocese, are not alone as the entire Catho-lic community in the state is with them,” Father Palakkappilly told on Sept. 12.
Chotanagpur Church to celebrate World Day of Migrants, Refugees
Distress migration from the east-central Indian region has prompted a Jesuit network to join the Latin rite bishops to organize programs to educate Church people about the exploitation of poor tribal people. A meeting organized by the Central Zone of the Migrants’ Assistance Information Network and the Commission for Migrants of Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) has observed that thousands of tribals leave villages in Jharkhand and Chotanagpur areas to work in cities and other states in the country.
Their migration saw an increase year because of agriculture failure because of a drought, said the organizers of the September 10 meeting at Manresa House, the Jesuit provincial house in Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand state.
The meeting has decided to celebrate the World Day of Migrants and Refugees on September 25 in all parishes and religious congregations in the region to create awareness about the distressing migration of poor tribal people from the region.
The Vatican section of the Migrants and Refugees have been organizing the World Day of Migrants and Refugees on the last Sunday of September. The message of Pope Francis for this year’s World Day of Migrants and Refugees is “Building the Future with Migrants and Refugees.” In his message the Pope explains that people cannot think of building a future that is not inclusive.
“We are all called to commit ourselves to building a future based on a new global system that better responds to God’s plan, a world where everyone can live in peace and prosperity.”
Odisha Church commemorates Father Arul Doss’ martyrdom
The Catholic Church in Odisha has observed the 23rd anniversary of the martyrdom of Father Arul Doss.
Father Doss, a priest of Balasore diocese, was killed by Hindu radicals on Sept. 2, 1999, in a remote village parish in Mayurbhanj district of the eastern Indian state.
More than 3.000 people, along with 30 priests and some 50 nuns and brothers, from Balasore and neighboring dioceses paid homage to the martyr at Jambani village that comes under Bagdapha parish.
Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, head of the Odisha Church, in his homily said the large gathering proved the famous saying of Tertullian, “The blood of the Martyr is the seed of the Church.”
Archbishop Barwa paying tribute to Fr Arul Doss The Di-vine Word prelate also reminded the faithful the Jesus was victo-rious against the evil one. “We as His followers also will be able to overcome all evils by remaining steadfast to our Lord. We will never be defeated as long as we are with and in the Lord. Let’s therefore continue to practice and express our faith boldly, freely and share our faith with others so that one day they also will know Christ the redeemer.”
Father Jadu Marandi, former vicar general of Balasore and the current parish priest hailed Father Doss as a champion of the poor, needy and underprivileged Ho people. “Father Arul Doss has become a medium of God’s abundance blessings for the people of Odisha,” he added.