The Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council has asked the state government to withdraw all steps it had taken on deep sea fishing off the coast. The act of the Kerala government to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with a foreign firm without consulting the fishermen community or heeding the coastal people’s concerns is objectionable, says a statement the bishops’ council issued on February 23.
The bishops, however, welcomed the government move to retract the agreement that brought great relief to the coastal community.
Although the government has withdrawn the agreement amid public protests, all the steps it had taken since 2018 to implement the project remain in force, the bishops point out.
Bishops’spokesperson Father Jacob G Palackapilly, who signed the press release, says fishermen community fears that the company would implement the project in some other way.

Pope Francis prayed Feb 7 for justice and national stability in Burma as tens of thousands protest the Feb. 1 military coup.
“These days I am following with great concern the developments of the situation that has arisen in Myanmar,” the pope said Feb. 7, using the country’s official name. Burma is “a country that, since the time of my apostolic visit in 2017, I carry in my heart with much affection.”
Francis held a moment of silent prayer for Burma during his Sunday Angelus address. He expressed “my spiritual closeness, my prayers, and my solidarity” with the people of that country.
For seven weeks the Angelus was held via livestream only from inside the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace due to pandemic restrictions. But Sunday the pope returned to leading the traditional Marian prayer from a window overlooking St Peter’s Square.
“I pray that those who have responsibility in the country will place themselves with sincere willingness at the service of the common good, promoting social justice and national stability, for a harmonious coexistence,” Pope Francis said.
Tens of thousands of people in Burma have taken to the streets this week to protest for the rel-ease of Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s elected civilian leader.

A village court in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand has ordered families who converted to Christianity to be caned, fined and excommunicated from the community.
Three Korwa tribal families from Khala village of Dhurki in Garhwa district embraced Christianity on Jan. 22, according to media reports.
“There are reports of religious conversion in the area but they are of different denominations as a few small sects are active there. It is a matter of investigation and it should be thoroughly checked as it may give wrong messages among different faiths,” Father Augustin Xess, parish priest of St Paul’s Church in Garhwa, told.
“As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, we don’t promote religious conversion.”
The tribal priest said Hindus, followers of the Sarna tribal religion and a small number of Muslims and Christians have been living in the area peacefully with great respect for all faiths.
“After the news of religious conversion came out, we have alerted our people in the area and asked them to give us an actual report,” he added.
Father Fabianus Sinduria, who coordinates pastoral work in Daltonganj Diocese, told that “we came to know of the incident only through the local Hindi newspaper and are waiting for the final say by the local administration.”

A key accused in the Bhima Koregaon case has moved the Bombay High Court after a US firm revealed that a hacker had planted incriminating evidence on his computer. A report by Arsenal Consulting, a digital forensic analyst from Chelsea, US, has debunked the electronic evidence gathered by India’s National Investigation Agency to arrest Rona Wilson and 15 others in the Bhima Koregaon violence case. Among the arrested is 83-year-old Jesuit Father Stan Swamy, who has been working among tribal communities in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand.
They were arrest for their alleged ties with Maoist and for inciting riots during a celebratory gathering organized to mark the 200 years of the Koregaon-Bhima battle. On January 1, 2018, the violence at Bhima Koregaon village in Pune district left one dead and injured several others, inclu-ding 10 policemen. Violence erupted after some people, reportedly with saffron flags, pelted stones at cars heading towards the village for the commemoration of the 200 years of Bhima-Koregaon war on New Year’s Day.
The US digital forensics firm, which analyzed an electronic copy of the Wilson’s laptop, concluded that an attacker used malware to infiltrate the laptop and planted documents on it.
According to a report by the Washington Post, Arsenal Consulting found that the letter — along with at least nine others — had been planted in a hidden folder on Wilson’s computer by an unidentified attacker who used NetWire, a malware, to control and spy on the laptop.
According to Arsenal Consulting’s findings, Wilson received emails that appeared to be from a fellow activist, urging him to click on a link to download an innocuous statement from a civil liberties group. But this link actually deployed NetWire, a malicious software that allowed a hacker to access Wilson’s computer.

Pope Francis and Indian bishops have expressed grief over a massive glacier burst that killed at least 32 people in northern India.
The tragedy in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Feb. 7 also left more than 170 missing as the rescue operation carried on until late on Feb. 10, media reports said.
“I express my closeness to the victims of the calamity that happened in India where part of a glacier separated itself, provoking violent flooding that devastated two power plants,” Pope Francis said in a tweet on Feb. 10.
“I pray for the workers who died, for their families and for all those who were wounded.”
Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), said on Feb. 9 that the CBCI expresses its grief and offers its condolences to the family members of all those who have died or are missing as a result of the Uttarakhand glacier calamity.

Nine Christians charged under a newly enacted anti-conversion law in central India’s Madhya Pradesh state plan to seek bail from the state’s High Court after a trial court denied them bail.
The court in Indore city turned down the bail application on Jan. 27, a day after the Protestant Christians were arrested from a Catholic media centre where they had gathered for a routine prayer service.
Judge Yatindra Kumar Guru denied them bail, saying that “it does not seem appropriate to grant bail to the accused, looking into the facts and circumstances.”
Pastor Patras Savil, who is providing legal help to the detained Christians, said they are now “left with no other option than moving the High Court” for bail.
Police charged 11 Christians with violating Madhya Pradesh’s stringent anti-conversion law after right-wing Hindu activists stormed into a prayer service at Satprakashan Sanchar Kendra, a Catholic media center. They accused the Christians of conducting mass religious conversion.
The media center run by the Society of the Divine Word offer-ed the Protestant group space to conduct prayer services.
The center contacted police when the Hindu activists barged into the center. But the activists demanded police take action against the Christians for violating a new anti-conversion law enacted on Jan. 9.

Turning beads into elegant rosaries isn’t merely Vilma Antony’s sustenance. It’s her spiritual calling. She counts the prayers of thanksgiving, devotion, and confession as she strings her silver beads, interspersing this activity with gospel readings at her village home a few miles from the South Indian port city of Kochi. She’s joined by 10 other women who sing and narrate folk stories as they string the sacred prayer beads through the afternoon. Antony’s home is among 2,000 others in Koonammavu — a northern suburb of Kochi city— that has nurtured rosary making for over two centuries. The villagers call it their “little Rome” from which they ship rosaries to different parts of India and beyond, including the United States, Europe, Africa, and Middle East.

An under-construction Protestant church in the southern Indian state of Telangana was demolished by a mob of radical Hindus on January 20. Gethsemane Prardana Mandiram (church) in Mahabubabad was attacked by a group of Hindu fanatics headed by a leader named Bura Venakanna, said Pastor Muhammad Afzal Paul.
“Local Christians believe that the main reason for the attack is that there are around 80 churches of different denominations in a radius of 10 kilometres, which the Bajrang Dal [a radical Hindu group] could not accept,” Pastor Levi of the Power of Jesus Fellowship, a Protestant church, told.
“The local administration has stationed some police officers at the church attack site and it is under investigation. The church is very small with about 100 members.
“A Muslim named Muhammad Afzal, who converted to Christianity and who is now known as Pastor Muhammad Afzal Paul, takes care of the attacked church. Christians are terrified but believe that the investigation will have no impact as most probably the officials will ask both parties to compromise.
“The majority of people in Mahabubabad are Hindus. There is a chance that the issue will go in their favour but we have full faith in the system and believe the truth will come out.”
However, Pastor Samuel of Maranatha Prarthana Mandiram, another Protestant church, said these incidents are occasionally reported in the media and attacks on the church are suspected land disputes. “Some vested interest people want to sort out a land dispute and take the law into their hands,” he added.

Church and political leaders in India have condemned a clash between police and farmers that resulted in the death of one farmer and injuries to more than 80 others.
The farmers’ rally in New Delhi on India’s 72nd Republic Day on Jan. 26 became out of control after the protesting farmers clashed with police near the Income Tax Office and Red Fort as police used baton charges and tear gas to disperse them.
“Our solidarity is with the protesting farmers and with the family of the man who lost his life during the protest march due to an accident. We support their demand for a repeal of farm land laws and stand with them,” Father Eugene Perera, secretary of the Indian bishops’ Office for Labour, told UCA News.
“It is very unfortunate that one farmer lost his life and many were injured, including police personnel, and we condemn the avoidable incident. Had the authorities been more alert, things would not have gone out of control.” Farmers have been protesting against bills passed last September, claiming that the laws are anti-farmer and will harm the agricultural sector.
Farmers who have been protesting on the outskirts of the national capital for the last two months say the new laws will deprive them of the minimum support prices that the government assured them for their produce.