National

Christian women express outrage over spraying disinfectant on workers

A national body of women belonging to various Christian denominations has expressed shock and outrage over the spraying of disinfectant on migrant laborers. “Even as the whole country is battling an intense and grueling confrontation with the Corona crisis, we the members of want to express our deep shock and horror at the treatment being […]

Coronavirus: Indian Church urged to care for stranded migrants

Catholic bishops of Ranchi, eastern India, have appealed their fellow prelates to reach out to millions of migrant laborers stranded in the country by the 21-day national lockdown. “These are difficult times and even as we live in lockdown and make every attempt to keep ourselves safe, thousands of migrants are stuck where they are, […]

Catholic religious urged to reach out to lockdown-affected

India’s more than 115,000 Catholic religious men and women have been urged to reach out to the poor affected by a 21-day national lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. “We need to move fast. This is an emergency,” says Father Joe Mannath, national secretary of the Conference of Religious India (CRI), the […]

Delhi riots 2020: A milestone on the march to a Hindu nation

The Delhi riots of Feb. 23-27 provide harrowingly detailed narratives of the horrors of what Hindu sectarian politics has done to India, the world’s largest democracy, over the last seven decades. After the riots in individual pockets of the capital, one could find Hindus and Muslims sharing food, echoing sentiments of brotherhood and harmony. But […]

Archbishop asks Indian state government to return Christ statue to cemetery

The Archbishop of Bangalore decried on March 4 the removal of a statue of Christ from a Christian cemetery. The statue was taken down after complaints from non-local Hindus. “It is very sad, unfortunate and regrettable that the police, bowing to the pressure of a few outsiders, have forcefully removed the statue of Lord Jesus,” […]

Women petition Cardinal Gracias for more decision-making roles

About 150 Catholic women in India have delivered a petition to Cardinal Oswald Gracias, asking that he take concrete steps to better include women in decision-making roles in the global church. The women are partly responding with Gracias, in which the cardinal acknowledged a bias among the members of the Catholic Church’s all-male hierarchy against […]

Catholic groups team up to help Delhi riot victims

Various groups of Catholics in Delhi have decided to pool their resources and personnel for relief and rehabilitation works among the victims of sectarian violence in the national capital. They met on March 10 under the leadership of Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi and decided to work under the banner of the archdiocese and witness […]

Retired bishop becomes assistant parish priest

Bishop Sebastianappan Singaroyan, who resigned as the head of Salem diocese for health reasons, has moved to a parish to work as an assistant pastor. Pope Francis on March 9 accepted the resignation of the 68-year-old bishop and appointed a diocesan administrator. Bishop Singaroyan, who resigned seven years before the statutory age of retirement for […]

Pope: ‘Synodality is inseparable from ecumenism’

Vatican, Catholic leaders from Europe discuss sexual abuse in the Church