The India-based Syro-Malabar Church has welcomed the appointment of its head, Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, to a ten-member special Vatican committee on Eastern rite Churches. The appointment made by Pope Francis “is a major recognition to the Syro-Malabar Church,” said Father Antony Vadakkekara, spokes-person of the southern Kerala-headquartered Church. Thattil was “appointed a few days ago, and we were informed today,” he told on Oct. 23. Vadakkekara said the special committee advises Pope Francis on forming policies on Eastern Churches. With 35 dioceses in India and abroad, Thattil represents the second-largest Eastern rite Church in communion with the Holy See. It claims a membership of some 5 million Catholics. ”No doubt, the appointment shows Pope Francis’s special consideration toward the Church that is spread across the globe,” the Vincentian priest added. Thattil’s presence will “effectively help” the Eastern rite Churches worldwide, Vadakkekara added. Before his elevation as the head of the sui juris Church in January, Thattil led the Shamshabad diocese in northern India, touted to be the largest diocese in India, spread over 22 Indian states. As its head, Thattil visited the mission stations in remote villages with poor road connections. A priest who worked with Thattil in northern India said Thattil’s mission experience “will be an added asset” to the dicastery.
Court cases swell as rivalry deepens in Indian Orthodox Church
The rivalry within the Orie-ntal Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch in India has deepened with its two factions and the go-vernment in the southern Kerala state approaching India’s Supre-me Court for justice over a linge-ring property dispute. A faction of the Damascus-based Church, called Jacobite Church in Kerala, appealed to the top court to “set aside” an Aug. 30 state High Court order, which directed the state government to hand over six disputed churches to the rival Orthodox faction. “We hope the court will consider our appeal and rule favourably,” a Jacobite leader told on Oct. 23. The state government, led by communist parties, became involved in the case after the state High Court found the government in “conte-mpt of court” by failing to imple-ment court orders. The Kerala High Court on Oct. 21 ordered 15 top government officials, including the chief secretary and the director-general of police, to present themselves before the court to face contempt charges. The government appealed against the High Court order in the Su-preme Court on Oct. 22, pleading not guilty to the alleged contempt. The state maintains that it with-drew from taking over the chur-ches from the Jacobites and giv-ing them to the Orthodox faction because the move could result in massive resistance and a serious threat to peace and public order. The Orthodox Church Associa-tion also approached the apex court with a caveat. “We have filed a caveat before the Supreme Court,” claimed lawyer Biju Oommen, an association official.
A caveat in the Indian judicial system allows the petitioner to present his side during a case’s hearing. The Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch is estimated to have 2 million followers in southern Kerala. However, in 1911, the dispute over churches and other assets split the Church into the Jacobite and Orthodox factions.The Orthodox faction claims ownership of some 1,100 churches in India that are currently in the possession of the Jacobites. The Orthodox faction’s supreme head is based in southern Kerala, while the Jacobites owe their allegiance to the patriarch in Antioch. In 1934, they came together, agreed on a constitution, and elected the Catholicos of the East, based in Kerala, as their common head. However, in 1973, they split again, each faction taking over properties in areas where they dominated. The Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch was based in Turkey. However, after World War I, the patriarchate was transferred to Homs in Syria in 1933. In 1959, it was moved to Damascus.
Indian Catholics mourn death of father of liberation theology
Church leaders, theologians and grassroots workers in India have mourned the death of the father of the Liberation Theology who forced Christians to recognize the poor as agents and partners and not objects of charity. Dominican Father Gustavo Gutiérrez died October 22 in Lima, capital of Peru, his native city. The “prophet of the poor” was 96.
Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao, head of India’s Latin Rite Church, mourned Father Gutiérrez’s death as “a tremendous loss, not only to the Church but also to the global community committed to justice, peace, and human dignity.” The South American theologian’s life was “defined by an unwavering dedication to the poor and marginalized. Through his groundbreaking work, A Theology of Liberation, he introduced the Church to a new vision of Christ’s presence in the lives of the oppressed,” said the cardinal, who is also the archbishop of Goa and Daman.
Jesuit social scientist Father Cedric Prakash, who had met Father Gutierre once, too said the “Church and in fact the whole world has lost a person who walked the talk, a courageous prophet who lived the Gospel of Jesus radically and without compromise.” Gutierrez’s theology, he added, was about a God who takes sides with the poor and the oppressed, the excluded and the exploited. Gutierrez used to stress that Christianity should accept Jesus primarily as the redeemer and the liberator of those who are oppressed.
Indian Christians protest over persecution
Some 3,000 Christians from various denominations have demonstrated near the Indian parliament, expressing concern over rising incidents of persecution against their community across the country. The Delhi-National Capital Region Christian Fellowship organized the demonstration on Oct. 26 at the Jantar Mantar – an area near parliament allotted for public rallies and protests in New Delhi. “A staggering 585 incidents targeting Christians were recorded so far this year till September,” said Michael William, president of the United Christian Forum (UCF), a Christian rights group that tracks violence against Christians in the country. The UCF recorded a total of 733 incidents of violence against Christians for the whole of 2023, an average of 61 incidents a month. The UCF has not included atrocities against Christians in the north-eastern state of Manipur, where tribal Christians have been at the receiving end of a 17-month-old communal violence that claimed over 230 lives, most of them Christians. William said repeated pleas to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other government departments, such as the Home Ministry and the national minority commission, have proved futile. The demonstration aimed to attract government attention to Christians’ “deep anguish” over the “targeted violence,” the organizers’ statement said. ”The targeted violence and hostility appear to be suspiciously more in states ruled by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP),” the statement noted.
The remains of one of the oldest churches in the world found in the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Armenia
A group of scholars recently announced the discovery of the remains of a fourth-century church in Artaxata, the ancient capital of the kingdom of Armenia. For experts, the building represents one of the oldest places of worship in the world and the oldest in the area where the kingdom once ruled, which is also the first in history to have embraced Christianity as an official religion.
The remains of the octagonal-shaped church were unearthed in Artaxata, the ancient capital of the Kingdom of Armenia, by a joint team of archaeologists from the University of Münster (Germany) and the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, who have been working at the site since September.
The discovery “consists of an octagonal building with cruciform extensions” that “corresponds to early Christian memorial buildings,” reads the press release by the German university.
The researchers also found fragments of marble that show that it was “lavishly decorated” with valuable imported materials. “In the cross-shaped extensions, the researchers discovered the remains of wooden platforms, which were radiocarbon dated to the mid-4th century CE,” the statement goes on to say.
This dating enabled the researchers to determine that the structure “is the oldest archaeologically documented church in the country – sensational evidence for early Christianity in Armenia,” said Prof Achim Lichtenberger of the University of Münster.
Holy See and China extend Provisional Agreement on appointment of bishops
“In light of the consensus reached for an effective appli-cation of the Provisional Agree-ment regarding the Appointment of Bishops, after appropriate consultation and assessment, the Holy See and the People’s Repu-blic of China have agreed to extend further its validity for four years from the present date,” according to a communiqué released by the Holy See Press Office on Tuesday, 22 October 2024.
“The Vatican Party,” the statement continues, “remains dedicated to furthering the respectful and constructive dialogue with the Chinese Party, in view of the further development of bilateral relations for the benefit of the Catholic Church in China and the Chinese people as a whole.”
This is the third renewal of the Agreement that, with the signing on 22 September, 2018, opened a historic chapter in relations between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China, and within the Church itself in China, allowing all bishops to be in full hierarchical communion with the Pope.
Pakistan’s justice ‘in reverse’: police arrest father of 13-year-old Christian girl abducted and converted
Shakeel Masih was asking for justice. Instead, the father of Roshani Shakeel, a 13-year-old Christian girl abducted, forcibly converted to Islam, and given in marriage against her will in March, was taken into custody last Friday and held for three days on the order of Judge Farooq Latif. Such an episode represents yet again justice “in reverse”, another human rights violation in Pakistan, where being part of a religious minority continues to be a serious risk factor for one’s own safety and that of loved ones.
Roshani was taken from her family on 13 March. With the complicity of an imam, local authorities facilitated her conversion, falsely registering her as an 18-year-old, and renaming her Zehra Bibi. She was married to Muazzam Mazher, and the union registered as consensual by local officials, effectively handing her over to her captor. Eventually, the girl managed to escape after hearing her captor talk about plans to sell her.
Storm Leaves Scores Dead and Widespread Damage in the Philippines
Tropical Storm Trami (also known as Typhoon Kristine) mo-ved over the Philippines leaving more than 150 people dead and entire communities ravaged by flooding and mudslides.
Trami hit the island of Luzon, which includes the capital Mani-la, bringing two months’ worth of rain to some areas in just 24 hours. It made landfill at the Vietnamese city of Danang after crossing the South China Sea.
The Philippines’ Archdiocese of Lipa, which includes some of the areas south of Manila that have suffered serious mudslides, said in a Facebook post that Archbishop Gilbert Garcera is “calling for help and prayers for the victims of Typhoon Kristine in the province of Batangas.” “I continue to pray for our province, because after the storm hit us, many are suffering and many are in need of prayer. For now I am asking for help from you, espe-cially to our brothers and sisters who were hit by the typhoon,” Garcera said.
According to the archdiocese, based on the latest report from the Lipa Archdiocesan Social Action Commission (LASAC), the death toll in Batangas provin-ce has reached 43 while the search continues for at least 22 missing. Currently, about 13,000 families – more than 44,000 individuals – are temporarily housed in 277 evacuation centres in different parts of Batangas, the archdiocese said.
Caritas Manila, a charitable agency of the Church, is expected to send food packs and non-food items as additional help to meet the needs of families in evacua-tion centres, the archdiocese concluded. The Philippines, one of the most disaster-prone count-ries in the world, is hit by some 20 tropical storms and typhoons every year.
Indonesian Bishop Declines Cardinalship, Choosing Humility and Growth Over Honour
In a rare and humbling move, Bishop Paskalis Bruno Syukur of Bogor, Indonesia, has declined the honour of being elevated to cardinal in the upcoming Consistory on December 7, 2024. The Franciscan bishop’s decision to forego this prestigious role stems from his deep desire to continue growing in his personal priesthood and to further serve the Church and the people of God. As a result, the number of new cardinals set to receive their red hats from Pope Francis has been reduced from 21 to 20. The Vatican’s Press Office, headed by Matteo Bruni, confirmed the news in a statement: “His Excellency Paskalis Bruno Syukur, Bishop of Bogor, Indonesia, has asked the Holy Father not to be made cardinal during the upcoming Consistory. His Excellency’s request is motivated by his wish to grow further in his priestly life, in his service to the Church and the people of God.”
This decision has sparked interest and admiration within the Catholic world, not only because of its rarity but also because it reflects a profound sense of humility and dedication to spiritual growth—a testament to Bishop Syukur’s Franciscan values.
The 62-year-old Franciscan was consecrated bishop of Bogor, a diocese just south of Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta, in February 2014. From 2001–2009, Syukur was the Franciscan provincial minister of Indonesia. In 2009, he became the general delegate for the Asia and Oceania region, which includes India, Pakistan, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Indonesia. The bishop has also held leadership positions in the Indonesian bishops’ conference.
With Syukur’s withdrawal, as of Dec. 7, the total number of eligible cardinal electors will be 140, 110 of whom were chosen by Pope Francis. This means the current pontiff has named 79% of the men who will one day elect his successor.
Persecution of Christians has worsened around the globe, according to new study
Christians are suffering increased vio-lence, discrimination and other human rights abuses around the world, according to a report unveiled Tuesday, 22nd October. Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) launched ”Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith 2022-24″ at an event in the UK Parlia-ment, revealing that Christian persecution has significantly worsened in most countries surveyed. “Persecuted and Forgotten?” provides global and regional analysis, exa-mining the situation for Christians in 18 countries of key concern – from Nicaragua in Latin America to Burma (Myanmar) in the Far East – between summer 2022 and summer 2024. Countries where Christian persecution and oppression has increased include world powers such as China and India, as well as Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country. For the first time in the report’s 18-year history, Nicaragua is featured in res-ponse to extreme oppressive measures targeting Chri-stians, notably the mass de-tention and expulsion of clergy. The report features first-hand testimonies from survivors of anti-Christian attacks, in addition to details of incidents based on information obtained from ACN’s local contacts. Recu-rring themes in the report include the displacement of Christian communities following attacks by extremist groups and the forced marriage and con-version of Christian women and girls, as well as the kidnapping and intimidation of priests and the publication of derogatory content about Christianity in school textbooks.
Anti-Christian persecu-tion has been perpetrated by both state and non-state actors, such as terrorist organisations, other groups of religious extremists and criminal gangs.
The report states that militant Islam was responsible for the increased persecution in all six African countries reviewed, indicating that “the epicentre of militant Islamist violence has shifted from the Middle East to Africa”. It goes on to explain: “Mass migration of Christian communities, triggered by militant Islamist attacks, has destabilised and disenfranchised them, raising questions about the long-term survival of the Church in key regions.”