Thousands of people, mostly Christians, in India’s north-eastern state of Nagaland took part in a two-day walkathon from commercial hub Dimapur to capital Kohima demanding the repeal of the draconian Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) and justice for Naga Christians killed by the Indian army last month. Protesters including civil society activists and women and children took to the streets on Jan. 10-11 and carried placards demanding the repeal of the controversial law which was enforced in Nagaland to curb secessionist groups and armed rebellion in 1956.
‘Unzen Hell’ a reminder of Christian persecution in Japan
The journey through Nagasaki Prefecture starts from a small town with a curious name, Obama, which has no relation with the former US president (but did make it globally notorious for a while) and only means a small beach.
It is in fact a small spa resort on Kyushu, Japan’s third-largest island, overlooking the open ocean. From here you get on a bus that climbs the sharp curves of the mountains up to a height of 700 meters. Then you finally reach Unzen, a mountain village that sprang around its famous thermal baths, the hottest in all of Japan, they say here, with temperatures reaching 120 degrees.
At some point in the 17th century, it was the site of Christian persecution when the rulers immersed Christians in the boiling waters to force them to renounce their faith.
Touristically speaking, it is the perfect venue for all those looking for a memorable snapshot to hang in that space of fleeting self-gratification on the various social networks. From the earth rise, for 20 or 30 meters, large fumes that surround a hotel whose foundations dig right into the boiling thermal waters. One wonders what technical tricks the engineers have put in place to keep those gigantic structures, some centuries-old, standing on that incandescent quagmire.
The gargling of the continuous bubbling of water, stones and mud evokes ghosts of otherworldly landscapes. It is no coincidence that the place is known as “Unzen Hell.”
Judge asks Indian priest to face trial for alleged hate speech
The top court in southern India’s Tamil Nadu state has ordered a Catholic priest to face trial for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus and criticized Christian missionaries claiming Jesus Christ as the only true god.
The Madras High Court on Jan. 17 said that “the offending speech” of Father George Ponnaiah, a vicar of Kuzhithurai Diocese, “prima facie attracts the offenses” under various clauses of the Indian penal code.
Catholic union seeks fair probe into Modi Punjab fiasco
The All India Catholic Union, the largest laity group in the country, has expressed concern over the aborted visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Punjab. “The Catholic Union prays, as does every Indian citizen, for the long life of Narendra Modi and all others put in high offices of governance in India,” John Dayal, spokes-person of the union, told on Jan. 8.
Salesian who lived founder’s kindness dies
Members of the Calcutta Salesian province has mourned the death of Father Samuel Sudorshon Mondol, a former director of Novices.
The Salesian priest died in Kolkata at 8.45 am on December 28, 2021. He was 49. Father Mondol “had been undergoing immunotherapy since two months for sicknesses related to his liver, and recently, the kidneys. Of late he was undergoing palliative care.
Asian dioceses can learn from German synodal path
The ongoing diocesan synods across the globe, preparing for the 2023 Synod of Bishops in Rome, can learn a few lessons from the explosive German synodal path on subjects detrimental to the long-cherished views of the hierarchical, clericalist, magisterial and male-dominated Catholic Church. The Asian Church especially has to follow thoroughly the outcome of the German synod path, which has taken up burning issues like clerical abuse for discussion. The lack of a power-sharing mechanism within the Asian Church was brought to the fore when a lay Catholic in the southern Indian state of Kerala challenged the Eastern-rite Cardinal George Alencherry’s authority to sell some pieces of land in Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese.
Restoration of Teresa nuns’ FCRA license welcomed
Christians in India on January 8 expressed relief and joy over the federal government decision to restore the Missionaries of Charity’s license to receive overseas funds.
The “most welcome” news, says Sister Dorothy Fernandes, national secretary of the Forum of Religious for Justice and Peace, an advocacy group for Catholic religious, responding to the official nod for renewing the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) certificate of the congregation founded by Saint Mother Teresa of Kolkata.
The federal Ministry of Home Affairs on January 7 restored the 71-year-old congregation’s registration, which is mandatory to receive donations from overseas.
“If there is anyone serving selflessly the most unwanted of our society it’s the Missionaries of Charity Sisters and Brothers,” asserts Sister Dorothy, the Patna-based member of the Presentation congregation.
Brinelle D’Souza, chairperson of the Centre for Health and Mental, School of Social Work under the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences, too says the Teresa nuns work “with the poorest of the poor on issues where even the state is absent.”
Father Anand Mathew, a social activist in Varanasi, says the license restoration has brought “immense relief to so many of us.” The member of the Indian Missionary Society says he and other activists in Varanasi have been mobilizing the civil society to support the two homes managed by the Teresa sisters in the ancient city.
Sister Jessy Kurian, a Supreme Court lawyer, welcomed the news saying “finally justice is done.” The registration renewal shows that the government has not only recognized but reaffirmed the selfless service being rendered to humanity especially to Indian people by the Teresa nuns, she told Matters India.
The ministry December 25, 2021, stated that it had not renewed the Teresa congregation’s FCRA registration since it had received “some adverse inputs” about the nuns’ activities such as indulging in religious conversion. The registration was valid only until October 31, 2021, but extended it for two more months, the ministry added.
Missionaries of Charity ration food after funding blow
Since Christmas, the Missionaries of Charity have been strictly rationing the food and daily use items for their regular 600 beneficiaries at their motherhouse and Shishu Bhavan, a children’s orphanage, in Kolkata. On Jan. 2, the breakfast of tea, bread and eggs was cut short by an hour. “As long as you did it to one of these, my least brethren, you did it to me,” said Razia, a beneficiary of the Missionaries of Charity, as she waited for the nuns to give her the weekly provisions. She lives with her two sick children across the road from the motherhouse and says she visits the tomb of St. Teresa and prays for the “difficult times to pass.” Abdul Razzak, a 45-year-old beggar, stays put outside the motherhouse curled in his rags. He has been staying there since Christmas in hopes of getting his share of food and medicine. A few others like him sit along with him to receive their subsidy from the nuns. Since the pandemic began, they received their daily meal from the motherhouse, but now “sisters told us that we might not be able to collect the food any longer,” said the sick man.
Mother Teresa award for Denmark’s green initiatives
Denmark and its Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen have been honoured with the Mother Teresa Memorial Award for Social Justice for the year 2021.
India’s Harmony Foundation, which instituted the award in memory of Saint Mother Teresa in 2005, said it acknowledged Denmark as “one of the nations in the world which lives in harmony with nature” while also recognizing Frederiksen’s “exceptional leadership” in leading it “along the path of sustainable development.”
“Yes, Prime Minister Frederiksen is chosen for the overall performance of her country un-der her leadership in promoting green energy and other similar measures for saving the environment,” Abraham Mathai, found-er of the Harmony Foundation, told on Jan. 4.
The award, including a certificate of honour and trophy designed like the habit of the nuns of the Missionaries of Charity congregation founded by Mother Teresa, was sent to the prime minister’s office through courier, he said.
“Though a small country in terms of its geo-graphical vastness, Denmark is committed to being a frontrunner in all things green [and] is an inspiration for all,” said Mathai, a former vice-chairman of the minorities commission in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.
Court stays forcible shifting of children from Church orphanage
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has stayed the forcible shifting of orphans from St. Francis Orphanage in Sagar, a town in the central Indian state.
“Shifting of 44 orphan children from St. Francis orphanage was stopped after the Jabalpur bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court passed a stay order,” says a statement issued January 7 by Father Thomas Philip, the spokesperson of the Sagar Syro-Malabar diocese.
The priest says the Child Welfare Committee’s Sagar district unit came to the orphanage at 1 pm on January 6 along with local Sub Divisional Magistrate and police administration. The officials stated that the orphanage’s registration of had expired in 2020.
A video circulated in social media platforms show the children vehemently opposing the government officials saying that the orphanage was their home and that they did not want to go anywhere else.
“Meanwhile the Jabalpur bench of High Court passed a stay order asking the Child Welfare Committee to stop the shifting and reply to the court within two weeks ‘time,” the press statement said. The court also noted that the children were being shifted in extreme cold and during the “hard times of Covid-19 pandemic.”
The orphanage is managed by “Sevadhan,” a charitable institution under the diocese, that also manages hostels for Tribal boys and girl, a shelter home for physically and mentally challenged children and a Hindi medium school upto tenth grade.