Hundreds of people from various religions attended a protest meet organized by the Church against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population register (NPR) in Margao, Goa’s commercial capital.

“It is our common conviction that these measures are unconstitutional and therefore, unacceptable. The government must listen to the voice of the people and withdraw the act,” Father Savio Fernandes, executive secretary of the Council of Social Justice and Peace, one of the organizers explained the purpose of the January 24 protest.

The Goa unit of the National Confederation for Human Rights and the Concerned Citizens for Democracy collaborated with the Church group.

Speakers were unanimous that the main purpose of the federal government in enacting the citizenship law was to divide the people of India. “We thank our government for helping us to come together as one family irrespective of our religion,” they said.

The founder of a prominent non-denominational movement in India has returned to the Catholic faith of his baptism, after more than a decade as a Pentecostal pastor and traveling preacher.

Sajith Joseph, 36, was confirmed Dec. 21, 2019 at St Mary’s Cathedral in Punalur in the southern Indian State of Kerala. His family and nearly 50 other members of his movement were received into, or came back to, the Catholic Church the same day.

Joseph is the leader of Grace Community Global, which he founded in Kerala in 2011.

The group will now be under the jurisdiction of Bishop Selvister Ponnumuthan of Punalur as a Catholic association, with the permission of the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life, which is responsible for international associations of the faithful. Joseph’s Facebook page describes Grace Community Global as “an ecumenical movement of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church.”

The group has around 2 million followers in 30 countries, and reaches many people through its televangelism programs.

Fr Prasad Theruvath, OCD, was asked to act as chaplain to the group; he has served as the secretary of the Kerala bishops’ commission for inter-church dialogue.

Fr Theruvath told CNA that a process of sorting out how the members of Grace Community Global want to proceed has begun. Most of the members are Protestant, but the group is also followed by Oriental Orthodox Christians, as well as Hindus and Muslims.

The Non-Governmental Hospital Association of Mizoram (NGHAM), an umbrella body of all private and church-run hospitals in the northeastern Indian state, has expressed their willingness to implement a healthcare scheme.

Officials of the state health department said the association after its meeting on January 24 informed Health Minister R. Lalthangliana of its willingness to implement the healthcare scheme. Earlier in December, the government had suspended the empanelment of more than 15 private and church-run hospitals for allegedly refusing to implement the Mizoram State Health Car Scheme (MSHCS).

This led to misunderstanding and heated exchange between the state government and private hospitals.

The association relented following an appeal from the health minister. Lalthangliana had earlier appealed to the association to implement the state healthcare scheme by following the government’s notified rate for medical expense to be charged from patients.

The Indian government’s decision to stop its army band playing a traditional Christian hymn during a Republic Day celebration has dismayed Christian leaders. The Christian hymn Abide With Me has been part of the closing ceremony called Beating the Retreat, since India began celebrating Republic Day in 1950. However, from this year onward, the tune will not be played at the Jan. 27 ceremony, which comes a day after the Republic Day celebrations, media reports said quoting federal defense ministry officials.