The ship with 81 refugees was rescued by the New Delhi coast guard which refuses to allow it dock and wants it to return to Bangladesh. The Dhaka Foreign Minister: "We are under no obligation". Already eight dead on board.
China is India’s first trading partner (for now)
| INDIA – CHINARemoved from school, a teacher accuses the sister-principal of conversion
by Nirmala Carvalho | INDIAAnti-conversion laws are not “deterring people”. Many, “including lay Hindus, ask us why the government is so afraid of Christianity,” said Archbishop Leo Cornelio. These laws “are instruments of persecution targeting Christians,” explained Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians”.
The Diocese of Bijnor in Uttarakhand remains mobilised to help residents in Chamoli District, devastated by a disaster two weeks ago. Concern is growing about by a developing lake in high altitude. If it should give way, it could cause a new flood downstream.
Father Raju Vandanam Koppula, a 48-year-old Indian missionary with PIME, had been in Brazil since 2006. During the pandemic he brought aid to the people of the Jardim Itajai favela, where he had opened a parish chapel two years ago.
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India held a Day of Prayer to express closeness to the victims of sexual abuse of minors and raise awareness of the problem among the faithful. For Sister Arina Gonsalves of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, this provides an opportunity to raise awareness about the scourge of “sexual abuse” that “continues in our society, especially in the digital world” and to reiterate the Church’s “zero tolerance” policy towards the offence.
The three minors had gone out to gather forage near the family farm. They had their hands and feet bound. Police: perhaps victims of poisoning. It is not the first case of gender-based violence in the area. Bishop Nayak: “A brutal crime. Dalit women victims of continuous discrimination "
The cardinal recalls the beginning of the period of penance, a 40-day "journey" in solitude and prayer. And he adds: "Be generous with the poor, go in search of the needy, we are one family". Christ, he adds, "gives us a small space to be part of his work of redemption".
The Dalit Christian Liberation Movement held public rallies and made appeals to the nuncio. Dalits complain of discrimination because only non-Dalits have been named archbishops, although Dalits represent about 75 per cent of Catholics in the archdiocese.
Data on coronavirus infections are at a minimum, especially in the capital, although there is more uncertainty in Mumbai. Serological testing show that there was a very wide circulation of the virus. Doctor Carvalho: “Immunity is widespread. Even without following the rules, most are willing to take a chance with the hope that they will be among the 95% who will recover without great problems."
Archbishop John Barwa inaugurated the new extension of a middle school in Balliguda, one of the villages most affected by the 2008 anti-Christian violence. Let it be “a beacon of light for everyone,” said the prelate.
“Prayer is always alive, like an ember, even when our mouth does not speak. Every thought, even if apparently 'profane', can be permeated with prayer ". At the end of the general audience, Francis invited people to pray for the victims of the landslide in India and made his wishes for the Lunar New Year.
Card. Oswald Gracias prays for the victims and for the rescue of the missing. Caritas India takes action to help the authorities involved in relief efforts. There are currently 14 dead, swept away by the wave of water and mud that destroyed two dams. A Catholic mission on the spot tries to assess the extent of the damage.
Father Babu Joseph, SVD, talks about the arrest of nine people who attended a service in Madhya Pradesh. “In a democratic country, citizens should have right to exercise their freedom of worship,” but sadly, he laments, this “seems to be on the decline in India.”
Bishop Paul Toppo: "It is true that few people convert by their own free will and conviction, however they must undergo a two-year training course and also provide a legal affidavit of their intention to embrace the Catholic faith, nonetheless there are many fabricated conversion charges ".
The woman was called by her mother who said she was ill, but when she arrived she was locked up, taken to a clinic and had an abortion. For Fr Devasagayaraj, former national secretary of the CBCI SC/ST commission, this is a consequence of endogamy, which requires people to marry in the same caste.
