Indian court blocks rule to divide eateries by religion
(UCAnews. Bijay Kumar Minj And AFP).
Activists have joined political leaders in condemning police in two states for demanding eateries display the names of their owners amid criticism that it creates a religious divide, particularly during the ongoing Hindu pilgrim season.
Church leaders meet Indian PM, raise concerns over ‘attacks’
(UCA news).
A delegation of Church leaders met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 12, a month after he was elected to power for the third consecutive term, and expressed concerns about the increasing hostility Christians face in the country.Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Trichur, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, led the four-member delegation along with federal minister Suresh Gopi, a parliamentarian elected from southern Kerala state and a member of Modi’s Bhartiya Janata Party. The 45-minute meeting at the prime minister’s office “was cordial, and the prime minister gave us a good hearing,” Thazhath told the media at the bishops’ conference office in New Delhi.
Top Asian prelate says synod will seek ‘rightful place’ for women in the Church
(Nirmala Carvalho. Crux).
One of Asia’s most senior Catholic leaders, and a key ally of Pope Francis, has insisted that there will be a keen focus on women at the upcoming Synod of Bishops on synodality despite the fact that ordination to the diaconate has been taken off the table in the assembly’s working document. “We will be discussing a lot about women in this synod,” Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, India, told Crux.
Modi tells Indian bishops government not responsible for anti-Christian pressures
(Nirmala Carvalho. Crux).
A month after Narendra Modi became only the second prime minister since independence in 1947 to be sworn in for a third term, the country’s Catholic leadership met with the Hindu nationalist leader to press him on religious freedom and the rights of Christian minorities, including members of the oft-neglected Dalit and Tribal groups. In particular, the bishops raised concerns about ongoing violence in the northeastern state of Manipur which has pitted a majority Hindu ethnic group against a minority Christian population, with an estimated 70,000 Christians displaced and roughly 400 churches destroyed.
Catholic MP calls on Indian government to ensure release of persecuted Christian prisoners
(Angeline Tan. Life Site News).
In a letter to India’s Ministry of Minority Affairs, MP Jose K. Mani asked the federal government to ensure the release of Fr. Abraham Thazhathedathu, a Protestant bishop, and 20 others imprisoned in the Jabalpur prison for over a month.
Report: Indian Police Do Nothing as Hindu Relatives Slaughter Christian Convert
(FRANCES MARTEL. Breitbart).
Chhattisgarh has become a hotbed of anti-Christian violence in India, a nation that has seen a dramatic surge in deadly violence fueled by Hindu nationalist sentiment under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Violent Hindu nationalists – who believe all ethnic Indians should be Hindus and threaten to kill those who are members of other religions – have repeatedly targeted Christian communities nationwide, often slaying priests, raping and torturing Christian women, and burning down entire Christian communities in an attempt to displace the population. Few face any significant police action.
Acuerdo sobre la bocina con los ‘rebeldes’ siro-malabares que, por ahora, evita el cisma
(Ernakulam-Angamaly, India. Miguel Angel Maslavia).
(RTVE).
Cerca de un centenar de personas han muerto y otras tantas han resultado heridas en una estampida este martes en un evento religioso en el estado de Uttar Pradesh, en el norte de la India. “La administración del distrito está investigando el asunto. Los heridos están siendo llevados al hospital y la gente todavía se está recuperando. Los médicos han informado de una cifra de entre 50 y 60 muertes”, ha indicado a los medios el magistrado del distrito de Hathras, Ashish Kumar. Algunos medios locales como ‘India Today’ elevan la cifra de fallecidos a 107, siendo la mayoría mujeres y niños. Por su parte, la comisionada de la ciudad de Aligarh, Chaitra V., ha situado el número de muertos en 97. “Nos estamos centrando en brindar socorro y asistencia médica a las víctimas”, ha indicado.
(Crux. Nirmala Carvalho).
A Catholic priest in India says “crisis, conflict and violence are becoming the way of life” in the country, after it suffered a rebuke in the U.S. State Department’s 2023 religious freedom report issued this week. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. government is concerned about the increase in anti-conversion laws, hate speech, demolitions of homes and places of worship of members of minority faith communities in India.
(UCA news).
A post-synodal circular said all rebelling priests would have to follow a synod-approved Mass after a certain period
Pacts achieved to settle the vexed liturgy dispute in India’s Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church collapsed again when the Church’s synod allegedly altered the agreements and refused to withdraw its earlier circular that threatened to excommunicate priests who failed to follow the Church’s official liturgical rubrics.
(UCANews reporter).
Pacts achieved to settle the vexed liturgy dispute in India’s Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church collapsed again when the Church’s synod allegedly altered the agreements and refused to withdraw its earlier circular that threatened to excommunicate priests who failed to follow the Church’s official liturgical rubrics.
Most priests and laity in the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church have rejected the synod formula for resolving the crisis, saying it unilaterally modified resolutions agreed by both sides during the two sessions of the Synod.
(UCANews. Saji Thomas).
A liturgy dispute that pushed India’s eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church to the verge of a split has been settled following concessions from both parties, said a bishop who attended the synod meeting that achieved the breakthrough.
“Subject to the Vatican’s approval, the dispute is settled. The breakthrough came after both sides agreed to accommodate each other. The official announcement will be made in a day or two,” said a bishop who attended the July 19 Synod of Bishops.
The five-decade-long dispute in the Syro-Malabar Church, based in southern Indian Kerala state, intensified three years ago after most priests and Catholics in the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese refused to accept the rubrics of a mass approved by the synod.
(Katholisch).
A liturgical dispute that has lasted for years in the Syro-Malabar Church, which is linked to Rome, could now possibly be ended after concessions from both sides. “Subject to the approval of the Vatican, the conflict has been resolved,” an unnamed bishop told the Asian news portal “Ucanews” (Thursday). An official announcement will be made in a day or two. The compromise states that priests in the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly can continue to celebrate Mass as traditional, said the clergyman, who wished to remain anonymous. “But they must celebrate a uniform Mass in their parishes on Sundays, as approved by the Synod.”
(Crux. Nirmala Carvalho).
Tensions are continuing to rise within the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church in Kerala, India, as clergy and laypeople resist efforts to impose a new liturgy on their parishes. A circular letter was issued by Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil – the head of the Syro-Malabar Church – and archdiocesan administrator Bosco Puthur was supposed to be read at Masses last week, but 321 churches in in the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese refused to do so, resulting in protests and verbal assaults. The Syro-Malabar Church, with an estimated following of 4.25 million worldwide, is the second largest of the eastern Churches in communion with Rome. Ever since its synod decided in 2021 to adopt a new, unified mode of celebrating the Mass, the Church has been gripped by controversy, above all in its largest jurisdiction of Ernakulam-Algamany. The synod required that Mass be celebrated facing the people during the Liturgy of the Word, and facing the altar during the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
(Agenzia Fides).
“Ho incontrato Papa Francesco a margine del vertice del G7. Ammiro il suo impegno nel servire le persone e nel rendere migliore il nostro pianeta. L’ho anche invitato a visitare l’India”, ha dichiarato sui suoi canali di comunicazione ufficiali il Primo ministro dell’India, Narendra Modi, neo eletto per il suo terzo mandato consecutivo. Modi aveva incontrato Papa Francesco già nel 2021 in Vaticano, e ora questo nuovo incontro, immortalato dai mass-media di tutto il mondo, ha avuto un’eco poderosa sui mass-media indiani e nell’opinione pubblica.
Quotidiani e tv indiane hanno riportato il discorso di Papa Francesco al vertice del G7, evidenziando come il pontificia abbia esortato leader delle democrazie e dei paesi più industrializzati a tenere la dignità umana al primo posto nello sviluppo e nell’utilizzo dell’intelligenza artificiale, un tema che interpella fortemente la nazione indiana.
(UCA News Reporter).
Indian Cardinal Anthony Poola has pledged the Christian community’s support for the new government in southern Andhra Pradesh state that unseated a Christian-led government in the recently concluded polls.
N. Chandrababu Naidu was sworn in as state chief minister on June 12 for the fourth time. He heads a coalition government comprising his Telugu Desam Party (TDP), regional Jana Sena party, and the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In a letter to the new chief minister, Cardinal Poola assured “support of the Catholic Church and the Christian community” to make the state “inclusive and sustainable.”
(Crux. Nirmala Carvalho).
MUMBAI, India – Syro-Malabar Church leaders in India are threatening to excommunicate priests who do not comply with facing the altar during Mass by July. The Syro-Malabar Church, with an estimated following of 4.25 million worldwide, is the second largest of the eastern Churches in communion with Rome. Ever since its synod decided in 2021 to adopt a new, unified mode of celebrating the Mass, the Church has been gripped by controversy, above all in its largest jurisdiction of Ernakulam-Algamany. he synod required that Mass be celebrated facing the people during the Liturgy of the Word, and facing the altar during the Liturgy of the Eucharist. That decree, however, was resisted by a swath of clergy and laity in Ernakulam-Angamaly, on the grounds that Mass facing the people throughout the celebration represented their local tradition and is also more in keeping with the liturgical teachings of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). The dispute occasionally has turned nasty, with angry public protests and the burning of decrees in public. St. Mary’s Cathedral in the archdiocese has been closed for the last two Christmas seasons amid the controversy. Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil and Bishop Bosco Puthur set a deadline for the Ernakulam-Angamaly clergy to comply with Eastern Rite’s Mass structure in a joint pastoral letter issued on June 9. The letter is also supposed to be read in all parishes on June 16.
(UCANews. Bijay Kumar Minj And Nirendra Dev).
Catholic bishops have appealed to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make his new term “inclusive” by treating all citizens equally and upholding the country’s constitutional values.
Modi was sworn in for another five-year term on June 9 after his pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with the help of allies, secured 293 seats in the Indian parliament.
The coalition government was formed after the BJP, accused of following a Hindu-first policy, failed to win the required simple majority of 272 seats in the 543-seat Lok Sabha (lower house).
(Crux. Nirmala Carvalho).
MUMBAI, India – Sri Lanka’s reported plans to extend the mandate of its attorney general was not made after a dialogue with the South Asian country’s Catholic Church, according to the nation’s bishops’ conference.
Local newspapers said President Ranil Wickremesinghe was extending the tenure of Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam for six months, saying he was “pivotal” in working with the bishops about the investigation of the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings. The attack on three churches and several other buildings killed at least 269 people and was contributed to the ISIS Islamist terrorist group. Local newspapers reported the president told politicians that the report of the Presidential Commission appointed after the Easter Sunday attacks was presented to the President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka, Bishop of Kurunegala Harold Anthony Perera and appointed President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake, Chief of Staff Sagala Ratnayaka and Attorney General Sanjay Rajaratnam to discuss it. The attorney general is a member of this Committee. According to the newspapers, the president said that he had decided to extend his service until the end of the discussions as he is continuously holding discussions with the members of the Bishops’ Conference.
(Crux. Nirmala Carvalho).
India’s leading Catholic cardinal says the country’s election results shows it has a “healthy opposition,” after the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fell below an absolute majority in parliament. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will still be prime minister – his third consecutive term – but the BJP will not get the 272 seats required in parliament for a majority, and he will depend on the support of coalition partners. “I am happy that democracy is thriving in India. It shows that the country is vibrant, and people are politically conscious and are voting rightly,” Cardinal Oswald Gracias told Crux. More than 640 million people voted in the elections, which take place over seven weeks in a country with a population of 1.4 billion people. The Congress Party-led INDIA opposition alliance led by Rahul Gandhi did surprisingly well, after pre-election polls predicted it would decline this year. “Whatever government comes to power, the Church will certainly cooperate,” Gracias said. “What is joyful is that the whole process has gone on so peacefully and orderly. It shows that there will also be a healthy opposition. I think this is good for the country, good for democracy and good for the future,” the cardinal said.