By Jose Kavi New Delhi, June 28, 2020: Catholic bishops in India on June 28 joined civil rights groups, activists and political leaders to decry the deaths of a father and his son in police custody in Tamil Nadu, southern India. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India “condemns most stronglyContinue Reading
Mumbai, June 27, 2020: A special court designated under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) has denied bail to a Catholic priest charged for sexually assaulting a minor boy. Offences had been registered against Father Johnson Lawrence in December 2015 for unnatural sexual intercourse under Section 377Continue Reading
By Jose Kavi New Delhi, June 26, 2020: Church groups in Asia, including the federation of the region’s Catholic bishops, on June 26 mourned the death of Maryknoll Father Robert Astorino. The pioneer in Church media in Asia was 77 and a priest for 50 years. Father Astorino, popularly knownContinue Reading
Patna, June 25, 2020: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 25 expressed his condolences after lightning strikes and thunderstorms in Bihar killed 83 people, injured many and caused widespread damage to property in the past two days. The state disaster management department said 23 districts of the state were gravelyContinue Reading
By Matters India Reporter Guntur, June 23, 2020: Police in Andhra Pradesh have launched a probe into the death of a Catholic priest, an alleged case of suicide because of loneliness and depression. The 50-year-old Bala Showry Reddy, the vicar of Kolakalur parish under the diocese of Guntur diocese, wasContinue Reading
By Matters India Reporter Punnathura, June 22, 2020: The body of a Catholic priest was found in the well of a parish church campus in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Father Thomas Ettuparayil, priest-in-charge of St Thomas Church Punnathura under the Archdiocese of Changanacherry, was missing since June 21.Continue Reading
By Matters India Reporter Patna, June 20, 2020: Manthan (churning), the voluntary organization of the Patna Jesuit Society, continues to serve those hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic in Bihar state, eastern India. The Jesuit NGO has been active for more than 45 years in Bihar, mostly among the Musahars,Continue Reading
New Delhi, June 20, 2020: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 20 launched a program to generate jobs in rural India for migrant workers returning home amid the coronavirus outbreak and lockdown. The prime minister said the “Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan” (Job scheme for welfare of the poor) had beenContinue Reading
By Purushottam Nayak Raikia, June 19, 2020: A village in Odisha’s Kandhamal district on June 19 witnessed heartrending scenes at the funeral of a Catholic young man, who was among 20 soldiers killed in the India-China border clashes. Slogans such as “Bharat Mata ki jai” (victory to Mother India) andContinue Reading
By Purushottam Nayak Raikia, June 17, 2020: Gloom has descended on a village in Odisha’s Kandhamal district after news spread that one of its young men had died in the violent face off between Indian and Chinese troops. Chandrakanta Pradhan, a Catholic, was among the 20 Indian soldiers killed onContinue Reading