Some 30 Christians, including a Catholic priest, face an inordinate delay in securing bail and continue in jails of northern Uttar Pradesh state after being arrested on charges of illegal conversion activities this year. Bishop Gerald John Mathias of Lucknow, based in the state capital, sought prayers for their release including his priest Dominic Pinto, on March 1 after the priests' bail application was postponed for the third consecutive time. The delay in hearing the bail application is “sad and unfortunate and discouraging,” the bishop said.Pinto is among 39 Christians arrested and remanded in the first two months of this year in the northern Indian state following complaints of violating the state’s stringent anti-conversion law. Christian leaders in the state said some seven of the 39 arrested secured bail but others continue in jail. “Let us not lose hope,” Mathias said and asked Christians to “continue to pray until bail is granted.”Pinto was arrested and sent to on Feb. 5.The priest is among 15 persons, including five women, accused of organizing mass religious conversion in an area under Deva police station in Barabanki district.They were accused of violating the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. The law criminalizes forced religious conversions. It also

MUMBAI, India – Two days after Father Joseph Attuchalil of the Palai diocese was assaulted in Kerala, Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath of Thrissur accused the government of “ignoring Christians in minority welfare programs.” Addressing a Feb. 25 forum organized by the Thrissur archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church in India, said the Samudaaya Jagratha Sadas – which means Awakening of Community/Society and was the subject of the meeting – was a voice raised against the growing injustice against the Christian community, The Hindu reported. The meeting condemned the increasing attacks against the Church and its institutions and demanded protection under the Constitution. “We will turn the other cheek if anyone slaps us on the one cheek. But we will definitely ask them why they had slapped us. The program is meant to bring the issues faced by the Church and the believers to the attention of the political leaders and society,” the archbishop said. Kerala is a state in southern India. According to the 2011 census, 54 percent of Kerala’s population are Hindus, 26 percent are Muslims, 18 percent are Christians. Addressing the meeting, Auxiliary Bishop Mar Tony Neelankavil asked the faithful to ask questions to those who approach them for votes. “We need to fight against vote-bank politics

The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) has placed India in its highest persecution tier in its latest global prayer guide, bumping the country up from “hostile area” to “restricted nation.” VOM’s mid-tier “hostile area” category identifies nations or large areas of nations where, despite government attempt to provide protection, the Christian population remains persecuted by family, friends, neighbors, or political groups because of their witness. Indian believers have largely faced this type of violence, including last year’s Manipur attacks, which killed more than 100. In contrast, “restricted nation” describes countries where government-sanctioned circumstances or anti-Christian laws lead to the harassment of Christians or the loss of their civil liberties. It can also include government policies or practices preventing Christians from obtaining Bibles or other Christian literature. (Christians in restricted nations often also experience persecution from family, community members, and/or political groups.) Although Indian Christians largely face persecution that reflects VOM’s mid-tier categorization, the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a key player in recent years in driving public opinion against non-Hindu Indians. “The rise of Hindutva ideology—and the open and enthusiastic embrace of this ideology by Modi and other government leaders—has had the effect of making India’s national government an overt persecutor of the church

KOTTAYAM: The Syro-Malabar Church has vehemently denounced the assault on a priest in Poonjar, Kottayam district, on February 23rd, labeling it as an egregious affront to the religious freedom of Christians and a blatant violation of the right to worship. In a press release issued by the Syro-Malabar Public Affairs Commission, the Church expressed its unequivocal condemnation of the attack, emphasizing the imperative of bringing both the perpetrators and the masterminds behind the assault to justice. The Commission underscored the disturbing trend of such attacks occurring with alarming frequency in Meenachil Taluk and urged law enforcement agencies to heighten vigilance and take decisive action. Dismissing the notion that these incidents are mere manifestations of antisocial or drug-related activities, the Commission voiced suspicions of a deliberate agenda to stoke communal tensions in the region. Consequently, it emphasized the crucial necessity of holding both the youths directly involved in the attack and those orchestrating it behind the scenes accountable before the law. Meanwhile, in connection with the incident, twenty-seven higher secondary school students, including 10 minors, have been apprehended and charged with attempted murder. Of these, 17 students have been remanded, while the 10 minors have been placed in care homes. The altercation unfolded on Friday afternoon

Thiruvananthapuram: The Thrissur archdiocese has flayed the BJP government at the Centre and the CPM government in Kerala for not protecting the rights of Christian community. A resolution passed at a meeting organised by the archdiocese urged the centre to strongly intervene to end the attack of Christian believers and institutions in Manipur as well as to ensure their protection. BJP has been considering Thrissur constituency as one of the highly hopeful constituencies in Kerala in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. The saffron party was also carrying out Christian outreach initiatives. Hence the resolution of the church could be a cause for concern for the BJP. The church accused the CPM government in Kerala of not ensuring minority welfare schemes proportionate to the population of minority communities. It also flayed the delay in implementing recommendations of the Justice J B Koshy commission report on socio-economic and educational backwardness of the Christian community in the state. This article is originally published on https://www.deccanherald.com/india/kerala/kerala-church-flays-centre-and-left-govt-for-attack-on-christians-2909627

A Catholic diocese in India’s northeastern Meghalaya state has registered a protest with the state government against the humiliation and removal of a nun from a bus due to her religious habit and faith. Tura Diocese in the tiny hilly state alleged that Sister Rose Mary, a member of the Daughters of St. Francis de Sales, was forced to get off the bus on her way from Duhnoi in Meghalaya to neighboring Assam state’s Goalpara area despite having a valid ticket on Feb. 17.The nun was mocked by co-passengers, mostly Hindus, for her religious habit and faith before she was forcibly deboarded, diocesan officials said. Auxiliary Bishop Jose Chirackal of Tura told UCA News on Feb. 22 that they have brought the matter to the attention of Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma and demanded a probe in the incident while also urging him to take this up with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswas Sarma. “When the nun boarded the bus and started the journey there was nothing unusual and it was like in other journeys in the past, but after some time the co-passengers on the bus started to mock her over her habit and also made derogatory remarks about her religious faith,” Chirackal said. After being dropped off

There Was A Huge Uproar Over Religious Conversion In Village Nari Of Kurud Police Station Area Of ​​The District. Bajrang Dal Workers Protested By Raising Slogans. On Receiving The Information, The Police Team Reached There And Pacified The People By Giving Advice. Dhamtari (Naiduniya representative). There was a huge uproar over religious conversion in village Nari of Kurud police station area of ​​the district . Bajrang Dal workers protested by raising slogans. On receiving the information, the police team reached there and pacified the people by giving advice. According to the information received, a Christian prayer meeting was organized in village Nari on Sunday. Converted people and other people of the village were also present in this prayer meeting. Bajrang Dal workers reached here after getting information and protested by raising slogans. The people of the village also demonstrated against the religious conversion. Villagers told that efforts are being made to convert people in the name of prayer meeting. Abuses are used against Hindu Gods and Goddesses and efforts are being made to brainwash them by portraying their religion as big and important. Such attempts will not be tolerated. In this regard, Kurud police station in-charge Arun Sahu says that during the prayer meeting, a dispute had arisen between two parties in village Nari. There was an argument

Meanwhile, Hindu Jagriti Sena has filed a counter-complaint against the nurses for converting the patients at the health centre into Christianity. Nine members of a right-wing outfit were booked for allegedly storming into the official quarters of a government health and wellness centre in Ratkal village of Kalburgi and accusing the nurses of trying to convert their patients to Christianity in exchange for monetary incentives. The accused, however, lodged a counter-complaint against the nurses for alleged conversion.According to the complaint lodged by one of the nurses, Ashwini, at Ratkal police station, “On February 24, two nurses, Rubika and Ashwini, filed a complaint that on February 22, some members of Hindu Jagriti Sena barged into the health centre in Ratkal village and inquired about their religion. On learning that they were Christians, the accused tried to convince them to convert the patients to Christianity in exchange for money.” The intrusion and intimidation prompted the hospital staff to alert the police authorities, leading to police intervention.Based on the complaint, police booked nine members of the Hindu Jagariti Sena, including president Shankar Choka, Basavaraj and Vishnu, under the Atrocities Act. “Based on a complaint, we registered a case against the nine members of Hindu Jagriti Sena under

A poster demanding the removal of religious symbols from Christian schools has yet again surfaced in India’s northeastern Assam state, asserting it as the final warning. The poster issued by Sanmilito Sanatan Samaj, a hardline Hindu outfit on Feb. 23, gave the ultimatum to remove statues and crosses from the premises of Christian-run schools in state's business capital Guwahati and two other major cities, Dibrugarh and Jorhat.“This is the final warning to stop using schools as a religious institution. Remove Jesus Christ, Mary, etc, from school premises,” warned the latest poster in Assamese, the state's official language. In Guwahati,  the posters appeared on the walls of Don Bosco School and St. Mary’s School. The poster asked missionaries not to turn education into a religious affair. “I suspect this is the same group with a different name but the same demand. They may be trying our patience,” Archbishop John Moolachira of Guwahati told UCA News on Feb. 26. In Dibrugarh, it was fixed on the walls of Don Bosco High School, and in Jorhat, the poster was found on the wall of Carmel School.The posters were also found in Barpeta and Sivasagar towns. Father Mathew Anchukandam, the archdiocesan vicar-general, said similar posters were found on Feb. 18 that forced Christian schools to seek