Christian

Indian priest George Jacob Koovakad being elevated as a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Catholic Church by Pope Francis is a matter of great joy and pride for India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday. He said George Cardinal Koovakad has devoted his life to the service of humanity as an ardent follower of Jesus Christ. "A matter of great joy and pride for India! Delighted at His Eminence George Jacob Koovakad being created a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Catholic Church by His Holiness Pope Francis," Modi said in a post on X. "His Eminence George Cardinal Koovakad has devoted his life in service of humanity as an ardent follower of Lord Jesus Christ. My best wishes for his future endeavours," the prime minister said. In a grand consistory held in the Vatican on Saturday, 51-year-old Koovakad was elevated to the rank of cardinal by Pope Francis. The ceremony, held at the famous St Peter's Basilica and attended by clergy and dignitaries from around the world, witnessed the inducti

Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai on Sunday said the Christian population at Goa has come down while the Muslim population has gone up. Speaking at an event in a church here, Pillai, a senior BJP leader, said the Christian population in Goa had come down to 25 per cent from the earlier 36 per cent. "I spoke to a senior priest. I told him that the percentage of Catholic community members has come down to 25 per cent while the Islamic community members have gone up to 12 per cent from the earlier three per cent," he said. Pillai added that he had asked the community members to "conduct a positive study" in this regard. Later at another event, Pillai clarified that what he meant was "brain drain." "I have seen certain media houses creating controversy out of my statement. I was not talking about the demography or about any particular community," Pillai said. He said the number of Catholic members in Goa have come down over the years. "When the community leaders including the pries

At least 49 teachers belonging to minority communities were forced to resign in Bangladesh after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government on August 5, according to a minority organisation in the violence-hit nation. The Bangladesh Chhatra Oikya Parishad, the student wing of Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad, said this at a press conference on Saturday, The Daily Star newspaper reported. The organisation's coordinator, Sajib Sarkar, said in the students' violence that ensued for days following the ouster and fleeing of 76-year-old prime minister Hasina, minority teachers across the country faced physical assault, and at least 49 of them were forced to resign. However, 19 of them were reinstated later, the report quoted him as saying. Sarkar added that religious and ethnic minorities have also faced attacks, looting, assault on women, vandalism of temples, arson attacks on homes and businesses, and killings during this period. Bangladesh saw several incidents of

The BJP's sterling performance in Kerala, winning from Thrissur and increasing its vote share in many constituencies in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, clearly indicates a shift in the political landscape of the southern state, say noted political analysts. Besides actor-politician Suresh Gopi winning from Thrissur, the BJP-led NDA saw its vote share rise from over 15 per cent in 2019 to nearly 20 per cent now. Analysts indicate that Kerala's political landscape is evolving from a traditionally bipolar contest dominated by Congress-led UDF and CPI(M)-led LDF to a tripolar scenario. This shift, which has been gradually happening since the 2011 Assembly elections, is now becoming more evident. The 2024 Parliamentary elections in Kerala confirm this shift, as NDA made major inroads into the electorate in Kerala, garnering nearly 20 per cent vote share in many constituencies they contested in, they said. According to them, constituencies like Thrissur, which NDA won, and the increased vote

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday announced an allocation of Rs 100 crore for the development of Wakf properties and Rs 200 crore for the development of Christian community in the 2024-2025 budget he presented in the Assembly. Further, a provision of Rs 50 crore will be made for the development of major pilgrimage destinations of Jains. A development grant of Rs one crore has been earmarked for Shri Nanak Jhira Sahib Gurudwara in Bidar. Siddaramaiah said Rs 20 crore would be granted to provide basic facilities at major pilgrimage destinations in the state. The Chief Minister said 50 Morarji Desai Residential Schools, 100 post-matric boys/girls hostels will be started with a capacity of 100 students each and 100 new Maulana Azad Schools will be opened in the state. Also, pre-university colleges will be started in 25 schools, which have their own buildings. The Chief Minister said 'Tripitaka', the sacred texts of the Buddhist community, will be translated into Kannada

While much of the world has Christmas in the rearview mirror by now, people in some Eastern Orthodox traditions will celebrate the holy day on Sunday. Certain Eastern Orthodox churches, including those in Russian and other traditions, follow the ancient Julian calendar, which runs 13 days later than the Gregorian calendar, used by Catholic and Protestant churches as well as by much of the secular world for everyday use. Other Orthodox, including those in the Greek tradition and, now, some Ukrainian churches, celebrate Christmas on the same date as Western churches. Why are there different dates for Christmas? Technically, there aren't. All Eastern Orthodox agree that December 25 is the date of Christmas, or the Feast of the Nativity, as they call it. The question is whether December 25 falls on December 25 or January 7. That requires a little unpacking. The ancient church set its religious feasts based on the Julian calendar, but after more than a millennium, that calendar had ...

As the Lok Sabha polls are just months away, the BJP in Kerala resumed its 'Sneha Yatra' on Thursday -an outreach programme aimed at connecting with the Christian community in the state. The saffron party initially launched the initiative during this year's Easter. In a recent state committee meeting, the party decided to resume the yatra during the Christmas season. BJP state chief K Surendran visited Cardinal George Alencherry, the former head of the prominent Syro Malabar Church, at St Thomas Mount in nearby Kakkanad in the morning and conveyed Christmas greetings from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also visited Archbishop Joseph Kalathiparbil of the Latin Archdiocese of Verapoly, and conveyed the wishes of the Prime Minister. Surendran later said in a Facebook post that it marked the beginning of 'Sneha Yatra' in the state. He also shared photos of his cordial meetings with the church heads. However, the church authorities and the BJP leadership were yet to make clear the

A powerful explosion believed caused by a bomb ripped through a Catholic Mass and killed at least three people and wounded several others Sunday in a predominantly Muslim city in the southern Philippines, officials said. The morning Mass was underway in a gymnasium at the state-run Marawi State University in Marawi city when the explosion happened, causing panic among dozens of worshippers and leaving the victims bloodied and sprawled on the ground, said Taha Mandangan, the security chief of the sprawling state-run campus. At least two of the wounded were fighting for their lives, Mandangan said. "This is clearly an act of terrorism. It's not a simple feud between two people. A bomb will kill everybody around, Mandangan told The Associated Press by telephone. Army troops and police immediately cordoned off the area and were conducting an initial investigation and checking security cameras for any indication of who may have been responsible for the attack. Security checkpoints were

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: Jehovah's Witnesses, whose prayer meeting in Kochi was marred by devastating bomb blasts on Sunday in which one person died and 52 others are seriously injured, is a Christian religious group that traces its origins to 19th century America. According to historians, Jehovah's Witnesses was considered an offshoot of the International Bible Students' Association, founded by Charles Taze Russell in Pittsburgh in the year 1872. Unlike mainstream Christian denominations, Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in the Holy Trinity (God, the Father; God, the Son - Jesus; and God the Holy Spirit) but worship Jehovah as the "the God of the Bible and the Creator of all things". Followers of the group see Jesus Christ as the son of God, and not God himself. They learn from the teachings and examples set by Christ; hence they consider themselves Christians. The group follows certain strict social mores, which forbid them from receiving blood transfusions and prevent married couples from divorcing,

Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Monday visited the violence-hit Jaranwala town in Punjab province and handed out a compensation of Rs 2 million each to around 100 Christian families whose homes were burnt down along with 21 churches by a mob of radical Islamists last week. The mob ransacked and torched 21 churches and several houses of Christians last week over blasphemy allegations in Jaranwala town of Faisalabad district, 130 km from Punjab's provincial capital Lahore. A Christian cemetery and the office of the local assistant commissioner were also vandalised. Kakar visited Jaranwala to express solidarity with the victims of the Christian community, where he distributed cheques worth two million rupees (USD 6,800) each to the affected people. He assured all the minority communities in the country that the government is committed to protecting their lives and properties as he pledged to bring the perpetrators of heinous attacks against Christians to ...

Pakistani police have arrested two prime suspects involved in the unprecedented attacks on 21 churches and nearly three dozen homes of the minority Christian community over blasphemy allegations, Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi has said. He praised the efforts of the Punjab chief secretary and inspector general of police, saying both of them played a key role in ensuring the arrests of the key suspects. An enraged mob ransacked and torched 21 churches and 35 homes of Christians on Wednesday over blasphemy allegations in Jaranwala town of Faisalabad district, 130 km from Punjab's provincial capital Lahore. "Major breakthrough in the Jaranwala Incident both main accused now in CTD Custody. Appreciation for Chief Secretary Punjab and IG Punjab for their relentless efforts...," Naqvi posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday. In a separate post on Friday, he wrote that mosques across Pakistan's Punjab province will have Friday sermons ...

Thousands of people lined up across St Peter's Square hours before dawn on Monday to view Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's body and pay their respects. Public viewing lasts for 10 hours on Monday in St Peter's Basilica. Twelve hours of viewing are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday before Thursday morning's funeral, which will be led by Pope Francis, in the square. The frail, 95-year-old Benedict died Saturday morning in the Vatican monastery where he had lived since his retirement in 2013 when he became the first pontiff to resign in 600 years. Security officials expected at least 25,000 people to pass by the body on the first day of viewing.

Hindu and Christian personal law treat adopted child on a par with natural-born ones

It told the Supreme Court the Ranganath Mishra Commission, which had recommended the inclusion of Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims in the SC list, took a myopic view of the issue and was 'flawed'

A bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud said it will take up the matter for hearing on Friday

Districts with higher Muslim populations had administered 13.9 doses per 100 people until last week, while those with fewer Muslims had administered 15.7 doses

Issues like conversion of the ancient Hagia Sophia church in Turkey to a mosque, incidents of 'Love Jihad', will be reflected in the April 6 Assembly polls

The pope prayed for those "who suffer because of violence, natural disasters or outbreaks of disease" as well as migrants undertaking a perilous and potentially deadly sea crossing to Europe.