Nirmala Carvalho

Today is World Health Day 2016. As part of the activities dedicated to the Year of Mercy, Franciscan Sisters have launched an outreach programme in ten villages in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarkhand. Meetings will be organised to offer free blood pressure and sugar level tests, with women and children as the main target groups.

The Italian missionary tells her story to mark the Feast of the Annuncuation, which is celebrated today, recalling her commitment to life. Mother Joan has worked in India since 1948. On Oct. 1, she will turn 90, 66 years spent working in neonatal wards of different hospitals. In 1978 she managed to turn a small nursing home a hospital with 260 beds. In 2012 she was awarded by the Cuore Amico association in Brescia, Italy.

The rector of the Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount will celebrate his birthday on April 5. He is the only priest of the basilica, and was "superior" of Card. Oswald Gracias, when he was a priest. He received the title domestic prelate. He has served Indian Church since the 1950s, when he met Pope Pius XII. He studied in Rome and London. He is working on a permanent exhibition of scenes from the mysteries of the Rosary.

The archbishop of Mumbai calls on priests, religious, and lay people to pray for the Salesian who has been in the hands of the Islamic State group since 4 March. He hopes that the captive priest will "come back to us" and encourages everyone to “partake in his suffering”. Likewise, he calls for a prayer for the nuns’ murderers so that mercy may “impose limitations on evil”.

The procession started from the parish of St. Andrew, in Bandra West. All 14 stations were introduced by a passage of the last papal encyclical. The parish priest: "The existence of many people depends on the ocean, which we pollute and exploit".

Mgr Felix Machado speaks about adult converts in his diocese. “Stunned” by a young woman who spoke to her parents about it, he notes that only the love of Jesus pushes towards him, not personal gain or selfish reasons. People are attracted because Jesus is a "deed, a word, a voice, a real person.”

A mob of 40 Hindu extremists stormed a prayer service, seized those present and set fire to their prayer hall. They also tore a clergyman’s cassock and then snatched and trampled copies of the Bible because the temporary prayer hall did not have the “right” permits.

There has been an escalation of violence by Hindu radicals in recent weeks. Churches damaged, pastors beaten and arrested, faithful manhandled. President of Global Council of Indian Christians: "It seems that praying in India has become a crime. Christians are not treated like other citizens".

Today, the diocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar celebrated the Chrism Mass. Mgr John Barwa paid a visit to his predecessor, Archbishop Emeritus Raphael Cheenath, who is in Mumbai for health reasons. His passion bears witness to “the experience of suffering endured by the Church” in Odisha. Mgr Cheenath, who built the diocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar working with Tribals and Dalits, sent his blessing to AsiaNews.

The archbishop of the metropolis during the soon-to-be-proclaimed Saint’s mission, Msgr. Henry Sebastian D'Souza, tells AsiaNews about the last days of Mother Teresa and her legacy for India and for the world: "The beauty of life and of Mother Teresa's mission is that she was able to transcend the barriers of race, language, culture, social status ... Whatever barrier. She was the image of Jesus, His face in the world".

Organised by guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the World Culture Festival celebrates 35 years of the Art of Living Foundation. Held on the banks of the sacred Yamuna River, the event has generated a great deal of controversy. For Lenin Raghuvanshi, the event fuels religious extremism. It also violates environmental rules, according to Ram Puniyani.

The auxiliary bishop of Ranchi talks about the challenges of the apostolic mission of the Church, and in particular those in the field of health and education. In "remote areas of India only the Church takes care of the poor". Card. Baselios Cleemis confirmed as president.