Nirmala Carvalho

The party of Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi confirms its mandate in state elections in Maharashtra, Arunachal Pardesh and Haryana. The cardinal of Mumbai: now we need effective policies for the poor and development programs constructed in a climate of social harmony.

The archbishop, who represents the Vatican at the Joint Working Group with the World Council of Churches, describes the birth and purpose of the ecumenical movement. National issues, like conversions by fundamentalists, are addressed by adhering to general principles.

Church authorities call on the Indian State not to interfere in the internal affairs of Church-run institutions and instead focus on discrimination caused by a tense political situation.

Missionary tells the story of a movement run by the Indian Missionary Society in Varanasi, the spiritual capital of Hindu India. Fr Anil Dev says people are fascinated by the relationship to a personal and living God who loves them without the need to be propitiated.

Closing the Indian Churches Missionary Congress, the archbishop of Mumbai invites Catholics to renew their faith. While radically rejecting forced conversions he firmly defends freedom of religion: "No government can enter my soul or imprison my conscience saying 'you can not change religion'."

Indian missionary to Congress, being held in Muambai, archbishop of Ranchi, speaks of the importance of the Christian mission among the tribal peoples and their liberation from slavery. Evangelization is not so much "doing something" rather a way of "being."

The proceedings in the second day of the Prabhu Yesu Mahotsav focus on the experiences of the country’s various communities. Mgr John Barwa, bishop of Rourkela, is among the delegates. His niece, Sister Meeva, was raped during the anti-Christian pogroms in Kandhamal. “I am a Tribal,” the bishop said, and “I am grateful to the missionaries who freed my life.”

Some 1,500 delegates representing the Indian Church have come together until Sunday to work on the theme ‘Let your light shine’. Great celebrations are held during the inauguration ceremony. “The true missionary is the one in whom the messenger becomes the message”.

In one of the major theatres of violence (Kandhamal), a mixed group, including Muslims, teaches coexistence. The violence also undermines economic development. The Bishop of Guwahati invites priests to resume relations with neighbours. Hindu radicals threaten nuns in a hospital.

The experience of Premnagar, a home for the elderly with 80 guests, run by the Little Sisters of the Poor, the congregation founded by Sister Jeanne Jugan, canonized by Benedict XVI on 11 October.

About 1,500 people will gather in Mumbai on 14-18 October for the Prabhu Yesu Mahotsav. The Church’s presence in society, its educational and charity activities as well as its relationship to the country’s culture and its participation in the Church’s universal mission will be among the topics of discussion.

Official statistics show that 10,000 children die on the first day of their life. Health care services provided by the Archdiocese of Ambikapur include 93 primary care centres for pregnant women and children from zero to five years of age.