Santosh Digal

Salesian priests and the Indian Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development collaborate to offer three months free training for poor students. The course is already active in the state of West Bengal and will expand to other Indian states over the next two years

A group of Afghan Christian refugees, who escaped to India to save their lives, describe the hardships they face in their homeland, where Muslim converts to Christianity are put to death. They call on the international community to put pressure on the Afghan government to spare those sentenced to death.

Pandit Bishimajhi is blamed for serious anti-Christian violence in Orissa in August 2008, which included beating people and setting buildings on fire. A member of a Hindu nationalist party, he was a wanted man for many months but was able to elude and mock police. His arrest might be a sign that justice will finally be done in Orissa.

Since 2005, seven Adorer sisters from New Delhi helped 50 prostitutes find work and themselves. One nun says, our “apostolate among them is for us an important commitment. It carries many risks, but we love doing something that can give these young women some dignity and respect.”

A new plant should be built in the Indian state by South Korea’s POSCO steelmaker. It is expected to create new jobs and generate industrial development. However, the local Church insists that neither should be achieved at the expense of local residents.

After anti-Christian pogroms of 2008-2009, the Christian women of Kandhamal have difficulty returning to their villages and resuming their lives. The Social Centre in Mumbai studies their problems to see how to help. The continuous support of the Church toward the persecuted.

Following the devastating religious and ethnic violence of 2008, Catholics are building about 5,550 housing units in Kandhamal District. Some 700 Hindu families are among the beneficiaries. Local priests warn that sectarian tensions remain high. “We work for everyone, without hiding anything,” they say.

Balasore bishop says Orissa Christians are involved again in missionary activity, making their presence felt in society, despite the violence and murders of 2008 and 2009. They are concerned about healing wounds and reaching out to those who burnt churches and tried to kill Christians.

In Bengal’s metropolis, the Irish Christian Brothers run a school where dozens of boys get an education, learn how to live in community and build a better future. Both religious and teachers are enthusiastic about their work.

For over 10 years the Filipinos of the Divine Word Missionaries help the elderly of all faiths to come out of loneliness and exclusion, offering them language classes, singing, dancing and Bible study. The courses are also an opportunity for conversion. Last Easter five elderly received baptism.

Eight Sisters of the Congregation of the Servants of the Holy Eucharist (SHE) have started a rehabilitation project aimed at prisoners. 500 volunteers working for 15 years in 36 prisons Philippines. The aim is to restore dignity and confidence to criminals and repair damage caused to the victims.

Police say extremists used army uniforms to pass unnoticed and plant the bombs that yesterday hit the cathedral of Saint Isabel and the building of the Ministry of Education. Among the victims of gun battles between soldiers and rebels also the brother of one of the leaders of the terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda. Basilan bishop urges people to pray for peace and asks for protection of military forces.