India

A 33-metre bronze statue will honour a chieftain who founded the city. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's nationalist party has been building huge (and expensive) monuments for years. Several times, local residents have opposed them.

A Sister’s testimony introduced the meeting with Pope Francis in Manama. “We involve ourselves in prison ministry,” and “visit hospitals, the sick and needy families,” she said. In a world “changing by leaps and bounds”, the nuns educate “young minds” from migrant families to follow Jesus.

A showcase for the local culture, world-famous fair in Ajmer District (Rajasthan) opened until 8 November. Activities include a march by representatives of different faiths. For Fr Cosmos Shakhawat, it is an important “symbol of communal harmony”.

This year India’s wedding season promises to be more lavish than ever after many couples postponed their nuptials due to the pandemic. According to some estimates, weddings are the fourth-largest industry in the country. But dowries are a sore point with more than 8,000 women dying as a result.

Search and rescue operations continue in the town of Morbi. The bridge had been closed for maintenance work and was reopened a few days ago. The Catholic Church is in the front line in providing aid. The local archbishop, Msgr. Thomas Macwan: "Even in this tragedy we will be witnesses of God's love through our apostolate of service".

Three Swedes were expelled after attending a religious meeting. They had allegedly violated the terms of their visas. They were also fined $500 each. Event organisers: they had authorisations. The three are said to have already returned home.

Manjeet Sarkar, Manaal Patil, and Ankur Tangade are three “untouchable” stand-up comedians who use comedy to eviscerate the caste system in which they grew up. While crowds laugh, some feel a little guilty at times. In India's big cities, discrimination is more subtle, but even here, when Dalits climb the ladder of success they have fewer footholds than their upper caste colleagues.

Indian PM Modi describes the UK’s new prime minister as a "living bridge" that will “transform our historic ties into a modern partnership.” A Hindu nationalist spokesman notes how the event coincides with Diwali and turns the British Raj on its head. In India, the opposition compares the UK, which accepts a prime minister from a minority, to India where the BJP has imposed a divisive citizenship law.

Today's headlines: Seoul fires warning shots at trspassing North Korean vessels; Asean foreign ministers' meet on Myanmar peace process; three children killed in Yemen landmine explosion; millions of Indians celebrate Diwali; in Russia unannounced anti-terrorism drill at a school terrorizes children.

Next Sunday, the Church around the world celebrates the day that focuses on the proclamation of the Gospel to those who have not yet known Jesus. The director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in India offers his reflection on what missionary conversion means today amid the wounds of the Church’s scandals and the hostility of fundamentalists.

A steady flow of refugees from Afghanistan and Myanmar has highlighted what some observers have called India’s deliberate “strategic ambiguity”. India is not a party to the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees. Assistance and refoulement depend on geopolitical and domestic political considerations.

Some priests have come out against the apostolic administrator Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, appointed by Pope Francis last August. The “unified” liturgy remains the main bone of contention; adopted by the Syro-Malabar Synod, it has not been accepted by the local community. In April, the pontiff wrote to the archdiocese, saying: “We cannot create division. We cannot allow ourselves to be a source of scandal.”