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Indian Church leaders discuss rising attacks with PM Modi

Church leaders in southern India met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed various issues concerning the Christian community including the rising attacks and discrimination.

Published: April 28, 2023 11:04 AM GMT

Updated: April 28, 2023 11:05 AM GMT

Church leaders in the southern state of Kerala met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday and apprised him of various concerns of the Christian community, besides a possible papal visit to India.

Cardinal George Alencherry, head of the Kerala-based Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church said the delegation discussed burning issues of violence against Christians and reservation quota for Dalit Christians with Modi.

The meeting comes amid allegations that ever since Modi’s pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014, the states ruled by the party have seen an increase in attacks against Christians. Modi has been accused of being silent on violence against minority Muslims and Christians.

The church delegation reportedly informed Modi about the plight of Dalit Christians who are denied social benefits from the government as well as the struggles of farmers and fishermen. Christians make up 2. 3 percent of India’s 1.4 billion population; but in Kerala, they account for 18 percent of about 33 million people.  

Archbishop Anil Thomas Couto of Delhi presenting a statue to Modi when he visited New Delhi's Sacred Heart Cathedral on April 9, Easter Sunday

Archbishop Anil Thomas Couto of Delhi presenting a statue to Modi when he visited New Delhi's Sacred Heart Cathedral on April 9, Easter Sunday (Photo: PIB)

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Christian leaders in Pakistan have slammed the ongoing national census over a series of irregularities including undercounting members of minority groups, faulty questionnaires, and delaying tactics by the government agency. The state-run Pakistan Bureau of Statistics initially planned to hold the census March. However, it was extended.

As per the agency data, the current population of the country stands at 235 million which does not reveal the data on minority population. Majid Abel, executive secretary of the Presbyterian Church of Pakistan accused the agency of engaging insufficient and untrained staff in the census process leading to undercounting.

A Christian activist monitors a census team at Amato Colony of Sahiwal, Punjab province of Pakistan on March 11. (Photo supplied)

The Lahore-based Center for Social Justice and Peoples Commission for Minorities Rights organized a press conference last week where it was alleged the enumerators of the first-ever digital census have used an incomplete and different paper questionnaire instead of hand held devices to collect household data.

At least one of three questionnaires did not have columns for religion, disability and transgender.


Myanmar military bombed and destroyed a hospital in southern Shan state shortly after former United Nations chief, Ban Ki-moon, ended his four-day visit to the country and called for an end to violence. The military airstrike on the hospital in Pekhon township wounded some civilians and forced many to flee to a nearby refugee camp.

Ban Ki-moon visited the conflict-torn country on behalf of ‘The Elders,’ a group of elder statesmen from around the world that engages in peacemaking and human rights initiatives.

This handout photograph taken on April 24 and released by the Myanmar Military Information Team shows Myanmar military chief Min Aung Hlaing (right) meeting former United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon in Naypyidaw. The former UN chief met for talks with top officials from Myanmar's junta on April 24 as the bloody conflict engulfing the country spirals. (Photo: AFP)

The latest attack in Shan state comes amid the military’s intense fighting with rebel groups in the region in recent months. Pekhon diocese in Shan state and Loikaw diocese in neighboring Kayah state are among the worst-hit areas due to fighting between the army and the rebels.

Six parishes in Pekhon diocese have been abandoned while several churches including the Sacred Heart Cathedral have been repeatedly attacked. Last Sunday, a military airstrike destroyed a village prayer hall in the Christian-majority Chin state. 

State-sanctioned Christian bodies in Qingdao City in Shandong province of eastern China have established a special committee to promote ‘sinicization’ of Christianity in line with directives of the Chinese Communist Party.

ChinaAid reported on Tuesday that the city’s Christian patriotic organizations set up a new “Special Committee to Advance the Sinicization of Christianity,” the first of its kind in the communist-ruled nation. The committee was formed after the Communist Party formulated a five-year plan dedicated to sinicization following a proposal made by President Xi Jinping in 2015.

A young Chinese worshipper attends a Christmas Eve Mass at a Catholic Church in Beijing on Dec. 24, 2014. (Photo: FRED DUFOUR/AFP/Getty Images)

Xi urged state-run religious groups to guide religions to adapt to socialist society by developing religions in the Chinese context. In recent years, the Communist regime has been aggressively promoting sinicization of religion across the country. Communist officials in various provinces have introduced “Sinicization of Christianity Training Course” for the entire government-controlled churches in Mainland China.

Sinicization is a political ideology that aims to impose strict rules on societies and institutions based on the core values of socialism, autonomy, and supporting the leadership of the Communist Party.


South Korean Catholics joined a special Mass praying to preserve the ecologically-critical Jeju Island, which they say will be damaged if a new airport comes up as planned. The Ecological Environment Committee of Jeju Diocese and the Environment Ministry of Incheon Diocese jointly held the Mass in Jeju last Sunday.

Following the Mass, the church groups issued a joint statement to express grave concerns about the planned second airport on the island. The statement said a new airport would pose dangers to the environment, wildlife, and poor islanders.

Catholic priests offer Mass at Jeju island of South Korea on April 23 as part of protest against a new airport. (Photo: Jeju Diocese)

Jeju is the largest island in South Korea and is famed for its natural beauty, making it a prime destination for local and foreign tourists. The island features several natural sites recognized as world heritage sites by UNESCO. It is home to about 700,000 people including estimated 80,000 Catholics.

The island already has Jeju International Airport, which is used by an average of 26 million people annually. The authorities planned a second airport, citing the limited capacity of the single-runway old airport built in 1968.


Despite appeals from rights groups to halt an execution and abolish the death penalty, Singapore hanged a prisoner on Wednesday after he was convicted of conspiracy to smuggle one kilogram of cannabis.

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Tangaraju Suppiah was hanged in defiance of a plea by the United Nations Human Rights Office for Singapore to "urgently reconsider" and calls by British tycoon Richard Branson to halt it. The Asian financial hub has some of the world's toughest anti-narcotics laws and insists the death penalty remains an effective deterrent against trafficking.

Leelavathy Suppiah (left), sister of a convicted drug trafficker Tangaraju Suppiah, who is scheduled for execution, reacts during a press conference in Singapore on April 23. (Photo: AFP)

The 46-year-old man was convicted in 2017 and was sentenced to death. Rights groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International alleged the case and trial were faulty and the prisoner did not receive adequate legal counsel to defend his position.

Singapore resumed executions in March 2022 after a hiatus of more than two years. The latest hanging was the city-state's first in six months and 12th since last year.


The National Museum of the Philippines recognized the 435-year-old Church of Our Lady of the Remedies, popularly known as Malate Catholic Church, as an “important cultural property” last Saturday.

The authorities said the church in the capital Manila was recognized for its historical and cultural role. The Columbans-run church played a key role in the Philippine liberation and in 1898 Augustinian friars secretly allowed revolutionaries to take refuge in its belfry.

Church and government officials seen on April 22 near the belfry of the 435-year-old baroque-style Our Lady of Remedies Parish, more popularly known as Malate Church, which was declared an 'important cultural property' by the National Museum of the Philippines. (Photo: Jef Delamonte)

As the oldest church, built in 1588, it survived the Chinese invasion in 1662, the British occupation in 1762, and a devastating earthquake in 1863.

The church contains the centuries-old image of Our Lady of Remedies, which was shipped to the Philippines in 1538 from Spain by the Augustinian missionaries. The church is a popular pilgrim center as people believe the Marian image has miraculous powers for healing diseases.


Ruteng Catholic Diocese in Indonesia’s Christian-majority Flores Island has joined local people and tourism operators to demand the halt of a “unilateral” government policy of additional ticket fees for the famed Komodo National Park.

In a statement on Monday, the diocese said the new ticket policy "obstructs the progress of tourism, burdens tourists and tourism operators, and creates social conflict." It came amid protests from local people and tour operators against the latest policy from state-run company PT Flobamor which runs tourism services in the park.

Visitors are seen at the entrance of Komodo National Park in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara province in 2022. (Photo supplied)

As per the new policy, tourists need to pay additional fees to have access to certain spots within the park. Until now tourists have been allowed to visit the entire park with just the entry ticket.

Rates for each spot vary between 24 and 54 US dollars for local tourists and almost double that amount for foreign tourists. The company came up with the new policy after it failed to implement 250 US dollars entry fee last year following widespread protests.


Family members of dead garment workers and survivors joined a protest rally at Savar town near the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Monday to demand justice on the tenth anniversary of the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment complex. The tragedy on April 24, 2013, killed more than 1,130 workers and injured thousands, and is now remembered as one of the worst industrial disasters.

The protesters said the casualties could have been prevented if the management did not force workers to keep working despite cracks appearing on the walls of the seven-storied building the previous day. The accident spotlighted the global fashion industry's reliance on labor in the developing world working in dangerous and sometimes deadly conditions.

In this photograph taken on April 12, 2023, Safia Begum, mother of a garment worker killed in the Rana Plaza building collapse disaster, weeps during an interview in Dhaka. (Photo: AFP)

Since the tragedy, global fashion brands were forced to clean up the mess in the US$45 billion Bangladesh garment industry. Since the tragedy, no major accident has been reported in the sector.

Families of slain workers and survivors received compensation, though some claim the amount was insufficient. A court indicted 38 people for their roles in the collapse including the complex owner. However, the trial has been bogged down by delays.

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