Card. Gracias appeals for release of abducted Indian priest ?
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Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias has appealed for prayers for the release of Fr Tom Uzhunnalil, a Salesian priest abducted by unknown gunmen early March in Yemen. At the triduum leading up to Divine Mercy Sunday, the cardinal who is Archbishop of Bombay appealed on Friday for prayer and mercy to save the 56-year-old priest, kidnapped by suspected Islamic State group gunmen. The attackers stormed the Missionaries of Charity compound in Aden, March 4, slaying of 16 people at a home for the elderly run by the Missionaries of Charity (MC) nuns. Four of the dead were the nuns themselves. India’s bishops have also appealed to the government, calling for "urgent action" to secure the release of the Salesian priest. Speaking to AsiaNews, Card Gracias, who heads the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) as well as the Latin-rite bishops of India (CCBI) noted that the...
Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias has appealed for prayers for the release of Fr Tom Uzhunnalil, a Salesian priest abducted by unknown gunmen early March in Yemen. At the triduum leading up to Divine Mercy Sunday, the cardinal who is Archbishop of Bombay appealed on Friday for prayer and mercy to save the 56-year-old priest, kidnapped by suspected Islamic State group gunmen. The attackers stormed the Missionaries of Charity compound in Aden, March 4, slaying of 16 people at a home for the elderly run by the Missionaries of Charity (MC) nuns. Four of the dead were the nuns themselves. India’s bishops have also appealed to the government, calling for "urgent action" to secure the release of the Salesian priest.
Speaking to AsiaNews, Card Gracias, who heads the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) as well as the Latin-rite bishops of India (CCBI) noted that the Jubilee of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis is a "privileged moment". The prelate called on "prayer groups, parishes, religious institutes, chapels, monasteries and also private homes "to pray for Fr Tom. "I pray that each of us entrust Fr Tom to the Divine Mercy,” Card Gracias said. “I also ask you to pray that he may safely come back to us, and I encourage all of you to partake in his suffering. Let us ask that he may soon regain his freedom." “Saint Pope John Paul II said that only Divine Mercy is able to impose limitations on evil,” Cardinal Gracias recalled. Therefore, “Let us pray through Mary, Mother of Mercy also for those who perpetrated the barbaric killing of our 4 missionaries of charity and kidnapped Fr Tom,” he added. (Source:AsiaNews)
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Asian elephant. / Credit: Filiz Elaerts / Unsplash (CC0)CNA Newsroom, Mar 27, 2024 / 13:00 pm (CNA).Despite repeated protests from Catholic bishops, wildlife attacks continue to pose a severe threat to the lives and properties of both Catholics and other residents in the Southern Indian state of Kerala. On Wednesday, local media reported significant damage from two elephants in Kerala's Idukki district, alongside a tiger's attack on livestock. This year alone, elephant attacks have resulted in 27 fatalities in the region. Video footage of a Catholic man trampled to death on Feb. 10 made headlines and sparked protests, only to be followed by news of a potential mauling by a tiger of a Catholic woman on her way to Mass four days after the fatal attack. Further fatal elephant tramplings followed the incident.The Catholic Church in Kerala has been leading the charge in urging the government to take decisive action to protect human lives. "The series of shocking ...
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Catholic faithful offer prayers during an Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Mary's Basilica in Secunderabad, the twin city of Hyderabad in India on Feb. 14, 2024. / Credit: NOAH SEELAM/AFP via Getty ImagesBangalore, India, Mar 27, 2024 / 14:00 pm (CNA).A watchdog group that monitors violence committed against Christians in India has released a study documenting 161 such crimes in the first 75 days of 2024.These numbers may underestimate the number of crimes and acts of persecution committed against Christians in India, according to A.C. Michael, a Catholic and coordinator of the United Christian Forum (UCF), which released the report. "These figures are based only on the complaints registered on our toll-free helpline number (1-800-208-4545) to report incidents of anti-Christian violence. The actual numbers will be certainly much more," Michael told CNA on March 27."We feel frustrated that despite documenting and making public the shocking data regularly, there has been no re...
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On Holy Wednesday, the friars of the Custody of the Holy Land venerated the column to which, according to tradition, Jesus was bound to be scourged. They prayed the station dedicated to the column during the daily procession that the Franciscans perform inside the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher. At the end, they intoned the hymn "Columna Nobilis" and then, one by one, they performed an act of veneration. March 27, 2024. / Credit: Marinella BandiniJerusalem, Mar 27, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).In Jerusalem on Holy Wednesday, the friars of the Custody of the Holy Land venerate the two stones that, according to the Gospel of Luke, were stained with the blood of Jesus during his passion.The first stone is venerated at the Basilica of the Agony, which stands at the place where Jesus withdrew to pray after the Last Supper in an orchard known as Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives.Father Alessandro Coniglio, who presided over the Holy Wednesday Mass at the Basilica of the Agony (G...