As the world celebrated the International Mother Language Day on Thursday, a sobering thought is that the heartbeat of several cultures and identities, the Mother Tongues, are slowly dying out, being replaced by lingua franca and official languages. Lingua Franca literally means ‘the language of France’, and there was a time that the bridge language […]
On the first Sunday of February, for thousands of Catholics in and around Bihar, and also for some who are journeying from other places, all roads lead to the Mother of Divine Grace. This shrine dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus, attracts large numbers of people on the occasion of the Feast day. ‘Holy […]
In these troubled times, and despite what the apologists for a particular political regime want to say, these are definitely troubled times; three thousand Catholics, over half of them the rural poor, congregated at a church in Patna to acknowledge the source of their faith. And for so many who came, this was an act […]
PATNA (OCTOBER 16): The Transforming and liberating Word is at the heart of a celebration that has drawn some 3000 Catholics from different parts of Bihar to a three day Bible Mahotsav at Queen of Apostles’ Church, Kurji, in Patna, the state capital. The festival is one of the first major events in a year- […]
Excitement, wonder and a sense of joyful worship was evident at the inaugural day of the Patna Archdiocesan Bible Festival, the Bible Mahotsav. The three- day long event will feature sermons, prayer, Holy mass, singing, cultural events, and a quiz, all based on the Bible. The first Grand event of the year long Patna Archdiocesan […]
New Delhi: Why is the Modi government asking private news channels not to use the word ‘Dalit’? What was missed out by the news channels is that in January this year, a ‘petitioner’ had approached the Gwalior High court, and received an order banning government agencies from using the word Dalit on the grounds that […]
In line with our editorial policy to support initiatives for justice everywhere, Newsnet carries this piece written by Anto Akkara, first publshed in UCA News It was pure journalistic instinct that made me travel to the remote Kandhamal jungles in India’s Odisha state after an arson attack destroyed over 100 churches and Christian institutions in […]
The man was a soldier, philanderer, some say as vain as a peacock, but he could read … and that one book set him on the path that has now brought excellence in education to the world! Born Inigo Lopez de Loyola in 1491, the man known as Ignatius of Loyola entered the world in […]
New Delhi: A cabinet decision to restore some dilutions of the SC ST Prevention of Atrocities Act cuts no ice with the All India Ambedkar Magasabha, which will go on the August 9 strike as planned. In what is seen as a hasty attempt to avert Dalit anger across India, the Union cabinet on Wednesday […]
The 66,500 Catholics in 11 districts of Bihar State are getting ready to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Diocese of Patna, but the history of the Catholic faith in Bihar can be traced some 398 years ago, when Jesuit Father Simon Figueredo SJ came to Patna in 1620 at the invitation of the Mughal […]
I attended the First Vinay Kanth Memorial Lecture at the Bharatiya Nritya Kala Mandir conference hall. One reason I went was to ‘catch up’ with familiar faces I knew would be there , ( fully well knowing that most of the catching up would be a wave, a smile, and a nod), but it would […]
New Delhi: Lawyers appearing for fundamentalist faith-based organizations spared no effort to display the rampant homophobic fantasies of their clients as they argued against the repeal of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. In fact, their arguments seemed to indicate that almost every male in India is a repressed homosexual and that if the […]
