Bihar, undivided. 52 years ago. It’s 1967. The sun shines brightly overhead. Scorching heat, the clay-baked dry fields are riddled by cracks through which the last drops of water have evaporated. Along a railway siding, one can see people scrabbling in the dust, in a desperate attempt to scoop up the loose grains that may […]
Strange isn’t it? Just yesterday, the 20th of March, we the ‘conscious intelligentsia’ marked two events or ‘international days’. One was the day of the house sparrow, and the other was the international day of Happiness, whatever that means. The sparrows that would nest in the rafters of our houses and bungalows a few decades […]
It will be an action packed year for the Catholic community in the state of Bihar as the Archdiocese of Patna rolls out a series of events and activities to mark its first 100 years. After a scintillating three day Bible ‘mega-fest’ in October last year, that followed the rather simple and low-key inauguration of […]
Over the past two hundred years or so, Catholic Nuns and other women changed Bihar In the year 1852, five single women travelled all the way from Bombay to Patna, doing the last few days on a bullock-cart through thick jungles. These were the German nuns, belonging to the order of the Institute of the […]
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 […]
