Catechetical Commission of the Archdiocese Conducts 1st Term Annual Examination

FR. ROBERT JOHNSON

 

Kolkata: Catechetical commission of the Archdiocese of Calcutta conducted the 1st term annual examination for English-medium catechism students at the parish level on the 5th of May 2019 in all the 4 deaneries (Kolkata, Howrah-Hooghly,24 Parganas and Midnapore) of the Archdiocese of Calcutta. The examination was conducted from class one to twelve.  

Archbishop Thomas D’Souza instructed all the parishes to have compulsory Sunday school for all the Catholic students of our parishes following the Growing in Faith series catechism book from TNBCLC (Tamil Nadu Biblical Catechetical Liturgical Centre) and the catechetical commission of the Archdiocese took the initiative to implement his instructions.  

The commission distributed the catechism books to all the students, conducted training programmes, periodical recollection for teachers and had several meetings to follow up the entire procedure. They are conducting two terms of examinations annually for all the Sunday school children from the year 2019. The first term exam was given by around 4000 catholic children from all over the archdiocese, from 30 different parishes.

The exams were well attended by all the children in their parishes. The teachers prepared them well and the students took the exam seriously and prepared themselves aptly.The question papers were prepared by the Archdiocesan catechetical commission and distributed to all the parishes with the instructions and mark-sheets. The exams were conducted in their respective parishes by the parish priests with the help of their coordinators and teachers.The answers are corrected by the respective teachers and will be submitted to the parish priests or coordinators by the 26th of May 2019 and they will hand over the mark-sheets and answer-sheets to the director of catechetical commission.

The catechetical commission is grateful to Archbishop Thomas D’ Souza, all the parish priests, fathers, sisters, brothers, coordinators, teachers and students for making the 1st term exam a successful one. 

Archdiocese of Calcutta stands in solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka

MARGARET COELHO

Kolkata: On 23rd April, 2019, the Archdiocese of Calcutta along with the Catholic Association of Bengal held an Inter Faith Prayer Service on the roads in front of St.Thomas’ Church, Middleton Row, Kolkata, for the great disaster which took place on Easter Sunday, in Sri Lanka, which killed over 300 people who had gone to attend the Easter Service in the Church.

The Prayer service started with an opening hymn led by Fr. Rodney Borneo, after which we had various speakers, like Fr.Devraj, Rev. Patrick of Assembly of God Church, Rev. Orgo Biswas of CNI, Mr. Shane Calvert, MLA, Mr.Javed Khan and many other speakers.

In between speeches and talks, there were a lot of hymns also sung and printed hymn sheets were also distributed to the 350 odd people. Over 350 people attended the Prayer Service, which began at 4.30 p.m. and went on till about 6.30 p.m. ending with lighting of Candles by all who had come. The candles were donated by the Catholic Association of Bengal, and given to each one present.

The Catholic Association of Bengal would like to thank each and every one of the people who attended this Prayer Service to show their solidarity, especially the Religious, who came in great numbers. Small book-marks were distributed to each and every one who attended.

Christians look to Supreme Court for religious freedom

Christian leaders and activists in India are pinning hopes on the Supreme Court to set aside guidelines made by a state court on individuals changing religion. India’s top court on April 5th postponed hearing a petition of Christian leaders that challenged the guidelines of Rajasthan high court, saying the directions violate religious freedom guaranteed in the constitution.The court postponed the hearing after the federal government said it needed more time to offer a response to the petition.
Christian leaders took up the case after the Rajasthan court on Dec. 14th last year passed general guidelines in restricting conversions. The court was hearing a habeas corpus petition regarding a Hindu girl who married a Muslim, presumably after changing her religion to Islam. The court directed, among other things, that a person desirous of changing religion should inform the district’s top government official, who would publicize it for a week. “Only after a week's time, anyone converting for purpose of marriage can do so,” said the court.
The state court’s guideline “infringes upon the fundamental rights of all persons” and violates provisions of the Indian constitution, said Christian leader A.C Michael, whose Alliance Defending Freedom organization was first to object in the Supreme Court. Laws restricting conversion, commonly called anti-conversion laws, are in force in at least eight of the country's 29 states but India has no national law banning or restricting conversion.
For Christians there cannot be forcible conversion. “The act of accepting any religious belief or doctrine is a private affair and is exercised only within a person’s conscience. The act of conversion is a personal act and does not require the state to be notified of such an act of conversion,” said Michael.
Joseph Dias, general secretary of the Catholic Secular Forum, has similar views and said the right to choose or even reject any religion is an individual’s own choice and the government cannot interfere.“Choosing faith is not a crime. The court in its order tried to restrict individual liberty and it conflicts with the idea of a secular state where freedom of religion is guaranteed in the constitution itself,” said Dias, adding that he is hopeful that such guidelines will be revoked by the Supreme Court soon.
Allen Brooks, spokesman for the Assam Christian Forum, told ucanews.com that the court has been given the power to make decisions by the constitution and hence it cannot undermine it.“The constitution of the country is very clear about this. The right to freedom is a very fundamental right of the people living in India. I hope the Supreme Court will reject the guidelines set for conversions by Rajasthan court,” said Brooks.
India’s federal Minister for Home Affairs Rajnath Singh in January openly objected to Christian missionary work."If somebody wants to accept a religion, he should do that. There should not be any objection to it. But if mass conversion starts happening and a lot of people start changing their religion, then it could be a matter of concern for any country," Singh said.
Hindus form 966 million or 80 percent of India's population of 1.3 billion. Muslims account for 172 million or 14 percent while Christians comprise 29 million or 2.3 percent.  UCAN

Parish Priest installed at Nirmala Hridoy, Monsada

On June 10, 2018, the Parish of Nirmol Hridoy Girja, Monsada had twin celebrations: The Sacrament of Confirmation, and the installation of the new Parish Priest, Fr. Johny Nedungatt, SDB, by Archbishop Thomas D’ Souza. A big number of Parishioners and the three religious Congregations of Sisters of the Parish participated in the Holy Mass, to celebrate the events.  Seventy nine candidates from the six centers which make up the Parish received the Sacrament. The Archbishop after introducing the meaning of the installation and its symbolic expressions read out the appointment letter of Fr. Nedungatt as the Parish Priest. With over two decades of experience in the formation ministry, Fr. Nedungatt had spent the past year as the financial administrator of the Salesian community at Monsada. The Holy Mass was followed by a short cultural programme.

Priestly Ordinations of Deacons; Ritesh Kujur and Anjit Ekka

On 9 June, 2018 were the Priestly Ordination of Deacons Anjit Ekka and Ritesh Kujur at Our Lady of Happy Voyage Church, Howrah. 30 priests joined in the Con-celebration. Following the Liturgy of the Word the candidates presented themselves for ordination before the Archbishop. The Archbishop in his homily highlighted the characteristics of a shepherd which is to love the people entrusted to him just as he loves Christ whom he servers. The Archbishop expressed gratitude to the parents of Fr. Ritesh and Fr. Anjit. A short cultural program was followed by a lunch for the community, priests and religious.

VOCATION CAMPS IN THE ARCHDIOCESE OF CALCUTTA!

Midnapore Deanery

Fr. John Soren and Fr. Sandeep Ekka organised the Vocation Camp for Midnapore Deanery from 16-18 April 2018 in Seva Kendra Extension, Hijli, Kharagpur. The theme was "Whom shall I send...? I will go!  Send me." 16 boys participated in the camp. Talks were given by Fr. Simon, Fr. Mohan, Fr. Peter and Fr. Sudhir Tudu, the Dean of Midnapore. 

Calcutta and Howrah-Hooghly Deanery

A combined Vocation Camp for Calcutta and Howrah-Hooghly Deaneries was organised in Seva Kendra, Calcutta from 28-29 April 2018. Fr. Michael Biswas, Fr. Kamal Kishore and Fr. Jesu Retchahar gave sessions on the theme "The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few." 15 boys from the Parishes of the Deaneries participated in the camp. Fr. Moloy D'Costa, the Dean of Calcutta, was the main celebrant for the final day Eucharistic Celebration.

24 Parganas (N) Deanery 

The Vocation Camp for the (N) 24 Parganas Deanery was organised by Fr. Ananda Halder from 12-14 April, 2018 in Proggaloy, the Archdiocesan Pastoral and Development Center. 25 boys from the Parishes of the Deanery participated in the camp with the theme: "Vocation: A gift of the love of God." Fr. Anthony Rodrick, the Dean of (N) 24 Parganas and Fr. Henry Saldanha were the main celebrants at the Eucharistic Celebration on both the days.

Preparatory Meeting for the 27th World Day of the Sick

The Archdiocese of Calcutta will host the 27^th World Day of the Sick from 9-11 February, 2019 at St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata as announced by Archbishop Prakash Mallavarapu of Visakhapattanam & Chairman CBCI Healthcare Office. Archbishop Thomas D’Souza presided over the meeting on 23 May, 2018 at Archbishop’s House to sensitize the Core Group in the presence of Archbishop Prakash Mallavarapu and Rev. Dr. Mathew Perumpil, Director General, Catholic Health Association of India and the Archdiocesan Health Care Commission. 20 delegates from Rome and 20-25 delegates from other countries will attend amounting to over 300 participants. Archbishop Thomas D’Souza will be the Chairperson and Fr. Franklin Menezes, Director of Seva Kendra will be the Organizing Secretary. The Core Committee will meet again on 19 June 2018 at 5 pm at Archbishop’s House. Kolkata has been chosen by Rome in view of Mother Teresa’s Congregation who are engaged in looking after the poorest of the poor.