A Kerala court on Friday acquitted former Jalandhar bishop Franco Mulakkal, who is accused of raping a nun 13 times over three years in a convent, citing lack of evidence in a case that shone a spotlight on violence against women in religious institutions. Stating […]
Every year on the New Year’s Day, the Church celebrates the World Day of Peace. Each year the Holy Father sends a message for the celebration of this day. This year, on the 55th World Day of Peace, Pope Francis had this message for us: […]
Amid structural, financial and liturgical reform at the Vatican, Pope Francis preached his yearly address to the Roman Curia, urging humility among the top cardinals as they work to reconcile tradition with the demands of the present. Pope Francis urged Vatican cardinals, bishops and bureaucrats […]
Recent killing of Priyantha Kumara, the Sri Lankan general manager of a garment factory in Sialkot city of Pakistan has again brought focus on infamous blasphemy laws of Pakistan. The charred body of a factory manager who was lynched by a mob in Pakistan for […]
A panel of women who have attained leadership positions in the Catholic Church met on Thursday (Dec. 16) to discuss Pope Francis’ ambitious plan to reform the power structures in the church, raising questions about female ordination, the role of bishops and the need for […]
When Pune’s D.S. Pai visited Goa four years ago for an official conference, he took out time early one morning to visit his Kuldev, family deity, Ramnathi temple at Bandivade. “My colleagues were interested and came along with me. They said they did not even […]
Many major religions have clear teachings about good and evil in the world. For example, the Abrahamic traditions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – use concepts such as God and the devil or heaven and hell to illustrate this dichotomy. It may be somewhat unsurprising, […]
While dedicating the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor Project on Dec 13th, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described that the Project was a symbol of India's spiritual soul. "Today, a new chapter is being written in the history of Kashi Vishwanath. Kashi Vishwanath Dham premises is not just […]
Hindu Women Globally Lead By Building Communities, Taking On Positions In Organizations And Passing On Knowledge When Sushma Dwivedi started seriously thinking about performing wedding rites and other Hindu religious blessings in New York City and elsewhere, she knew who she needed to talk to […]
PBS stations across the United States are set to air a documentary about the founder of the Sikh faith this weekend. “Guru Nanak: Life & Legacy” will be shown on December 9th and 10th on 100 different PBS stations in over 40 states. “Although Guru […]
Christmas is just 10 days away, and most Americans will celebrate the birth of Jesus. But a new poll from Pew shows the share of U.S. adults who consider themselves Christian is falling. Only 63% of Americans self-identify as Christian this year, a marked drop […]
After using most of an hour-long congressional briefing Wednesday to expose widespread and growing physical violence and persecution of Christians in India, including desecration of churches and beatings of clergy, presenters called on President Joseph Biden, the U.S. Congress and other nations enact sanctions on […]
Indian Jesuits plan to appeal to a court to clear the stigma attached to their activist colleague Father Stan Swamy, who died under detention after being arrested under a draconian anti-terror law. “We are soon filing a petition in the Mumbai High Court seeking a […]
The illicit trade in idols and other historical treasures looted from temples, archaeological digs and various sites globally has been estimated at $100 billion a year. A more telling figure might be the nearly 18,000 villagers in India’s Tamil Nadu state who turned out to […]
Pope Francis on Sunday praised young people for their efforts to protect the Earth’s environment and told them to “be the critical conscience of society.” Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, filled with hundreds of young faithful, to mark a church day focused on […]
The U.S. bishops have assigned a feast date to St. Teresa of Kolkata. The date would be Sept. 5, the death date in 1997 for the founder of the Missionaries of Charity. It will be an optional memorial on the U.S. calendar. The vote was […]
An Anglican priest, who was brought up in a leprosy hospital in Bengaluru where his mother was a nurse at the hospital, will be the next Bishop of Loughborough in the UK. Reverend Malayil Lukose Varghese Muthalaly, 42, who will be consecrated a Bishop in […]
Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh–Culture, religion, and the way of life which is based on Buddhism are at the stake in Tibet under the Chinese regime, said Deputy Speaker of Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile Dolma Tsering. Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama says China’s leaders “don’t understand the […]
Millions of people across Asia are celebrating the Hindu festival of Diwali, which symbolizes new beginnings and the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness. The festival is celebrated mainly in India, but Hindus across the world, particularly in other parts of Asia, […]
I’m a quantitative scholar of American religion and politics, so I am used to everyone from religion scholars unused to working with data to anxious parents asking me random questions. “Are Latter-day Saints attending church with less frequency in the last few years?” “How similar […]
United States' lawmakers and top officials of the White House celebrated Diwali with Indian diaspora on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, October 27th, 2021, honoring some of the top Indian Americans in the US President Joe Biden's administration. The top Indian Americans who were honored included Vice Admiral […]
The second set of panels of the “Hindu Dharma, Hindutva and Hindudvesha” conference series were held last month, in coordination with and in celebration of Hindu Heritage Month. Four sessions held over the weekend focussed on issues like Colonialism and Hinduism and challenges faced by Hindus […]
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Pope Francis at the Vatican Saturday in his first meeting with the head of the sovereign of the Vatican City State on Saturday, October 30, 2021. The meeting between the Hindu nationalist party leader and Pope Francis, the head of the Roman […]
A daughter of Indonesia’s first president, Soekarno, has converted from Islam to Hinduism during a ceremony in the predominantly Hindu province of Bali. Diah Mutiara Sukmawati Soekarnoputri, Soekarno’s third daughter, officially became a Hindu on Oct. 26 during the ceremony called a Sudhi Wadani at […]
With the financial assistance of the US-based United Sikh Mission, a 525 KW capacity solar power plant was commissioned in the holiest of Sikh shrines, Harmandir Sahib, popularly known as Golden Temple, in Amritsar on Tuesday. “Our mission is to ensure clean power supply round […]
On Friday (Oct. 29), Pope Francis is set to hold a highly anticipated private audience with President Joe Biden at the Vatican. It will be the first in-person meeting between the pontiff and the Catholic head of state since Biden’s election. Biden is the 14th […]
(RNS) — In a message read by his secretary of state to a women’s advocacy group meeting ahead of the G-20 summit, Pope Francis called for greater female leadership in world affairs on Monday (Oct. 18), telling the Women’s Forum G-20 that “our world needs […]
(RNS) — A Vatican census released ahead of World Mission Day reveals growing numbers of Catholics in what Pope Francis often refers to as “the global peripheries,” even as the number of believers continues to diminish in Europe. The number of Catholics in the world […]
Newswise — According to a new study by professors and an alumna from Creighton University, the vast majority of U.S. Catholic bishops were silent about climate change around Pope Francis’s 2015 ecological encyclical Laudato Si’. The study also found bishops were denialist and biased about […]
Pakistan’s decision to reject a bill that would have banned forced conversions to Islam is the latest blow to the Islamic Republic’s religious minority population. This exasperates the need to ensure the country becomes secular and HinduPACT is calling on the international community to unify […]
Kathy Hochul, Governor of New York, joined by Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, kick started Diwali celebrations in the state of New York while joining the South Asian community at the World’s Fair Marina Restaurant in Corona, Queens on October 11, 2021. Governor Hochul delivered remarks and […]
Pope Francis granted a private audience in the Vatican to U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Saturday, October 9th during her recent visit to Italy. It has been reported that President Biden will meet with Francis on October 29th. While serving as the […]
Illinois Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has submitted a statement in the House of Representatives Sept. 30, 2021, on recognizing October as Hindu Heritage Month. The statement is now part of the U.S. Congressional Record, the official daily record of proceedings in Congress. (His statement can […]
(RNS) — The 2021 Religions for Peace conference, which closed on Thursday (Oct. 7), will be remembered as the first hybrid meeting, with most observers looking in via internet as 130 participated in person. It was also the most youth-oriented gathering in the 51-year-old interfaith […]
(RNS) — During a time of global despair brought on by pandemic, one grinning man charmed millions with his exuberant performance of a Punjabi folk dance set against majestic Yukon backdrops. Gurdeep Pandher, a Sikh-Punjabi Canadian, first went viral in 2016 when he shared a […]
A copy of the Quran once owned by former U.S. President Thomas Jefferson will be displayed in the Unites States’ pavilion at the Dubai Expo 2020, the world’s fair currently underway in the United Arab Emirates after being delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. The historic […]
A new survey finds that Pope Francis retains high levels of support among U.S. Catholics across the board, and most church members either aren’t aware of or have no opinion about recent controversial changes the pope has made to rules about the Latin Mass. But […]
A recently divorced doctor looking for seclusion relocates to an isolated house on a riverbank. The following summer, dead bodies start turning up in the river, on the roads, in trains and on city crossings. Everybody calls it the ‘Punjab Problem’, as if it was […]
Pope Francis condemned greed and the ruthless pursuit of profit in a message sent to a Vatican conference on poverty Sunday (Oct. 3), offering his spiritual take on economic issues to a group of economists and faith leaders that included prominent U.S. activist the Rev. […]
Deepti Navaratna, a former Boston resident and now the current Regional Director of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, has been invited to perform at the prestigious Parliament of the World’s Religions scheduled to be held on Oct 18. She is a trained Carnatic […]
Pope Francis has acknowledged his increasingly vocal conservative critics, saying their “nasty comments” were the work of the devil and adding that “some wanted me dead” after his recent intestinal surgery. Francis made the comments during a Sept. 12 private meeting with Slovakian Jesuits soon […]
When Ali (name changed) proposed to his best friend, little did he know that her parents would take six years to agree to their alliance because he was born into a Muslim family, and they were Hindus. “Everything they had heard all their life pointed […]
Chicagoland couldn’t have asked for a better post-pandemic celebration after almost two years of pause to any public gathering than the beautiful religious and musical extravaganza organized by Shri Jalaram Mandir with Kirtidan Gadhvi and group. The grand program of "Ras-Garba Ramzat'' was organized by […]
The Federation of Indian American Christian Organizations (FIACONA) has expressed gratitude to Vice President Harris for telling Prime Minister Modi, “I know from personal experience and from my family, of the commitment of the Indian people to democracy and to freedom, and to the work […]
Some Hindu dharma-based organizations from around the world, announced the addition of another major festival, an entire month of festivals, in October as the Hindu Heritage Month. Hindus represent one of the newest and the fastest growing immigrant communities in the United States and Canada. […]
Dismantling Global Hindutva, a series of virtual conferences, seeks to analyze and educate the public as to how Hindutva is destroying India, undermining India’s secular and democratic traditions and threatening to stifle academic freedom in India. Dismantling Global Hindutva, a series of virtual conferences, supported […]
“Through the powerful, totally unexpected experience of Oneness with the divine that I had on the banks of the Ganga river, I realized that I am part of the sacred perfection of the universe, that I am One with all,” says Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati. During […]
Pope Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, call on the world population – “whatever their beliefs or worldview” – to “listen to the cry of the Earth and of people who are poor.” Global Christian leaders have joined forces to […]
The Ganesh festival this year was like no other. A complete mind boggling 1:1600 3D printed scale model of Chicago downtown created over 9 months, a work of art with amazing attention to detail and superb execution, done by our Ravindra Joshi was unveiled. If […]
An Indian American advocacy group is keen on spreading awareness on the raising ‘Hinduphobia’, that has been scaring the community across the world. One of the main perpetrators of this new fear is the popularity of Narendra Modi-led BJP party, which has been force-feeding the […]
An international conference entitled “Dismantling Global Hindutva: Multidisciplinary Perspective,” which is co-sponsored by over 70 centers and departments at more than 50 universities, forced Hindus groups to urge it supporters to sign a letter to request sponsoring universities to disavow the “Anti-Hindu Conference” scheduled for […]
“Whenever a pope is ill, there is always a breeze or a hurricane of conclave,” the 84-year-old Francis quipped during the interview with Carlos Herrera of the Spanish radio COPE that aired Wednesday (Sept. 1). Later in the interview, the pope acknowledged that “the danger […]
Millions of people around the globe celebrated the birth anniversary of Mother Teresa. Sister Mary Prema, Superior General of Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Saint Teresa, lit candles as members of the Congregation prayed by her tomb in Kolkata, India, Thursday, Aug. 26, […]
Jainism is one of the world’s oldest religions, originating in India at least 2,500 years ago. The spiritual goal of Jainism is to become liberated from the endless cycle of rebirth and to achieve an all-knowing state called moksha. This can be attained by living a nonviolent […]
Pope Francis issued a message on Wednesday (Aug. 18) encouraging Catholics to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, calling it “an act of love,” as part of a global effort to reduce the onslaught of the pandemic and convince vaccine skeptics. “Thanks to God and to the […]
Dwarkamai Inc is a recognized non-profit, tax-exempt organization under IRS code section 501(c)(3) of USA. Dwarkamai is dedicated to organizing events and conducting activities directed towards personal spiritual development of the community by following the teachings of Shri Sainath, a saint from Shirdi. The Guiding […]
On a warm sunny afternoon of 23rd July, about 60 young cadets of the Houston Police Department (HPD) were introduced to the core principles of Hinduism through a series of presentations and lectures at Vallabh Priti Seva Samaj.(VPSS) As the Greater Houston area is one […]
Catholic bishops meeting in regional cohorts have until the end of next month to submit their thoughts on what should be included in a forthcoming document on the Eucharist, which some Catholics fear may further divide the church over political support for abortion rights, the […]
When I was a boy in the United States, pillows, mattresses, upholstered furniture and other stuffed items (but not teddy bears) came with a tag on them that said, “Do not remove this tag under penalty of law.” The closest I ever came to a […]
President Joe Biden has nominated an Indian-American, Rashad Hussain, as the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, and if approved by the Senate he will be the first Muslim to head US diplomacy for advancing religious liberties. Making the announcement on Friday, the White House said […]
A Roman Catholic cardinal who was once a close ally of Pope Francis has gone on trial in the Vatican, accused of misusing Church funds in a ruinous London property venture.Cardinal Angelo Becciu, 73, is the most senior cleric in modern times to face trial […]
Ramappa temple, a 13th century Hindu temple named after its architect, Ramappa, was proposed by the government as its only nomination for the UNESCO World Heritage site tag for the year 2019. Even so, the temple has been in UNESCO’s tentative list since 2014. Rudreswara […]
Before the year 2021 had reached its halfway mark, some of the most powerful forces in modern India prepared to counter the Christian - and Muslim - presence in India, with discussions and statements on how to rid the country of “padri” [Hindi of the […]
Much like last year, this time around too administration has taken caution to ensure safety measures are in place. It is a 15-day long affair that is attended by millions of devotees who throng the temple town of Puri, Odisha to seek the blessings of […]
Speakers at the International Religious Freedom summit here this week detailed how the Indian government is intentionally stoking Hindu nationalism, which has caused widespread persecution of religious minorities, enactment or reactivation of laws designed to curtail or deny citizenship, control or prohibit interfaith marriages, silence […]
Some say Christianity in India dates back to the earliest followers of Jesus in the first century C.E. Today, there are millions of Christians in the country, although they make up just 2.4% of India’s massive population. South India is home to about half of […]
This year, 2021, hasn’t been any difference to Indian Christians in practicing their faith in their own country except that Indian Christians across globe came together to establish an exclusive day for themselves on July 3rd and launched a decade of celebrations (2021-2030) to honour 2000th anniversary […]
"Living Stan was a nobleman, but the departed Stan is unstoppable and his voice on behalf of the poor and the downtrodden is even stronger and will resonate it throughout history," said Father Noby Ayyaneth of the Malankara Catholic Diocese of North America condoling the […]
The body of 84-year-old Indian Jesuit priest Stan Swamy, who died under detention, was cremated on July 6 after a court asked Jesuit officials to follow prison rules. Father Stan Swamy was championing the rights of indigenous and marginalized people in eastern India’s Jharkhand state, […]
I don’t know if Fr. Stan Swamy’s soul will rest in peace. Given his sincerity to the cause of Dalit and adivasi rights, it is unlikely that it would, so long as the present situation continue. One thing, however, is certain. The present dispensation can […]
Indians say it is important to respect all religions, but major religious groups see little in common and want to live separately. More than 70 years after India became free from colonial rule, Indians generally feel their country has lived up to one of its […]
Kathy Ireland, Chair, CEO and Chief Designer of kathyireland Worldwide (kiWW), will receive the inaugural Business IRF Champion Award at the IRF Summit in Washington DC on July 15 for going above and beyond the call of duty in advancing religious freedom for everyone, everywhere, […]
Indians see religious tolerance as the central plank of their national identity but stick to their own religious group when it comes to making friends or getting married, says a new Pew survey. The survey report released on July 28 was based on nearly 30,000 […]
India’s massive population is diverse as well as devout. Not only do most of the world’s Hindus, Jains and Sikhs live in India, but it also is home to one of the world’s largest Muslim populations and to millions of Christians and Buddhists. A new […]
A Catholic nun who has exhausted all avenues of appeal against her dismissal from her congregation stemming from her activism in a rape case involving a Catholic bishop says she will not leave her convent until an Indian court decides on her petition.The Vatican’s supreme […]
In late-February 1912, a play called Buddha was staged at the Royal Court Theatre in London. This was produced by William Poel, the noted theatre figure best known for his presentations of Shakespeare. The play was adapted for stage by S.C. Bose. It has been […]
Pope Francis has changed church law to explicitly criminalize the sexual abuse of adults by priests who abuse their authority and to say that laypeople who hold church office can be sanctioned for similar sex crimes. The new provisions, released last week after 14 years […]
A lawsuit filed in federal court alleges that more than 200 workers — many or all of whom don’t speak English — were coerced into signing employment agreements in India to build expansion of the largest Hindu Temple by BAPS in the US on the […]
Federation of Indian Christian Association of North America (FIACONA), an advocacy organization working to defend the religious freedom of Christians and other minorities in India accused the Government of India of hampering the efforts of non-governmental agencies (NGOs). The government of India implemented a set of […]
International Religious Freedom senior official Dan Nadel, speaking at a news conference to announce the annual International Religious Freedom Report at the State Department in Washington, DC, on May 12, 2021, said: "When laws are passed, when initiatives are undertaken that are done without effective […]
His Holiness the Dalai Lama last week conducted an in-depth online dialogue with Russian neuroscientists to discuss their ongoing research into the Buddhist phenomenon and practice of thukdam meditation (Tib: ཐུགས་དམ་). The term thukdam, derived from the Tibetan words thuk, meaning mind, and dam, meaning samadhi, describes an advanced type […]
Pope Francis has issued a decree aimed at financial transparency in the church, requiring a strict limit on the value of gifts that cardinals and managers can receive and requiring them to disclose their investments to ensure they are in line with Catholic doctrine. The […]
When U.S. Catholic bishops hold their next national meeting in June, they’ll be deciding whether to send a tougher-than-ever message to President Joe Biden and other Catholic politicians: Don’t receive Communion if you persist in public advocacy of abortion rights, Associated Press Reported last week. […]
The students of Saudi Arabia will now learn the details of Hindu epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata under the new curriculum. As part of Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s new vision for the education sector in Saudi Arabia, Vision 2030, the history and culture of other […]
At one of the largest gatherings of people in the world continues in the northern Indian city, Haridwar, almost 3 million Hindu pilgrims bathed in the Ganges River as part of this year's Kumbh Mela festival, raising concerns that the festival could become a super […]
The Indian American community is deeply saddened to share that at least four Sikhs are among those killed late Thursday night when a gunman stormed a FedEx facility in Indianapolis known to have a large Sikh workforce. The deadly mass shooting last week at a […]
Pope Francis in a message for Easter said he hoped the pandemic would to come to an end and that the world could "begin anew." Francis said that this year's Easter season came with the hope of renewal. Pope Francis on Saturday issued a message ahead […]
While the quest to explain how Christ can be both fully human and fully divine enjoys a long, fascinating history, Jc Beall, the O’Neill Family Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, believes that the quest should end. Newswise — While the quest to […]
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that he would look into the case of an 83-year-old Catholic priest, Stan Swamy, held in custody in India on allegations he was linked to Maoists. Responding to a request from a member of the House of […]
The Roman Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex marriages, no matter how stable or positive the couples' relationships are, the Vatican said this week. The message, approved by Pope Francis, came in response to questions about whether the church should reflect the increasing social and legal […]
During Pope Francis's four-day tour of Iraq across six cities is Francis' first trip outside Italy since the coronavirus pandemic began, the Pontiff touched down in Baghdad on Friday, March 5th where he was met by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. In a speech after being […]
India’s Supreme Court has ended the long-running litigation of a congregation of nuns against the Kerala government by ruling that Catholic nuns should not pay tax for their residential buildings. The March 1 ruling that favored the Sisters of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (SABS) […]
On the auspicious hour of 10 AM in the spring morning of 20 Falgun of the Bengali year 1427, Friday March 5, 2021, a celebration began among the evergreen beauty of rural interior of Barisal district, Bangladesh. The event of re-dedication puja service of Sri […]
The second Roman Catholic president in American history is a devout man who makes no secret of the importance of faith in his life. President Joe Biden is a regular churchgoer, often quotes St. Augustine and carries a rosary that belonged to his late son […]
The solo Indian flag that made an appearance among the vast swathe of Trump supporters storming the Capitol building in Washington D.C. recently, caught the attention of many. It was even more of a surprise when it was revealed that a Malayali Christian named Vinson Palathingal was […]
"It is against Indian culture" that is what the Supreme Court says now, when activists are debating that it is the right time to push for legalizing homosexuality. Two years back, the government ruled out that same-sex marriages cannot be legalized. But Indian government affirms […]
In this time of COVID-19 and civil unrest in America, happiness often seems increasingly elusive. Yet that may not have to be so, and, in fact, such turmoil can offer opportunities for both personal and professional fulfillment. That was the theme of an online conversation Saturday night […]
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi met the three Cardinals – Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Cardinal George Alencherry and Cardinal Baselios Cleemis last week in New Delhi. When the Cardinals emerged from the meeting, they all commented that it was a very cordial and a fruitful […]
Jesuit Fr. Leo O'Donovan, former president of Georgetown University, will deliver the invocation at Joe Biden's presidential inauguration on Jan. 20. O'Donovan confirmed to NCR that Biden had personally called him and invited him to offer the prayer at the inauguration, which will mark the […]
US bishops who pandered to Trump have failed to guide Catholics to be a discerning, peaceful, loving community. The legendary Faust’s desire for power led him into a pact with Mephistopheles, the agent of Satan. The deal was straightforward. In exchange for the fulfillment of […]
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