India, Catholicism, and Miracles

As if Mother Teresa wasn't enough...coolness abounding, apparently.  Excerpts:

...According to the prelate, the numerous unexplained healings which preceded and resulted from prayer, are the main reason for this extraordinary increase in Catholics - 40% over 35 years - in this remote corner of India. The bishop is informed of things like this on a regular basis; and the stories “baffle me. I have a theological mindset and it is easy to become sceptical about this kind of thing. But the interested parties are absolutely convinced that what happened to them was real.”

Caste System vs. Catholicism

Interesting controversies.  Excerpts:

...“We are in the crosshairs of violent individuals because we help the destitute.” Hindu extremists consider the Church an enemy because of its commitment to human development and against the caste culture that marginalizes the “untouchables”. In a public speech in Bangalore, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai and President of the Indian Conference of Bishops, complained that the Catholic Church is under attack because of its social work in favour of lower castes. According to Cardinal Gracias, “although the Catholic Church represents just 3% of the total population, it continues to make a significant contribution to nation-building: with our schools and our educational institutions, we are committed to bringing ethics into public life and the economy.”

Indian Christians Facing Hindu Persecution

I've been told it's only in one province--don't get the wrong idea. But remember your brethren across the world.  Excerpts:

Nineteen Catholic and Protestant bishops have staged a sit-in protest against a report that clears Hindu fundamentalists of a series of attacks on Christian targets in southern Karnataka state in September 2008.

The clerics, including 13 Catholic bishops, were joined by nearly 500 Church leaders in the southern city of Bangalore, where they again criticised the findings of a commission chaired by Judge B. K. Somashekhara for not identifying the attackers in 57 incidents involving Christian churches and other sites.

The demonstrators gathered in central Bangalore, with the bishops sitting on chairs in their clerical garb under a midday sun...