Free Republic

The Ivermectin EffectThe New York Times reported India’s colossal drop in COVID cases was unexplainable, while the BBC declared that Kerala’s rise was also a mystery. While new cases of COVID in Uttar Pradesh are rare as million-dollar lottery tickets, in Kerala, a tiny state located in southern India, new daily cases are the same as the United States, nearly one case per thousand. Yet, as we have seen in this series, there has been a curious media blackout on India’s overall success against COVID.https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-58054124https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/30/briefing/coronavirus-delta-mysteries.html"Kerala has been reporting over 22,000 new COVID infections in the last three days. No other...

Francis Triggers Syro-Malabar Rite RevoltProgressive clergy reject pope's compromise formula for ancient liturgyKERALA, India (ChurchMilitant.com) - India's Syro-Malabar rite priests are rebelling against Pope Francis' recent letter that imposes liturgical uniformity by approving a compromise between facing the altar and facing the congregation while offering the Holy Qurbana (Eucharist). Pope Francis meets scandal-plagued Cdl. Alencherry All 456 priests of the Syro-Malabar archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly wrote to Francis Tuesday insisting they would celebrate Mass ad populum (facing the people), breaking with the ancient Chaldean tradition of offering the Holy Qurbana ad orientem (facing East).The revolt has intensified the ongoing liturgical crisis...

A young girl leaves home to marry her lover defying her parents. She’s happy barely for a few minutes before her now-husband reappears in a skullcap and a crisp white kurta-pajama. He takes off her bindi and covers her head with a dupatta. He then teaches what looks like the Quran to a group of people, before he sells off his wife to some people who appear to be terrorists. This isn’t a lazy caricature from an archaic and offensive movie plot, but a video going viral in several Christian WhatsApp groups in Kerala. The video, shared on Facebook by...

Sister Lucy of Mananthavady Diocese in Wayanad was given two letters prior to this, warning her for her "lifestyle" and for challenging the wrongdoings of the Church. She wrote and published her poems, learnt how to drive, bought a car and even supported the protests against rape accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal. These are Sister Lucy Kalappura’s crimes according to the Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC), for which she has been dismissed from the congregation on Monday. Superior General of FCC, Ann Joseph, issued the letter, dated August 5, to Sister Lucy, stating that she "did not show the needed remorse and...

<p>Another caretaker then runs to Panikkar's rescue, also whipping the animal to attempt to make it stand up, which takes some time. When the animal stands up, it appears to have Pannikar's blood on his back.</p> <p>The other caretaker is then seen attempting to pull Panikkar's body out from under the elephant, but unfortunately, it was too late.</p>

Full title: Kerala rape case: Sister Lucy, who protested against accused bishop, says sexual abuse is rampant in Church Religious women, priests and laymen who supported a nun after she filed a police complaint of rape against Jalandhar ex-bishop Franco Mulakkal, are being systematically targeted by the Catholic Church in Kerala. Nuns, who form the most vulnerable community in the Church, are facing most of this oppression. While five nuns who took to streets demanding the arrest of the bishop are being put under pressure and threatened, another nun who was an important witness in the case was harassed and tortured...

KOCHI: The swirling multicolour LED lights that give dance floors their zing have found a totally different use in Kerala’s Wayanad district. The forest department has deployed .. Read more at: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/67016900.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst ..

In a first, a transgender couple from Kerala got married under special marriage act on Thursday with the blessings of families from both the sides attending the grand function at Mannam Hall in Thiruvananthapuram. According to reports, 32-year-old Ishan, who was once living as a man trapped and underwent gender reassignment surgery two years ago and announced wedding to well-known trans activist and television anchor Surya in April. Ever since the couple announced their wedding, the transgender community in Kerala has been in celebratory mode. The marriage of Ishan and Surya comes as a victory in the face of the...

The cardinal's comments came even as the Supreme Court had recently observed that the charges against the cardinal were of a very serious nature. [Photo] Cardinal George Alencherry KOCHI: Cardinal George Alencherry, who is at the centre of the controversial land deals of the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, has said the legal system of the country should not interfere in the Canon laws. Speaking after the Good Friday Mass at the Kokkamangalam St. Thomas Church in Alappuzha, Cardinal Alenchery, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, said it was the "duty of the citizen to obey the rule of law existing in the country,...

Ancient Irish musical history found in modern India Press Trust of India | Melbourne May 15, 2016 Last Updated at 11:57 IST Ancient Irish musical traditions, thought to be long dead, are alive and well in south India, according to a new study of musical horns from iron-age Ireland. The realisation that modern Indian horns are almost identical to many iron-age European artifacts shows a rich cultural link between the two regions 2,000 years ago, said PhD student Billy O Foghlu, from The Australian National University (ANU). "I was astonished to find what I thought to be dead soundscapes alive...

An archaeologist studying musical horns from iron-age Ireland has found musical traditions, thought to be long dead, are alive and well in south India. The realisation that modern Indian horns are almost identical to many iron-age European artefacts reveals a rich cultural link between the two regions 2,000 years ago, said PhD student Billy O Foghlu, from The Australian National University (ANU). "Archaeology is usually silent. I was astonished to find what I thought to be dead soundscapes alive and living in Kerala today," said the ANU College of Asia-Pacific student... The findings help show that Europe and India had...

Modern Syrian Christians of Kerala (the majority Christian population here) believe that the Apostle Thomas—the one who so famously questioned Jesus—visited here in a.d. 52 and baptized their forefathers. Historians surmise that the diverse, rich trading center of Kerala may well have drawn this Palestinian Jew of the Roman Empire who wished to preach the Gospel. Thousands of churches today bear his name, their rituals and theology derived from Eastern Orthodox traditions in the liturgical language Syriac, a formation of Aramaic, the dialect Jesus—and Thomas—spoke. For decades now, the liturgical language of Kerala Christians has been Malayalam, the language of...

Activists of Islamist students’ organization Campus Front of India brutally murdered an ABVP leader at Christian College at Chengannur in Kerala’s Alappuzha district. Two other ABVP workers were injured in the Islamists’ attack. ABVP leader Vishal (19), who was hacked by a bike-mounted gang of Islamists in front of Christian College on Monday morning, succumbed to the injuries at about 3.00 am Tuesday ... Campus Front is the students’ wing of Islamist organization Popular Front of India (PFI, formerly NDF), whose activists had in a Taliban-model attack on July 4, 2010 chopped off the right hand of TJ Joseph, a...

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kozhikode in Kerala will soon have India's largest mosque where 25,000-30,000 devotees can pray at a time. Estimated to be built at Rs 40 crores, the structure measuring 2.5 lakh square feet will push Delhi's Jama Masjid to a distant second when it takes shape. "The mosque is planned on a 12 acre plot. Eight acres will be set apart for landscaping and host a Mughal-style garden. The main structure will be confined to 4 acres," Shaar-i-Mubarak Grand Masjid architect Riyaz Mohammed told TOI. The mosque is part of Muslim organisation Markazu-Ssaquafathi-Ssunniyyah's knowledge city complex at Karanthur near Kozhikode....

Church leaders in Kerala have expressed shock and outrage over the killing yesterday of tribal rights campaigner Sister Valsa John. The 53-year-old nun from the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary was hacked to death at her home in the remote Pakur district of the east Indian state of Jharkhand. According to reports a mob of around 50 people gathered outside her home in the early hours of yesterday morning (local time) shortly before her death. Earlier reports had said the nun had been shot dead. Major Archbishop and head of the Syro-Malabar Church, George Alencherry, and Curia Bishop...

We saw it coming when rumors of the cobra curse started spreading. Officials at Kerala’s Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple – where a treasure estimated to be worth $22 billion was found last month – had warned against opening the last of its sealed vaults, citing the image of a cobra that ominously guarded its entrance. The vault – Chamber “B” – is still sealed. But now a group of astrologers say they are sure tragedy will befall those who upset the temple’s deity further. The god, they say, is already angry about outsiders rummaging through the other five vaults, the contents...

KARALMANNA (Palakkad): Peter Jackson's King Kong is set on a mysterious, uncharted island. He might as well have shot it in Kerala. Or so it would seem, if — and that's literally a big if — claims by a team of amateur anthropologists are proved true. The team claims to have discovered footprints of a "giant-man" who had a shoe size of 29 inches, lived in a shelter 50 metres high and weighed well over 400 kg. Going by the footprint size, the creature may have been as tall as 17 feet, which would make it easily the "largest human...

Millions of Women Throng Kerala Festival Attendance at the festival has grown year after year By John Mary Trivandrum, Kerala India's southern state of Kerala may have hosted the largest gathering of women ever seen on the planet. Clad in traditional Kerala saris and bearing offerings of food, more than two million women - perhaps more - thronged the state capital Trivandrum on Sunday. The women braved searing heat to offer a special meal at the Attukal temple to Hindu goddess Bhagavathy - one incarnation of the potent goddesses Kali and Saraswati. Women howled shrilly, as is the custom at...

» 09/22/2009 17:44INDIACatholic priest donates kidney to save Hindu manby Nirmala CarvalhoIn Kerala, Father Chiramel offers one of his kidneys to an unknown recipient. The priest said he was inspired by the ‘Year for Priest’. “For me donating an organ is a unique and privileged opportunity to share in Christ’s suffering.” New Delhi (AsiaNews) – Fr Davis Chiramel, a 49-year-old Catholic priest from Kerala, donated one of his kidneys to a complete stranger. The clergyman is parish priest at St Francis Xavier Church in Vadanapally (Kerala). Earlier this year he decided to help a Hindu father of two, a...

authorities called back an aircraft from the runway on Sunday to arrest a suspected jihadi who had a lookout notice issued against him by the Intelligence Bureau. The Kerala Police is still in the dark about Kabir, a resident of Rippon in Wayanad district, but unconfirmed reports say the IB suspects him of being involved in terror attacks, including the Bangalore blasts in 2008. He is also believed to be close to absconding Indian Mujahideen commander Tadiyantavide Nasir, who is also wanted for the Bangalore serial blasts. Kabir was held at the end of some dramatic moments, which saw a...