Aid, Strife and Tension in India

Miles Jesu’s “Udaya Nakshatra” (Morning Star) Formation Center and Home for Boys in India recently received twelve new boys, increasing the number of orphans there to 36. One of the newest boys admitted to the home is twelve years old and is from a family abandoned by its father six months ago. The boy’s mother was in shock when her husband left her and wanted to kill herself and both the children because she had no income to support them.

A stained glass window of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in traditional Indian dress, is at the center of the chapel in “Udaya Nakshatra.” Miles Jesu members provide the boys with a real home and a chance for a better life. Their daily schedule includes prayer, school, tutoring, wholesome regular meals, cleaning responsibilities for their living quarters, and sports.

“A parish priest assured the mother that he would find a place for her son to stay,” said Ronald Saldhana, MJ, who supervises Udaya Nakshatra. “Even though we had stopped accepting anyone new for this year, after hearing about his mother’s difficult situation, we could not refuse.”

Christians in India continue to struggle under religious persecution from both Hindus and Muslims. This past September, on the occasion of the meeting of the Italian Episcopal conference, the president of the conference, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, spoke out against the “wave of Christian-phobia” in India, referring to an outbreak of violence against Christians in the country in which 37 Christians have been killed, 4,000 houses burned, and 50,000 faithful have fled to camps or sought refuge in forests.

The cardinal appealed to politicians, intellectuals and public opinion to again pay “attention to the topic of religious liberty, which is the cornerstone of civilization and of the rights of man, and the guarantee of genuine pluralism and true democracy” (Zenit news agency)Udaya Nakshatra continues to be an effective outreach to both underprivileged boys and to many poor and needy people in the village of Sirsi, bearing witness to Christ who stands for the respect and dignity of each and every person. Most of the violence has taken place in the north of India, far from Miles Jesu’s communities, although the tensions are also felt in the state of Karnataka where Sirsi is located. Fr. Cahill, MJ, continues to assist at the center in Sirsi, as well as expanding Miles Jesu’s presence in Bangalore.

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