New Delhi: Pope John Paul II will visit India after the general elections. A letter welcoming the Pope any time after the general elections, has been sent from the Prime Minister's office. The information that the Pope will visit India has been given by the Vatican to the CBCI and the nunciature in Delhi. Final arrangements regarding the date of arrival and the places of visit have not been made. It is hoped that the Pope will arrive between November 1st and 15th.
 
 

New Delhi: Archbishop Lawrenzo Baldhiseri, the Vatican Pronuncio to India assumed office on August10th. On the occasion of his installation he stated that his mission would be to devote his efforts to promote the unity and cordial relationship between the Indian nation and the universal Catholic Church. It was on June 13th that Pope John Paul II appointed Archbishop Baldhiseri, who was working in the Diplomatic Enclave of the Vatican from June 1973, as its Apostolic representative for India and Nepal.
 
 

Cherthala: Mgr. Joseph Chenoth hailing from the parish of Kokamangalam of Ernakulam Archdiocese has been appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Central African Republics and Chad by Pope John Paul II. Mgr. Chenoth will be conferred the title of Archbishop at time of assuming office. After the late Archbishop Mar. Abraham Katumana, Mgr. Chenoth is the first Keralite to hold such a high position in the Vatican Foreign Relations Office.
 
 

"Christian life in modern times is different from the ways of the world. It is equivalent to the life of a martyr" - so stated the Pope on August 29th at his weekly audience given at his summer residence outside Rome. The Pope said that the numerous priests and lay people assassinated as a result of the crafty strategies of wicked regimes, are true disciples of Christ.
 
 

From the survey conducted by the Hindustan Times in the 6 cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow, Patna, Hyderabad and Bangalore, it is clear that 74% Hindus protest against the attacks on Christians. Moreover, 66% are of the opinion that the culprits should be severely punished in order to prevent further atrocities.
 
 

The people of God and the institution of the Church must constantly go through the process of purification in order to be spotless witnesses of the gospel of Christ before the world. The Church is ready to acknowledge the misdoings that have been perpetrated during the course of the centuries by the Church and her children. But their confession must be according to unbiased studies based on a true sense of reality of historical facts.While the Church says she is ready to shoulder and nurture new expectations, while the world is preparing for the third millennium, these truths must be borne in mind, said the Pope in his audience on September 1st.

"This acknowledgment should not be the expression of a hypocritical humility. Neither should the good the Church has done for humanity be belittled," added the Pope. The Pope also said that the Church has always shown readiness to serve all sections of humanity with unbounded love. Confession of past shortcomings does not mean the Church has deviated from the path of service she has ever followed.