Midnight tolling of bells, decked up Christmas trees, long row of candles and carols sung in unison marked Christmas celebration across the country, as the faithful thronged churches to offer prayers and exchange gifts.
The Bishop will have to surrender his passport and his entry to Kerala will be restricted.
'What happened last Sunday is a great tragedy, an insult to humanity'
Police had said the nun was subjected to rape and unnatural sex by the accused at the guest house of St Francis Mission Home 13 times between 2014 and 2016.
Prayers were held across the Missionaries of Charity centres and churches all over the state to mark the late Roman Catholic nun's birth anniversary and to also commemorate her journey to sainthood on September 4.
The Mercedes driver discusses the strength of his faith -- along with a wide selection of topics ranging from his hatred of school and his dyslexia to the frozen sperm and $700-a-day modelling career of his pet bulldog Roscoe.
Even though she was one of the planet's best known people, Mother Teresa remained an enigma all her life.
'The problem is not lack of evidence, but the unholy alliance between political parties and church authorities.' 'If you are raising a voice against the priest, you and your family will suffer.'
Pope Francis on Tuesday called for respect of human rights and healing of racial and religious hatred as he arrived on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka, days after a new government assumed power in the country.
'While India's 'secularism' is a matter of cultural values rooted in Hinduism, the Western concept became one of rights rooted in legal rights. India would be secular with or without Article 25 of the Constitution,' says T V R Shenoy.
Rather than talking about Khajuraho and Shikhandi, the argument should be about a Constitution that promised rights to all, says Mihir S Sharma
The Chinese President dethroned Russian President Vladimir Putin as the most influential person on the planet.
The splendid rock figures around Cappadocia and the silent, eternal ruins of Ephesus made a trip to Turkey even more memorable.
The 54-year old Mulakkal was arrested by Kerala police after intense interrogation in Kochi over the last three days.
Here's your weekly digest of the craziest stories from around the world.
Instead of repealing Section 295A of the IPC, which criminalises speech that offends the religious, India intends to further criminalise offence against religion, says Mihir S Sharma
When Pope Francis canonizes the late Mother Teresa at the Vatican on September 4, she will officially be recognised as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. However, for her followers in Kolkata, the title is a mere formality.
Rediff.com takes a look at some personalities who are likely to win the prize this year.
Anti-conversion laws are needed since thrusting the idea of a competitive battlefield of religion onto India's pluralistic traditions can only lead to greater communal conflict, says Sankrant Sanu
'Your constant reiteration on the lack of religious freedom in India has sown doubts about the kind of information that you are being fed and based on which you seem to be making adverse references to India and its tradition of religious tolerance.'
The work of Norman Borlaug, who helped save billions from starvation, is worth recalling, especially as opposition to gene-modified crops mount, says Shreekant Sambrani.
'If one observes a common man passing a church or gurdwara or dargah, he instinctively bows his head. It is this prevalence of polytheism that has ensured that monotheists and minorities flourish in India. This may sound preposterous in wake of the recent communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar. But it must be understood that in a county of over one billion people that was at worst an aberration,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
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