It is finally out – The Catholic Directory of India 2013 (CDI 13). I have always been an ardent collector of the CDIs, because I believe that they contain a wealth of information on the state (or status) of the church in India. The oldest CDI that I have is of 1912, and the latest…

Does the pope need advice? Should he appoint advisors? Pope Francis has already answered those questions by appointing a group of eight cardinals as advisors – the PG8. It includes one from India – Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, who is also the President of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of India (CBCI) and that of the…

When I awoke on the 14th morning my wife told me that a new pope had been elected.  My initial reaction was of dismay, because she didn’t say who it was.  I was apprehensive of a hasty decision, as happened in the previous conclave; and said so in my last article “Past, Present, Future –…

This is not about grammar, which is not my forte.  Nor is it about glamour. (Hard to believe that he who recently demitted office reverted to wearing red shoes – yuk).  This is a hard-boiled reflection on the papacy – its past, present and future.  As the 115 remaining cardinals in the consistory prepare to…

(A sequel to “Sparring over the Rod”) Two young men in the prime of their lives hung from trees, not far from each other. Their deaths were inter-related, but in total contrast to each other. One of these young men was a 33 year old from Nazareth, called Jesus. The other was Judas Iscariot. Christians…

To a large extent I would agree with Farrukh Dhondhy’s piece, “Leaving Office Early” (HT 15th February), on the unexpected resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. Some of his statements bear repetition: “Nothing becomes Benedict’s office as his leaving of it … he has through his resignation demonstrated for our sceptical times that the papacy is…