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Articles by Stanislaus Alla
The Spirit of Assisi: Remember, Celebrate, Promote
Cardinal Roger Etchegaray notes that Pope John Paul II coined this memorable expression: "the Spirit of Assisi." What happened forty years ago at Assisi was unique and extraordinary; nothing like this has ever happened in the history of the world or the Church. At Pope John Paul II's invitation, leaders of various religious and spiritual traditions gathered at Assisi on October 27, 1986.
The Statement of the 31st National Convention of Christian Journalists
We, the members of the Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA), met for the 31st National Convention of Christian Journalists on 19-20 September 2026 at Paalanaa Bhavana, Benson Town, Bengaluru. The theme of our Convention was 'Humanity, Dignity, and Truth: Journalism without Compromise in the Age of AI.' Artificial Intelligence (AI) overwhelms us today! There is no doubt about that.
Journalism Must Remain Human
Every age has its defining inventions. The printing press transformed how ideas circulated, radio expanded the reach of the human voice, television brought distant events into our homes, and the internet connected the world at unprecedented speed. Today, Artificial Intelligence is reshaping how information is produced, distributed, and understood.
No Algorithm for Conscience
We live in an age when the line between what is real and what is manufactured is becoming increasingly difficult to discern. Artificial Intelligence can generate convincing images, imitate human voices, produce seemingly credible accounts of events, and influence how we perceive the world. Intertwined with social media, it has made manufacturing and disseminating information possible at unprecedented speeds.
Where are the Catholics When India is Being 'Re-set' and History is Being Made?
A question echoing across many platforms and conversations is this: Where are the Catholics in India these days as the nation goes through a crucial phase in its chequered history? Historians will judge the importance of what is happening today, but most of us will agree that, even to a small extent, the peaceful demonstrations in Delhi and across India are directly enabling the nation to re-found itself.
United With Those Marching Ahead Dreaming of A Better India
Dear fellow Indians, friends of India, and all well-wishers: Not often does one get to witness history being written. Before our eyes, we see history happen in the very NOW. We read in history books about persons, places, facts, and events. Some of those known to us—fearless girls and risk-taking boys; The students and their mentors march forward to write history, Dreaming of a better today, a brighter tomorrow, full of promises. Some of us who wish to be with them may not be able to join.
St Augustine: More than ex-sinner and bad son
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, Aug 27, 2025: Today, August 28, is the feast of Saint Augustine. Most of us remember him as an ex-sinner, a bad son of a pious mother. St Monica’s prayers and tears, and his own conversion, fused Augustine into a wonderful Christian, theologian and bishop. Scholars recall his books such as Confessions and City of God. Born into an ethnic group called Berbers, native to today’s Algeria in North Africa, he remained an extraordinary luminary, a pillar of the Church.
Pope chooses Cardinal Koovakad to advance Interreligious Dialogue
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, Jan 24, 2025: The Vatican on January 24 announced the appointment of Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad as the prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue. Simultaneously, he will continue to be the coordinator of Apostolic Journeys at the Secretary of State. The 51-year-old cardinal belongs to the Syro-Malabar Church. He was ordained a priest in 2004 for the Changanacherry Archeparchy.
Telugu Church rejoices as three bishops consecrated in three weeks
By Stanislaus Alla Hyderabad, May 2, 2024: Not often a region in India gets three Catholic bishops consecrated in three weeks. The Catholic community in the Telugu speaking states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, in southern India, rejoices in having three shepherds who are expected to bring great energy and vitality into the dioceses. Bishops Prakash Sagili for Khammam, Fransalian Dhaman Kumar Karnam of Nalgonda, and Carmelite Johannes Gorantla of Kurnool were consecrated in April.
Discuss, discern and vote: Bishop Udumala
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, April 21, 2024: The Catholics of Warangal diocese, in the southern state of Telangana, on April 21 received a pastoral letter from Bishop Bala Udumala during the Sunday liturgy.
Abdul Kalam’s Jesuit mentor dies at 100
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, April 10, 2024: Jesuit Father Ladislaus Chinnadurai, who had taught former Indian President Abdul Kalam, died at 5 pm on April 10 at Beschi Illam, Dindigul, in Tamil Nadu. He was 100. According to the Jesuit Madurai province, the funeral services will be held at 3 pm on April 11 at Beschi. Father Chinnadurai, as he was fondly called, was born on June 13, 1923 in Trichy, Tamil Nadu.
Vatican document on ‘Grave Violations of Human Dignity’
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, April 8, 2024: The much-awaited Vatican Declaration on Human Dignity was issued on April 8 by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. While the instructions on sex and gender grabbed the headlines globally, the document has several aspects of human dignity that have focused on critically significant concerns that need greater attention and implementation.
Returning to Galilee - of our lives
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, March 30, 2024: Some places are dearer to us than the others. The places of our birth or upbringing, the school where we studied or the shrine where we found deep peace and joy are endearing. Similarly, we are likely to have persons and things and dates dear to us. For the Christians, Easter is the most important feast, a time when time itself froze, when light shattered darkness, and when life embraced eternity.
Will you allow Jesus to wash your feet?
By Stan Alla New Delhi, March 28, 2024: During the Maundy Thursday evening service in several churches, you will witness the ‘Washing of the Feet.’ It’s wonderful and moving to watch it prayerfully, wherein a priest or a bishop bends down to wash the feet of the faithful. Maybe you were there in the past among those whose feet were washed. Did it ever occur to you that Jesus might express his desire to wash your feet?
Nuncio joins Latin and Syro-Malabar bishops at Chrism Mass
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, March 27, 2024: Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli on March 26 joined prelates from the Latin and Syro-Malabar Churches to celebrate Chrism Mass at New Delhi’s Sacred Heart Cathedral. Archbishop Anil Couto was the main celebrant of the religious service that is held during the Holy Week.
Jesuit water-diviner’s service to Maharashtra villagers recalled
By Stan Alla New Delhi, March 23, 2024: The Lithuanian Embassy in New Delhi on March 22 organized a function to recall the services of a Jesuit priest who worked more than six decades among the poor in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. Jesuit Father Donatas Slapsys, born in Lithuania in 1921, came to India in 1950 and served the people of Ahmednagar in Maharashtra until his death in 2010.
Learning and re-learning on World Day of Social Justice
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, Feb 20, 2024: Cain’s classic and immortalized answer to God, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper’ reveals about himself, about his slayed brother Abel, and more importantly, of God’s care and responsibility for both of them and by extension, of the entire human family. This primordial answer contains the obvious: God created Cain and Abel and they have no option but to be related and responsible.
Pope Francis and Fraternity
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, Feb 5, 2024: Fraternity is very close to the heart of Pope Francis. Historians will employ ‘fraternity’ as an important key to unlock, understand and interpret the ministry of Pope Francis. Personally, he embodies the virtue of fraternity even as he regularly refers to it in his formal and informal writings. During international travels, he challenges the host countries and their leaders to build their stories and histories on the principle of fraternity.
Archbishop Paglia stresses community’s role in palliative care
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, Jan 31,2024: Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of Pontifical Academy for Life, has emphasized the role of families and communities in providing palliative care. The 78-year-old Vatican official said this January 30 while addressing the staff and students of Delhi’s Vidyajyoti College of Theology on Ethics about the End-of-life issues Archbishop Paglia, who is currently visiting India, is scheduled to meet the laity, seminarians, clergy, religious, and bishops.
India as sovereign nation
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, Jan 26, 2024: Among the key words and adjectives found in the Preamble of Indian Constitution, ‘sovereign’ is a word that is little understood and discussed. Qualifiers such as socialist, secular, democratic, and principles like justice, liberty, equality and fraternity come more easily into our conversations. Perhaps many of us have noticed that there is no reference to ‘God’ in the Constitution’s Preamble.
Empty Hell: Pope’s wish and people’s views
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, Jan 20, 2024: Several of us have our own bucket lists: starting with a list of places to visit, persons to meet, delicacies to relish, books to read, things to achieve, goals to realize etc. In the life of the Church, the liturgical calendar reminds of the many saintly women and men, who lived heroic and holy lives, whose lives we remember and celebrate on feast days. There is no exhaustive or complete list of those who are in heaven, though.
Remember poor and most in need: Pope to Thattil
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, Jan 10, 2023: Congratulations to Archbishop Raphael Thattil that began to pour in from 4:30pm on January 10 will go on for weeks and months. Wishes and prayers are certainly in order for the person as well as for the mission that he is entrusted with. As the new head of the Syro-Malabar Church, and simultaneously as the archbishop of a large archdiocese, he will have a lot to be busy with.
Three Wise Man and many Wise Women in and among us
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, Jan 7, 2023: Three wise-men -we have heard of them Surely the Catholics among us, if not all Christians And, as the story goes, they came from the East With gifts that are prized, precious and symbolic They saw an unusual star and allowed it to direct them To the manger where the divine kissed the fragile human But what about WISE-WOMEN…. Haven’t they come to touch him, and to be tenderly touched by him then, at Bethlehem, or thereafter?
Blessings to all: Vatican permits blessing same-sex couples
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, Dec 18, 2023: In a groundbreaking declaration, the Vatican announced December 18 that same-sex couples and others, living in irregular relationships, could seek and receive a blessing. Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernadez, the recently appointed Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine for the Faith announced this through Fiducia Supplcans: On the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings (Fiducia Supplicans translates into Supplicating Trust).
Find Lord at church doors, streets, prisons, hospitals: Pope Francis
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, Dec 6, 2023: Pope Francis on November 10 wrote a personal letter to four German women who recently shared with him their concerns about the direction the German synodal path is taking. The German synodal way has been in the news for the last several years and its deliberations and directions have been a cause of concern, especially for the Vatican.
Telangana’s “Buffalo-Sister” to strengthen democracy
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, Nov 29, 2023: Frustrated with the pervasive and paralyzing levels of unemployment in the state of Telangana, in southern India, and with no real hope of finding an employment in the near future, Karne Sirisha, a graduate woman, chose to graze buffaloes, and thereby to support her family. At 25, she lives with her mother (who is abandoned by a drunkard-husband, not uncommon in rural India) and two younger brothers.
Encountering the poor on World Day of the Poor
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, Nov 18, 2023: Each year, on the Sunday before the Catholic Church liturgically celebrates the Solemnity of Christ the King (that normally occurs towards the end of November) Pope Francis wants all of us, all people across the world, to remember the poor. Since its inception in 2017, several events around the “World Day of the Poor” are organized by the Vatican and this year the theme chosen is “Do not look away from the poor” (Tobit 4,7).
New ‘kind’ of doctrinal chief at Vatican
After the Pope, the person who holds (used to hold, at least) enormous power in the corridors of the Vatican is the head or the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. Arguably, one can say that the portfolio of the Secretary of State is equally important -if not more, as he is a kind of Vatican’s Prime Minister- since he holds diverse and crucial responsibilities at various levels.
New ‘kind’ of doctrinal chief at Vatican
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, Sept 12, 2023: After the Pope, the person who holds (used to hold, at least) enormous power in the corridors of the Vatican is the head or the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. Arguably, one can say that the portfolio of the Secretary of State is equally important -if not more, as he is a kind of Vatican’s Prime Minister- since he holds diverse and crucial responsibilities at various levels.
Pope Francis to dialogue with South Asian students
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, Sept 10, 2026: Pope Francis will hold a virtual dialogue with select groups of students from South Asia and the conversation will be live-streamed via YouTube and will be accessible in English, Spanish and Hindi. The Vatican News reports that the event of Building Bridges Initiative is jointly sponsored and organized by Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for Latin America and Loyola University, Chicago.
Pope Francis in Mongolia: A Pilgrim of Peace
Among the Popes, Francis is the first one to visit Mongolia, home to one of the smallest Catholic communities in the world. This historic pilgrimage titled ‘Hoping Together’ began on 31st August and concluded on 4th September 2023. During the visit, Pope Francis met the nation’s leaders and officials as well as the Catholic community.
Pope to visit Mongolia - country with less than 1,500 Catholics
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, Aug 28, 2023: Possibly, no Pope has ever visited a country that houses a little flock — about 1,500 Catholics. In modern times Pope Paul VI initiated international travels, and Saint John Paul II, during his long papacy, visited 129 countries. Since 2013, Pope Francis has visited several counties and they include our immediate neighbours – Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
Ernakulam-Angamaly conflict: An outsider’s appeal
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, Aug 23, 2023: Kerala is known as God’s Own Country and visitors are invariably impressed by its beauty and splendour. Diversity marks all aspects of life in Kerala. Varieties of landscape and cuisine, cultures and religions, occupations and trades, thoughts and opinions make it unique. In Kerala, Christianity is both ancient and new.
Listening to Manipur stories makes Ignatius’ feast different
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, July 31, 2023: Run, flee, escape, hide, survive are not the verbs that we often use in our routine conversations. And yet, these were the very verbs that were employed by a group of Catholics from Manipur while sharing their stories. On the occasion of the feast of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, on July 31, Delhi-based Vidyajyoti Theological Institute invited them to participate in the festive Eucharist.
Indian representatives at Synod on Synodality
By Stanislaus Alla New Delhi, July 8, 2023: Dozen is not a small number when it comes to the number of persons a country can represent at a global meeting where the total number is going to be about 400. The Vatican released on July 7 the list of those invited to attend the First Session (Second Session will be in October 2024) of Synod on Synodality to be held October 4-29.
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