Blackrock College in Dublin, May 30, 2009. Extensive abuse took place at Blackrock College according to a 2022 radio documentary called “Blackrock Boys.” The Scoping Inquiry was set up in the aftermath of the relrease of the documentary. / Credi… […]
French Catholic priest Abbé Pierre appears on the TV programm “La Marche du Siecle” in Paris on Dec. 19, 1988. / Credit: GEORGES BENDRIHEM/AFP via Getty Images
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A foundation that supports a prominent Cat… […]
Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, chapel and statue. / Credit: Joseph Antoniello, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Pope Francis during Mass at the Esplanade of Taci Tolu in Dili, Timor-Leste, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Dili, East Timor, Sep 10, 2024 / 13:21 pm (CNA).
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The faithful gather at the site of Father Arul Das’ death in the Jamboni jungle on Sept. 2, 2024. / Credit: Anto Akkara
Bangalore, India, Sep 10, 2024 / 11:15 am (CNA).
More than 4,000 Catholics on Sept. 2 assembled in the remote Jamboni jungle to mark the 25-year observance of the death of 33-year-old Father Arul Das of the Balasore Diocese, who was shot and pierced with arrows in his thatched chapel-house during the early hours of Sept. 2, 1999.
“Father Arul very closely followed the life of Jesus. Like Jesus as a good shepherd, Father Arul too tried to be a good shepherd for the people of this locality,” said Balasore Bishop Varghese Thottamkara in his sermon at the jubilee Mass.
Along with the bishop, over 50 priests and hundreds of nuns from different parts of the sprawling diocese and beyond were present at the celebration at which the clergyman was hailed as a martyr.
“Father Arul was a priest of Christ. He came to serve the faithful of Balasore, especially of the Ho tribe people,” Thottamkara said.
“Through his life-giving witness he gives the best example for us. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,” the prelate added.
“While only 18 Ho families had embraced Christian faith in Jamboni at the death of Father Arul in 1999, the number has swelled to over 400 in Jamboni mission area now,” Father Varghese Puthumattam, who has compiled the biography of the missionary, told CNA.
Arul became involved with the Ho tribals in the jungle region when he was assigned as a deacon for pastoral duty at the challenging mission. Even a quarter-century later, the outpost lacks electricity and proper roads.
After his ordination in 1993, he was posted in the area and went to neighboring Jharkhand to learn the Ho language. The priest launched full-fledged work among the tribe, walking through the jungles without motorable roads to reach out to locals, many of them illiterate.
“We had to carry even bicycles on the shoulders to cross rocky and slushy terrains and streams,” Puthumattam remembered, recounting the challenging mission work undertaken with Arul.
While camping in his hut church at the remote Jamboni village, Arul was killed by a gang led by Hindu fundamentalist Dara Singh when the latter was on the run after having committed a triple murder in January 1999.
“Christian faith has taken deep roots among our people because of the martyrdom of Father Arul,” Durga Singh Godsara told CNA. Godsara is a catechist and was one of the first converts that Arul helped lead to the Church.
After Arul was killed, Godsara recounted what one of his fellow converts told him: “I will give up as it is dangerous and they would kill us too.”
“But I told him we have to die for the faith our guru [master] has taught us. Later I prayed with him; he got healed and he went to live 20 more years,” Godsara said.
“Our people have deep faith in the healing power of Father Arul that they bring the sick to this spot and get instant healing,” he added.
“We routinely hear ‘the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.’ It has been literally fulfilled in Jamboni,” Sister Elizabeth Rani told CNA.
“I came here for the first anniversary in 2000. What an amazing development has taken place over the years with the thousands of Ho people embracing the Christian faith,” said Rani, who belongs to the Congregation of St Anne.
“‘Arul’ in our language [Tamil] means ‘blessing,’ and I am happy — he has indeed become a blessing to the Ho tribals,” the nun added.
“Our people were enthusiastic about the historic occasion,” Father Francis Xavier Singh, vicar of Holy Rosary Parish of Bagdapha that comprises the Jamboni area, told CNA.
“They worked voluntarily through the night to prepare the lunch for more than 4,000 people,” he added.
Thottamkara told CNA that there “is indeed a growing popular devotion to Father Arul.” The bishop noted that several miraculous healings have been reported by the Ho tribe.
“The diocese will set up committees to document and scrutinize these to decide how to take these up further,” Thottamkara said.
Pope Francis blesses children at the Irmas Alma School in Timor-Leste on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
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Pope Francis arriving at the meeting with bishops, priests, deacons, consecrated persons, seminarians and catechists in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Dili, East Timor, Sept. 10, 2024. / Vatican Media
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Editor’s note: The following lecture given, in slighly different form, to open an ecumenical symposium at Bjärka Säby. The lecture was followed by a public conversation with Professor Sarah Coakley. It was published originally on the author’s CoramFratribus.com site and appears here with […]
James Earl Jones attends the “The Gin Game” Broadway opening night after party at Sardi’s on Oct. 14, 2015, in New York City. / Credit: Jemal Countess/Getty Images
CNA Staff, Sep 9, 2024 / 18:15 pm (CNA).
James Earl Jones, a distinguished actor of stage and screen who was a convert to the Catholic faith, died Monday at age 93.
Known for lending his booming voice to such characters as Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” saga and Mufasa in “The Lion King,” Jones’ career spanned nearly seven decades.
He was one of the few entertainers, male or female, to have earned the coveted “EGOT” slate of acting awards: an Emmy (for TV), Grammy (for music), Oscar (for movies), and Tony (for the stage).
Born in poverty in Mississippi, Jones overcame a stutter early in life in part by discovering a gift for poetry. He joined the military after graduating from college, moving to New York after serving to pursue acting full time.
A prolific stage actor who became well known as a Shakespearean, Jones also entertained generations of moviegoers with dozens of roles. These included perhaps his most famous voice performances — the unimpeachable lion monarch Mufasa and the inimitable Sith menace Darth Vader — as well as memorable live-action appearances in “The Sandlot” and “Field of Dreams.”
Jones did not talk much about his Catholic faith but said in a 1987 interview that he converted to the faith during his time serving in the military. He said that while discerning whether to stay in the military or pursue his true passion — acting — the only things that he had in his life that were “not geared toward the art of killing” were his Catholic faith “and the complete works of Shakespeare.”
In 1985, he voiced Pharaoh in the first episode of Hanna-Barbera’s “The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible.” He also recorded an audio edition of the King James version of the New Testament.
Jones died Monday morning at his home in Dutchess County, New York, according to his agent.
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