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Church has an unenviable role to play in Goa polls CAMIL PARKHE |  Tuesday, 24 January 2017 AT 12:56 PM IST          goo.gl/U8KSVY Goa ,  assembly polls ,  catholic Church ,  role , As the campaign for the Goa State assembly has picked up, the role of the Catholic Church in the politics of the tiny coastal state is being debated once again. The Catholics in Goa are an important constituent in deciding the poll fortunes in many assembly seats and the Church can directly or indirectly influence the pattern of voting in the polls. That is the reason all the political parties in Goa have been keeping a close watch on the signals sent out from the Bishop’s Palace located at Altinho in Panaji. It is a fact that the Church in India has always reiterated that it is a apolitical institution and that the faithful are always free to vote for or contest on behalf of any political party. The Church in Goa is also not an exception to this stance. Nonetheless, a glance at the political

New papal envoy for India CAMIL PARKHE |  Sunday, 22 January 2017 AT 03:49 PM IST         goo.gl/sEG2PG appointment ,  Papal envoy ,  India ,  christianity ,  archbishop Giambattista Diquattro ,  Apostolic Nuncio Pune:  Pope Francis has appointed Italian archbishop Giambattista Diquattro as the Apostolic Nuncio, Vatican's new envoy to India and Nepal. The formal announcement was made made in Vatican on Saturday evening.  The news was conveyed to the Catholic church hierarchy in India by Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas (SFX), secretary general of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India. The 62-year-old archbishop Diquattro will replace Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio who was transferred to Poland as Apostolic Nuncio in August last year. Archbishop Diquattro was earlier the Apostolic Nuncio to Bolivia.  He had joined the Holy See's diplomatic service in 1985 and later served at missions in the pontifical representations in various countries. He was ?appointed Apostolic N

Christians to urge political parties for representation CAMIL PARKHE |  Thursday, 19 January 2017 AT 11:49 PM IST       Christian community ,  Pune Christian community Pune: A meeting of leaders of the Christian community from Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad held here on Thursday has decided to urge various political parties to provide representation to their community members in the forthcoming civic polls in the two cities. Presently, not a single member of the Christian community is a member of the present houses in Pune or Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations. The meeting of Christian leaders, belonging to various political parties and social activists, was held at St Patrick’s Cathedral. Pune Bishop Thomas Dabre presided over the meeting. It was attended by Pramod Pardhe from Vadgaonsheri, Samuel Negal, Rajan Nair, Mozes Kolkati, Ashish James, Chitralekha James, Anupama Dongre-Joshi and Mary Cruz. The leaders decided to approach political parties to seek party nominations

Don’t just seek votes, also accommodate minorities in State ministry CAMIL PARKHE |  Monday, 16 January 2017 AT 09:18 AM IST            goo.gl/m8aYwH blog ,  BJP ,  chief minister ,  Devendra Fadnavis ,  Azam Pansare ,  PCMC ,  civic polls ,  vote ,  municipal corporation election ,  Camil Parkhe ,  Sakal Times            With the induction of Azam Pansare, Pimpri Chinchwad’s former mayor and Nationalist Congress Party’s local Muslim veteran, the Bharatiya Janata Party has received a big boost as it prepares to face the mini elections in the State next month. With the welcoming of Pansare into the party, the ruling party at the Centre and State, the BJP has clearly indicated its intension to shed off its ‘saffron’ tag in order to woo the minority votes. In Pansare, the BJP has got its much-needed Muslim face in the State. Pansare, a strong supporter of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, has unsuccessfully contested from Haveli assembly seat and Maval Lok Sabha seat. He was sulking a