Odisha

The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Annecy (SJA), Bhubaneswar Province, elected a new leadership team on November 26, 2025, appointing Sister Justine Gitanjali Senapati as the new Provincial Superior.

The Bishop of Sambalpur, in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, has expressed deep gratitude to all who offered prayers, support, and solidarity during the imprisonment of Fr. Paul Adapoor, Parish Priest of St. Teresa of the Child Jesus Church in Meghpal, who has now been released on bail.

On November 2, All Souls’ Day, the faithful of the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, gathered to remember not only their departed loved ones but also the Kandhamal martyrs, those who lost their lives during the anti-Christian violence of 2007–2008.

A significant milestone was marked in the history of the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar of the Eastern Indian State of Odisha as the official handing over of charge to Fr. Deepak Uthan Singh as the first Priest-in-Charge of the newly established St. Joseph’s Mission Station, Kerubadi, took place on October 31, 2025.

In a touching gesture of goodwill and interfaith harmony, Christians in Odisha made small but heartfelt contributions to this year’s Diwali celebrations, fostering solidarity and brotherhood with their Hindu neighbors.

On October 7, hundreds of people, regardless of religion or denomination, gathered to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary at Kalumaha, a Catholic village under Our Lady of Charity Parish, Raikia, in the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, in the eastern Indian state of Odisha.

Hundreds gathered on August 29, 2025, at Bhrungijodi in Kandhamal District of the state of Odisha to observe the 16th anniversary of the anti-Christian violence of 2007–2008.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) expressed its deep anguish and strongly condemned the shocking mob attack on two Catholic priests and a catechist in Jaleswar in the Balasore diocese, in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, on August 6, 2025.

The Diocese of Balasore in Odisha is reeling after two Catholic priests, two nuns, and a catechist were violently attacked by a mob of around 70 Bajrang Dal members near Gangadhar village in Jaleswar Parish on August 6.

Anjana Mallick, the only woman catechist in the Diocese of Berhampur, continues the enduring legacy of Father Johnmary Dupont, a Missionary of St. Francis de Sales (MSFS), who ministered in the Surada region of Ganjam district, South Odisha, during the latter half of the 19th century.

On July 6, 2025, about 500 faithful, including three Catholic priests and a deacon, took part in a Thanksgiving Mass to mark the inauguration of Sugadabadi, located in Kandhamal District, in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, as a new mission station.

A mob of 2000 people attacked Christians in a village in the eastern Indian state of Odisha on June 21.

On the fifth anniversary of the deadly Galwan Valley clash, the Catholic community in Odisha’s Kandhamal district remembered and honored one of their own, Chandrakanta Pradhan, the only Catholic among the 20 Indian soldiers who died defending the nation in 2020 at Bearpanga, Odisha, on June 16.

Christians in Odisha are facing renewed threats to their right to religious identity and freedom of movement, following a disturbing incident involving a nun and four young women.

At 90, an Indian priest dreams of making a documentary film on the Odisha Famine of 1866.

A Requiem Mass for Pope Francis was celebrated this morning at St. Catherine’s Convent Chapel in Raikia, Kandhamal, Odisha, paying tribute to the late Pontiff’s remarkable legacy on April 27.

In a moving display of love and reverence, nearly a thousand students from St. Catherine’s Girls’ High School and Bijay High School gathered in Raikia, Kandhamal to pay tribute to Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21, 2025, at the age of 88 at Casa Santa Marta, Vatican City.

In the eastern Indian state of Odisha, police officers beat up at least two Catholic priests severely and looted the church on March 22.

In a shocking case of religious discrimination, two Christian families in Siunaguda village, Beheda Panchayat, under Umorkot Police Station in Odisha’s Nabarangpur district, have been systematically deprived of public utilities and basic rights for refusing to renounce their faith and reconvert to Hinduism on March 29.

Odisha’s Christian community was left in shock after the Holy Family Church in Titlagarh Parish, Diocese of Sambalpur, was desecrated on the night of March 22.