Lenten Campaign 2025
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The newest iteration of the top podcast The Bible in a Year has made waves in India during its first four months, said Ascension Press.
The Bible in a Year–Malayalam launched on January 1, 2025, and is hosted by Fr. Daniel Poovannathil, a Syro-Malankara Catholic priest. Poovannathil is the director of Mount Carmel Retreat Centre in Kerala.
Since its first episode, The Bible in a Year–Malayalam has amassed 230,000 subscribers on YouTube alone, and its videos have hundreds of thousands of views.
Malayalam is spoken by about 37 million people, and is the official language of the Indian state of Kerala. Kerala has the highest number of Christians of any state in India.
India, the world’s most populated country, is roughly 80% Hindu. Christianity is the third largest religion, with 2.3% of the Indian population practicing the faith, which means there are some 23 million Catholics in India. By comparison, there are about 61 million Catholics in the United States.)
From a small group of listeners to a whole nation
Malayalam is the first Indian language version of The Bible in a Year podcast, said a press release from Ascension Press, and more may come in the future.
"The Bible in a Year—Malayalam originated with a small group of devoted Bible in a Year listeners from Bangalore, India,” said Ascension.
That group, with the support of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India, requested that Ascension make a version of the podcast in the languages spoken throughout India. While English is one of the official government languages in India, it is not spoken by the “vast majority” of the country’s population.
“Due to the rich history of the Catholic Church in Kerala state – which reaches all the way back to the evangelizing efforts of the Apostle St. Thomas – Malayalam became the first language chosen for this project,” said Ascension.
Hearing the Bible in one’s native language is “uniquely powerful,” said Ascension President and CEO Jonathan Strate in a 2024 press release announcing the podcast.
“Our prayers are with the BIYM team as this first podcast launches. We hope it is the first of many such resources created specifically for the Church in India,” he added.
The Bible in a Year launched its first season on January 1, 2021, and was one of the top podcasts of the year.
The Spanish version, La Biblia en un Año, debuted in 2022.
