World's second-most populous nation should be Country of Particular Concern, panel recommends.
The total shutdown of the country has brought great hardship. Small Christian communities, however, are providing food, masks, and spiritual support.
More than 40 are dead and hundreds are injured after a Hindu nationalist outbreak in India. The main victims are Muslims, religious minorities in India.
Leaders of this Eastern rite claim Christian girls are being lured into marriages with Islamist militants.
Goa became Catholic by way of Portuguese missionaries, but it also has a Christian history stretching back to Apostolic times.
Hindus protest 114-foot monument, which would rival Rio de Janeiro's.
Archbishop Dominic Jala died along with driver of car, another priest from India.
One of the largest churches in Asia, the Sé Cathedral has served the people of Goa since the 17th century.
In recent years, both Christians and Muslims have increasingly been targeted with violence and harassment by radical Hindu nationalists.
Indian Catholic journalist Anto Akkara says he is inspired by their dedication in the face of persecution.
