austraLasia #2240


Indian Cardinal urges Catholic Education Institutes to close in solidarity with victims

NEW DELHI: 28th August 2008 -- Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) has urged all Catholic Educational Institutions in India to close on Friday August 29 to show solidarity with victims of violence in Orissa, and to observe September 7 as a day of prayer and fasting. This will mean the closure of some 25,000 institutions.
    The situation in Kandhamal District and other parts of Orissa continues to be tense and Christians in the State are living in fear and anxiety. Law enforcement agencies have not been able to contain violent elements still at large. The violent mob is destroying churches, orphanages, childrens' hostels, Convents and homes of Christian families.
    The CBCI has condemned the brutal murder of Swami Lakshmanand and denied any involvement by Christians in his murder, but fundamentalists are taking advantage of the situation to attack Christians. Archbishop Vincent Concessao of Delhi along with a representation of priests and members of the National Council of Churches in India and the Evangelical Fellowship of India led a delegation to call on Home Minister Shri Shivraj Patil on August 25 to urge him to intervene in Orissa at the earliest.
    In information provided by the CBCI, indications are that so far 14 people have been killed, 41 churches, more than half of them Catholic, destroyed, and hundreds of homes rampaged. In addition, in a clear targeting of priests and nuns, 4 convents, 3 hostels, 7 pastoral institutions of one kind or another and innumerable vehicles have been destroyed.
    Orissa State is predominantly Hindu. This is not the first outbreak of serious anti-Christian violence in the State, with an outbreak one year ago and the 1999 murder of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons.
The Salesian New Delhi Province has two communities and approximately 10 confrères in the region.
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Title: australasia 2240
Subject and key words: S. Asia. Orissa violence.
Date (year): 2008
ID: 2000-2099|2240