austraLasia #2247


Violence continues; Italian bishops call for day of prayer and fasting

ROME: 5th September 2008 -- The Italian Bishops Conference has called on Catholics in Italy to make today, Friday 5th September, a day of prayer and fasting on behalf of India's Christians and in remembrance of Bl. Teresa of Kolkata.  The violence which followed the death of a prominent Hindu fundamentalist leader on 23rd August, has continued unabated and Christians, amongst them many Catholics, now find themselves added to the list of displaced persons in refugee camps in or near the State of Orissa.
    As indicated in an earlier dispatch, the Salesian Province of New Delhi has two communities, 11 confrères, in Orissa State.  As things currently stand, they are located in a relatively safe area and have not found themselves caught up in the same wave of attacks that have brought the Indian Prime Minister, Mammohan Singh, to state "It is a disgrace for our country".  But they share deeply the pain experienced by their brothers and sisters of all Christian denominations. Since we last wrote the number of those killed has doubled.
    Few Governments throughout the world have made any mention at all of this issue. Understandably at one level, the Indian news that has caught the world's attention is the millions of displaced persons in Bihar State.  But the Italian Foreign Minister Signor Frattini has spoken up and now Italian Catholics are being made much more aware of the situation through their Bishops.
   
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Title: australasia 2247
Subject and key words: S Asia Orissa violence
Date (year): 2008
ID: 2000-2099|2247