Faith will stay strong despite violence: bishops

BUBANESHWAR (ICNS): Bishops in Orissa say Hindu nationalism is the root cause of the spreading violence against Christians in the state, but faith will not be uprooted form its soil.
Several Church institutions and Church personnel suffered in the attacks and arson that continues for the past two days after Hindu leader Laxmananda Saraswati and four others were shot dead by some Maoist rebels. Hindu groups, who blamed Christians behind the killings, began attacking Christians. Fanatics were fomenting communal strife for their own goals, Christian leaders say.Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bubaneshwar described the situation of Catholics as “tragic.” But the Church and its faith will not be removed from the state. "The Church," he said, "will be the light for generations to come in Orissa." He said radical Hindus are targeting churches, social and pastoral centers, parishes and convents. For example, Father Thomas, director of our pastoral centre, “is hiding in the forest," according to the archbishop. "From there, tears in his eyes and sorrow in his heart, he saw it go up in smoke. Just before the attack he phoned me and I told him: 'Pray and be vigilant.' But when he saw mobs of people coming towards the centre he had to flee for his life. The pastoral centre had cost more than 15 million rupees." "We feel totally abandoned,” the archbishop said narrating that the government authorities sent three policemen on Monday to guard the nuns' convent and the bishop's residence. “But they don't even have a stick to protect us from the fury of the mob." According to him the attacks are rooted in the radical ideology that wants to make India a Hindu nation. The radical slogan is: one nation, one culture, one religion for India.
The radical philosophy wants to “eliminate the Cross, but its roots are too deep” that the “cancer of radicalism” will not be successful. “The Church will be the light for many generations to come," he said. More than 94 per cent of Orissa’s people are Hindu. Christians are only 2.4 per cent, with some conversions among Tribals, who have been socially suppressed for centuries. (theindiancatholic)