ACN News - Catholic church desecrated in India

A Catholic church in India that has been repeatedly vandalized was once again desecrated at the end of August.

On repeated occasions, the Syro-Malankara Catholic Mother Mary Church of Hyderabad has been subjected to acts of vandalism. In the latest incident, the main altar as well as bibles, mass and song books, crucifixes and liturgical gowns were set on fire.

The parish priest, Father John Felix, wrote in an open letter to the authorities of the State of Andhra Pradesh that such an incident could only occur “on account of the inactivity and neglect of the police and other authorities.”

In the letter, which was made available to international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the priest complained that proceedings relating to attacks perpetrated in the years 2004 and 2008 have been closed by the police with no action being taken.

In July 2004, parishioners, including a priest, who were working on the building site where the church was being constructed, were physically attacked by a mob of some 100 people who abused them and threatened to kill them.

In July 2008, the doors of the church, which had been completed in 2006, were locked from the outside during a service, although close to 250 faithful were in the building, including infants, as well as aged and sick people.

“In order to avoid further conflicts, we followed the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ, i.e. we practiced forgiveness and love of enemies,” the parish priest emphasized.

But he called on the authorities to reopen the past proceedings and to investigate the latest incident, because the congregation was “under constant threat.”

In reply to an enquiry from ACN, the responsible Bishop, Jacob Mar Barnabas, explained that the church is currently under police protection, but that the parish intends to repair the damage as quickly as possible.

He called on Catholics throughout the world to pray for his flock, because there are “people in the district who do not want to have the church here.”

As an Eastern Catholic Church, the Syro-Malankara Church in India is in full communion with the Holy See. It has some 430,000 faithful.

With photos of the vandalized church in Hyderabad.

Editor’s Notes:

Directly under the Holy Father, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.  ACN is a Catholic charity - helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Father Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity,” the organization is now at work in over 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 43 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information contact Michael Varenne at michael@churchinneed.org or call 718-609-0939 or fax718-609-0938. Aid to the Church in Need, 725 Leonard Street, PO Box 220384, Brooklyn, NY 11222-0384. www.churchinneed.org