Catholics Protest Priest's Murder in India

Archbishop Marampudi Joji of Hyderabad led the protest rally Tuesday, attended by priests, religious sisters and brothers, and lay faithful numbering over 2,000.

HYDERABAD, India (Zenit) - More than 2,000 Christians gathered in Hyderabad to protest the death of Father Thomas Pandippally, who was brutally murdered earlier this month as he headed home after saying Mass.

Archbishop Marampudi Joji of Hyderabad led the protest rally Tuesday, attended by priests, religious sisters and brothers, and lay faithful.

Father Thomas Pandippally, 38, was killed late Aug. 16 as he rode alone on a motorcycle to Yellareddy, a village in the eastern state of Andhra Pradesh, after having said Mass in Burigida.

The attackers ambushed the Carmelite of Mary Immaculate. He was found dead the next morning, little less than a mile from his motorcycle, with his hands and legs broken, 18 stab wounds inflicted on his body and his eyes gouged out.
Archbishop Joji stated at the protest that the authorities have yet to arrest those responsible for the killing. Other speakers urged the public to denounce violence and promote religious freedom, while voicing resentment over the murders of Christians in Andhra Pradesh.

Father Sony Sebastian Palathra, a Carmelite of Mary Immaculate who studied for three years in the seminary alongside Father Pandippally, told ZENIT he was "upset" and "shocked" to hear of the murder. He said the murdered priest was "so quiet, holy and committed to the work of the Lord and service of the poor. His motto in life was, 'To wipe the tears of the poor.'"

Martyr

Father Jose Panthaplamthottiyil, prior general of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, said in a letter written Aug. 20, the day of Father Pandippally's funeral, that the congregation had "lost a young, holy, dynamic, dedicated, talented and committed priest ... one of the promising jewels of our congregation."

"However," continued the prior general, "we have also gained a true martyr in heaven."

"The history of the Church tells us that it was always through the blood of martyrs that the message of Jesus spread to the four corners of the earth," he said. "The shedding of the blood of Father Thomas in the name of Jesus will not be in vain. It will bring manifold blessings on the local Church as well as on every one of us."

Father Jose Panthaplamthottiyil announced that the episcopal conference of India has declared Sept. 7 to be a day of prayer for missionaries "in the context of the death of Father Thomas Pandippally."

The protest in Hyderabad took place as a wave of violence against Christians spread over the neighboring state of Orissa. The Christians are being blamed for the murder of a Hindu political leader Swami Laxmananada Saraswati. Some 11 people have been killed over three days of attacks.