Hindu Extremists Desecrate Catholic Church in India. Altar Destroyed

At the beginning of the First Christian Millennium, the Church historian Tertullian wrote 'the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church'

Vandals destroyed the altar, vestments and the confessionals. Catholics who live nearby went to the church because they heard noises. The criminals threw them out threatening them, and then  escaped. Persecution against Christians increases in India.

P>KERALA, India (Catholic Online) - On August 16, 2008 Fr. Thomas Pandippally of the Congregation of Mary Immaculate watered the ground of India with his blood. This holy priest was martyred at the hands of Hindu extremists in Orissa, India precisely because he was a Christian. I wrote a tribute entitled "RIP: Fr. Thomas Pandippally, Martyr of a New Missionary Age" 
 
We have continued to call attention to the plight of our brothers and sisters in the land evangelized by the Apostle Thomas. India has a wonderful Christian history. The Nation has given the Church many saints, including, most recently, St Alfonsa, and in the process of canonization, Mother Teresa.

Fides News reported that a Catholic Church was desecrated just this week by 20 masked men. They destroyed the altar, the vestments of the clergy and the confessionals.

Here is a portion of their report:

"A Catholic church was attacked and devastated by vandals wearing masks in the diocese of Quilon, in South Kerala (Southern india). This is what His Excellency Mgr. Stanley Roman, Bishop of Quilon tells Fides, who is "concerned that, as Christians, we are exposed to the growth of different religious extremism, especially that of Hindu but also Muslim background".

"The Bishop, who yesterday went to the church dedicated to Our Lady of Vailankanni, in the village of Kottenkulangara, tells Fides that, on Sunday evening, September 4, a group of about 20 men, with their faces covered, broke into the small church, forcing doors and windows.

"The vandals destroyed the altar, the vestments and the confessionals. Some Catholics who live nearby went to the church because they heard noises, but the criminals threw them out threatening them, and then they escaped.

The Bishop explained to Fides that "in the area there is a very lively and large Catholic community. This is why we plan to build a larger church. Perhaps this project has alarmed the Hindu extremist groups that already, indirectly, seek to intimidate us.

"We have had, in recent years, a growth of these Hindu extremist groups in Kerala and we begin to suffer the consequences. As far as we are concerned, we will continue our pastoral work and the message of Christ through the joyful witness of the Gospel and serving others".

Persecution against Christians is nothing new in Christian history. It seems to increase in missionary ages, such as the Third Christian Millennium is quickly becoming. At the beginning of the First Christian Millennium, the Church historian Tertullian wrote "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." So it is becoming in our own day.

The Church, Our Lady of Vailankanni, was built in 1986. The Marian shrine is visited by thousands of people. Sajan K George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), told AsiaNews."We are deeply saddened by such an attack against a Catholic Church. The GCIC condemns the attack in the strongest possible terms.

He continued, "It is a matter of grave concern. An attack on a place of worship is extremely serious and this is the third attack on a Catholic Church in two months. The previous one were in Pune and Secundrabad."

Wednesday September 5, marked the anniversary of the death of the woman the whole world called "Mother ", Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. She died in 1997. We invite our readers around the world to pray for the persecuted Christians of India and for an end to violence. We also seek her intercession and ask our readers to do the same.

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