AMERICA/CHILE - Evangelical church set on fire, still in the name of the Mapuche cause

Tuesday, 26 April 2016 indigenous   politics   violence   bishops  

Temuco (Agenzia Fides) - Another church in the Chilean region of La Araucania was set on fire: last night the fire destroyed an evangelical church, in the municipality of Padres Las Casas. Although firefighters arrived on site to control the flames, very little remains of the church.
According to information sent to Fides, along with firefighters also members of the police arrived to investigate the origin of the fire, as writings in favor of the Mapuche cause were found. In the late hours of last night, the first police report confirmed the arson.
In the same place, on 31 March 2016, another Catholic chapel had been burned, St. Joaquina chapel (see Fides 05/04/2016).
A dozen churches and chapels were set on fire during the early months of 2016, and always messages concerning the Mapuche cause were found on site (see Fides 19/12/2015, 09/03/2016; 05/04/2016; 13/04/2016). The root problem remains the Mapuche cause, unsolved for more than a century, although the burning of churches is incomprehensible (see Fides 22/04/2016). (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 26/04/2016)


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