Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bhubaneswar (Agenzia Fides) - In the new Christian settlement of Anandnagar in the district of Kandhamal - scene of the 2008 anti-Christian massacres - the Christians prayed and celebrated hope, waiting for Christmas. In Anandnagar we find the Christians who resettled after being driven from their native villages, in Tikabali area, in Kandhamal district. As reported to Fides by the local Church, about 800 people from nearly 450 Christian families, victims of violence, came together on December 8, feast of the Immaculate Conception for a pre-Christmas gathering of "prayer and hope". Brother K.J. Markos, a Monfort missionary who lives in Kandhamal, informs that it was a peaceful encounter, characterized by a climate of welcome and celebration, prepared by the nuns of the Missionaries of Charity (MC), together with the villagers. The sisters also informed the police and civil authorities, and this enabled the meeting to be carried out smoothly. The meeting heard a catechesis on the meaning of Christmas and attended a prayer meeting led by Don Sisirkant Sabhanayak, Pastor of Mother of God Parish, near Tikabali. The meeting was also attended by Sajan K George, President of the "Global Council of Indian Christians," who had words of encouragement towards the faithful, and ended with a moment of fraternal conviviality.
In past days, His Exc. Mgr. John Barwa, SVD, Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, sent a pastoral Letter to the diocese, in view of Christmas, urging the faithful to be "heralds of a message of hope" despite the suffering of the past and present. The Kandhamal district, which occupies a central part of the Archdiocese, has been the epicenter of the anti-Christian violence in 2008: over 100 were killed, more than 6,000 houses were burnt in 400 villages, as well as 296 churches and small Christian places of worship. More than 56,000 Christians became 'IDPs', some 30,000 still live in refugee camps set up by the government. About 1,000 were warned or threatened by their neighbors: they can return home only if they become Hindus. The rest of the refugees preferred to leave, for fear, the district of Kandhamal in fact has no chance of livelihood in Kandhamal, where they are also victims of a 'veto' and discrimination at an economic and social level. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 12/12/2011)
