Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bhubaneswar (Agenzia Fides) - The persecuted Christians in Orissa want to "forgive and love their enemies, persecutors", as the Gospel of Christ says: is what has emerged from a meeting held in recent days at the home for lepers of the "Missionaries of Charity "in Jalna, near Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Orissa. The meeting organized by "Global Council of Indian Christians" (GCIC), an organization committed to the protection of Christians, was attended by about 100 people, including widows and children, from the district of Kandhamal, the epicenter of anti-Christian massacres recorded in Orissa in 2008, which caused more than 100 deaths and 56 thousand displaced people.
During the meeting there were moments of reflection, prayer and sharing. Sajan K George, a Christian layman president of the GCIC, urged participants "to forgive and love as Jesus taught, those who did harm". In the meeting the widows, who lost their husbands during the violence in Kandhamal, told their life difficult in the face of persecution and discrimination. "All participants in the meeting, despite the suffering and difficulties, decided to adhere to the commandment of forgiveness", Fr. Manoj Bagsingh told Fides, a parish priest form Salimagochha, who currently carries out the pastoral care of many victims of persecution. "This decision – he explained - is the result of the realization that God does not abandon his people". Those present also, though in poverty, stressed their commitment to helping those in need: this is a great gift, said Sister Suma, regional Superior of the Missionaries of Charity in Orissa, who helped to organize the meeting. Religious institutions and Christian organizations in Orissa provide assistance, support and free education to over 150 orphaned children in the district of Kandhamal. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 06/02/2012)
