Catholic leaders say that Christians in the Indian state of Orissa are encouraged by a series of recent convictions related to anti-Christian violence last year. The convictions of six people on September 7 on charges of riot and arson have "strengthened our people's morale," said Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar. Rev. Ajay Singh, an advocate for the victims of the violence, said that the verdicts “emboldened” Christians to pursue court action against their attackers. "However, they have lots more challenges to face," he said. In the past witnesses were reluctant to cooperate with the courts following threats to their lives. Catholic leaders report that gunmen comb villages for people named as witnesses in cases related to the anti-Christian violence. The predominantly tribal district of Kandhamal was at the center of four months of violence last year, which left about 90 people dead and 50,000 displaced.
Orissa Christians Strengthened by Court Verdicts
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
Pope Leo XIV’s statement was read at the premiere of a play about the Peruvian investigative journalist Paola Ugaz, who was subject to death threats because of her reporting on sexual abuse.
About a dozen religious leaders from the San Diego area, including Bishop Michael Pham, visited federal immigration court on Friday “to provide some sense of presence.”
In a time of increasing disaffiliation from and disillusionment with the institutional church, a new theological perspective on the church is needed—one that places Jesus’ own teaching at the center.
This week on “Jesuitical,” Zac and Ashley are thrilled to speak with their friend and colleague Father James Martin about his new podcast, “The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J.”