First, I want to express my gratitude to Lisa for filling in as my "guest blogger" during my retreat. She did a great job of keeping everyone posted on the Troy Davis case -- more to follow in the days to come.
As we move on, the violence against Christians in India grabs our attention. The LCWR has sent information and an action alert. First, the information:
Since August 23, following the murder of Vishwa HinduParishad leader Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati and four of his associates, reportedly by Maoist groups in the state of Orissa, Christians have been under siege. Christian leadership has unequivocally condemned the killings and sympathized with the bereaved family members and spoken out against all violence. However, the government of Orissa has allowed some fascist and fundamentalist forces to terrorize the poor and minorities of the State. Churches and houses in Christian communities have been destroyed, shops burned, nuns raped, and many Christians have fled to the jungles for survival. Hindu radicals have targeted relief camps to shelter harassed Christians. By September 20, there were 45 killings, 4,000 destroyed homes and 56 churches, 11 schools, and 4 NGO offices destroyed, 18,000 wounded and attacks on 300 villages. Recently, a Catholic priest in Delhi wrote a letter to friends in the U.S. describing a procession on October 2 to the tomb of Mahatma Gandhi, apostle of nonviolence, led by theArchbishop of Delhi, to express solidarity with persecuted brothers and sisters in Orissa and to protest the ethnic cleansing of Christians. He also referred to a report that documents links between the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF), a Maryland- based charity, and certain violent and sectarian Hindu supremacist organizations in India seeking to create a Hindu Rashtra (an ethnically "pure" Hindu Nation). Increased awareness and prayers are requested on our part.
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