Nirmala Carvalho

The religious was attacked on the night of August 25, by a crowd of Hindu fundamentalists who beat him and left him in the forest for an entire night. Yesterday, his lungs collapsed and he fell into a coma. At his deathbed, Archbishop Raphael Cheenath.

For the first time, after almost two months, the religious testifies in public to the violence she suffered at the beginning of the fundamentalist Hindu attacks in the district of Kandhamal.

The commissions of inquiry tend to protect those responsible for the attacks, and are not guaranteeing security for witnesses and victims. Today, fundamentalist groups tried to burn a church in Madhya Pradesh. Four seminarians have been beaten and denounced to the police for "forced conversions."

Extremists are violating the curfew. Raids on domesticated animals, and celebrations amid the ruins. The bishops proclaim a total lack of trust toward the government of Orissa. Singh's proposal to rebuild the destroyed churches has been denounced by fundamentalist groups.

The government of Orissa is even closing the refugee camps, and thousands of people have nowhere to go. An appeal to the UN, that it grant Indian Christians the status of refugees, protect them, and send them the food and shelter that India is denying them.

Christians are not allowed to pray even in government-run refugee camps. The ground on which homes and churches once stood are taken over and “cleansed” of every trace of violence. Hindus tell raped nun to marry her rapist. The hue and cry is still on for Christians.

The canonization of the first Indian saint is not stopping the violence, but is strengthening the Christians in their suffering and hope. The words of the bishop of Bhubaneshwar and Sr. Karuna, of the Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit

Tomorrow in St. Peter's Square, Pope Benedict XVI will raise to the honors of the altar the Indian religious, who dedicated her life to the poor and the underprivileged, despite her sickness and physical suffering. She is an example for the country, marked by interconfessional violence and by widespread materialism.

Lenin Raghuvanshi has visited Orissa as a member of a fact-finding team established by the European commission for the prevention of torture. Hindu radicals have a program for expunging Christians from the region and reconverting tribals and pariahs to Hinduism.

Christians feel unsafe even under government protection, and are leaving the refugee camps to escape to other areas of India. In Kandhamal, the destruction has continued for more than a month.

The superior of the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa's order, is visiting the Indian region where an unprecedented attack has been unleashed against Christians and their institutions. Sr. Nirmala is asking the government to guarantee religious freedom, and is asking the Christians of the world to raise insistent prayers to God, who can do anything and is able to bring good even from evil.

Even after the Maoists claimed responsibility for the killing of Swami Laxmanananda, groups of fundamentalists affirm that his killing was decided "during a pastoral council," to offer "a sacrifice to God." Diocese of Bhubaneshwar: the lies are increasing the persecution.