Orissa: New church in memory of Christian burned alive by Hindu radicals during pogroms
The place of worship commemorates the death of Mathew Navak during the dramatic anti-Christian violence of 2008. For the faithful, the sacrifice of the young teacher is still alive. Bishop Barwa: ‘The criminals had a plan to eliminate Christians from the region, but they failed.’
Volunteer work by local Christians for its construction. Gudrikia (AsiaNews) - For Christians in Kandhamal, still scarred by the pogroms in Orissa in 2008, it represents a ‘sign of hope’, as well as a reminder of the dramatic violence suffered at the hands of Hindu fundamentalists.
It is the new church strongly desired by the community in the eastern Indian state, built on the site where one of the many victims of the massacres was burned alive by the crowd: Mathew Nayak, a young teacher and Anglican pastor of the Church of North India (CNI), whose sacrifice is still alive.
‘It gives me great courage and hope that God has never abandoned us. A firm faith in Jesus has been rebuilt in the lives of hundreds of people,’ Benansio Pradhan (Bhagaban) tells AsiaNews. He also serves as itinerant catechist for the parish of Padang, which is responsible for the Gudrikia substation.
‘We have waited 17 years to get closer to our church, where our dear Christian teacher was brutally burned alive during the anti-Christian violence between 2007 and 2008,’ Pradhan continues.
Mathew Nayak, a government teacher from Udayagiri belonging to the CNI, is one of hundreds of victims belonging to religious minorities killed at the hands of Hindu radicals in a pogrom linked to attacks against Christians following the death of VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) leader Swami Laxanananda Saraswati.
The young man was captured by an angry, armed mob, who poured kerosene over his body and set him on fire. He was burned alive along with the Catholic church of St. Michael the Archangel in Gudrikia, where he had sought refuge. At the time of the attack, another Christian woman from the area, Lalita Digal, was murdered and her body disappeared.
More than 500 Catholic faithful, as well as 14 priests and seven nuns, gathered to attend the inauguration of the new Arch-Angel Michael Church in the village where the massacre took place on 26 May. ‘The criminals had a plan to demolish and totally eliminate Christians from this region, but they failed in the face of the mighty hand of our God,’ said Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack Bhubaneswar in his homily.
‘We thank God for giving us a new church that is a home fruit of his blessings, a place of unity, love and brotherhood,’ the prelate continued.
"We bear witness to our deep faith in God through our daily lives. May the Archangel Michael intercede for us when we encounter difficulties, obstacles, impediments and threats‘ so that ’we may remain steadfast in our faith in Christ," is the wish of the archbishop of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD).
‘The faith of the people has been reborn after the anti-Christian violence of 2008,’ echoed Fr Sebastian Thottamkara, parish priest of Padang of the Congregation of the Mission, under whose initiative the church in Gudrikia was completed.
‘The people,’ he continued, "have actively and enthusiastically extended their voluntary work in the construction. The communal violence was unable to suppress or silence the faithful in proclaiming and witnessing to Jesus in their daily lives." The place of worship recently inaugurated by the archbishop stands next to the old church where Hindu radicals burned Nayak alive.
The parish of Padang, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, was established before 1924 thanks to the efforts of the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales (MSFS), popularly known as Fransaliani. The parish is now administered by priests of the Congregation of the Mission.
In particular, the parish is made up of 11 substations, with about 400 Catholic families, including that of Gudrikia, the scene of the massacre of the young Christian, and today has 45 Catholic families surrounded by a Hindu majority. Young people, children, the faithful, priests and nuns participated in the inaugural ceremony of the new church with dances and songs.
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