Nearly a hundred Christians could be
canonised as saints by Pope Francis for refusing to convert to Hinduism
at the point of death.
More than 90 Catholics were slaughtered in mob violence in Kandhamal, the eastern Odisha province. The believers were gang-raped, tortured, burned with acid and fire, disemboweled and murdered by Hindu ultranationalists for refusing to renounce their faith during a seven-week pogrom in 2008.
As a result of the pogrom, 55,000 Christians fled. Some 5,600 homes
and 395 churches in 415 villages were plundered and set on fire, scores
of people were killed and left with permanent physical injuries due to
torture. Protestants also died in the name of faith but they wont’s be
canonised by the Pope.
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Oswald Gracias, an Indian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and
the Archbishop of Bombay, had ordered authorities to collect evidence of
atrocities against Christians who refused to convert to Hinduism. He
will personally ask Pope Francis to start the process of canonisation.
she
performed curing a Brazilian man of multiple brain tumours. The
Catholic nun is famous for her work among the poor in Kolkata, India,
She is expected to be made a saint on September in 2016 as part of the
pope’s Jubilee Year of Mercy.
More than 90 Catholics were slaughtered in mob violence in Kandhamal, the eastern Odisha province. The believers were gang-raped, tortured, burned with acid and fire, disemboweled and murdered by Hindu ultranationalists for refusing to renounce their faith during a seven-week pogrom in 2008.
Namrata,
was one of dozens of Indian Christian villagers who were injured in the
porgoms in 2008, which saw more than 90 Catholics butchered by Hindu
nationalists in the eastern Odisha province
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The
victims were tortured, raped, burned with acid, castrated and
disemboweled before they died, refusing to renounce their faith and
convert to Hinduism
A church in the village of Raikia, Kandhamal, is pictured in the wake of the attacks in 2008
The cardinal said: “The Church is sensitive to modern day martyrs. The roles of the witnesses of the martyrs are quite important. It is a tedious work and needs proper and timely documentation. I am willing to speak personally about Kandhamal violence and its martyrs to Pope Francis
A Indian Christian villager looks over her home in Orissa’s Kandhamal district in 2008
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