Catholic church attacked in Andhra Pradesh, Bibles and religious objects burned

Another Malankara Catholic church has been
targeted by extremists in India, who set fire to the altar and burned
copies of the Bible contained within. 

The attack was reported by
activists of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) and
comes only days after another attack on a Malankara Church, in Pune, in
the early morning of August 15 (see AsiaNews 8/17/11 Catholic church attacked in Pune).



The assault by a group of unidentified assailants occurred on 25 August,
who targeted the Malankara Catholic church of Mother Mary in
Secundrabad, Andhra Pradesh state, in central-east India. 

The vandals
set fire to the altar, the Bibles, the cross, books of songs, clothing
and vestments. 

They also damaged the churches’ audio system, erected in
1996 near the Krupanand Hall, in the colony of Ganesh, in Pickett.



In recent days, two parishioners (Matthew Papachan and his assistant)
had thoroughly cleaned the place of worship, flooded following the heavy
rains during the week. 

Each Friday moments of Eucharistic adoration
take place and the place of worship had been arranged to accommodate the
faithful. 

At one o'clock in the afternoon when Papachan returned to
complete the cleaning, he saw smoke escaping from the church.



The parish priest Fr Felix Thondalil denounced the vandalism to the
police, the police took steps to create a security system around the
church, but have not yet tracked down the perpetrators of the act. 

Four
years ago the place of worship had been the victim of an attack by Hindu
extremist activists of Bajrang Dal.

"We are very sad - the priest
points out - because many sacred objects were destroyed."
 

Source