Indian Christians unite to free priest as Unity Octave begins
hristians of various denominations carried the priest on their shoulders from the police station Indian Christians unite to free priest as Unity Octave begins A person reads out the police complaint, which accused Father Joseph Amuthakani Jhabua diocese in central India of distributing the Bible in his attempt to convert Hindus. A person next to him holds the Missal (order of the Mass) they took from the priest's vehicle as evidence of Bible distribution. The priest was arrested on Jan. 18 but was released after ten hours. Indian police released a Catholic priest ten hours after he was arrested after some 1,000 Christians of various denominations rallied behind him in a show of solidarity as Christians across the globe began the week-long Unity Octave to pray for ecumenical unity. Father Joseph Amuthakani, a Catholic priest of the Jhabua diocese in the central state of Madhya Pradesh was arrested on Jan. 18 and illegally detained following the allegation that he attempted to convert a person fraudulently, violating a state law that criminalizes all conversions without informing the state. “I am touched by the people’s love,” Father Amuthakani told UCA News on Jan. 19. Ucan Store The 49-year-old priest said he was arrested from a sub-station of the parish,
Recant or Leave: Mobs Expel Christians in Central India
Hindu extremists in Chhattisgarh destroy churches and homes and attack tribal believers. Tribal Christians from three villages shelter in the Chhattisgarh town of Kondagaon on December 21, 2022 after they were forced to leave their villages. On New Year’s Day, a 500-person mob assembled in the village of Gorra, a small community in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, and summoned the town’s Christians. After about 15 people arrived, the Hindu extremist crowd attacked. “About 20 of us quickly rushed to the village to carry them to the hospital and met the mob on our way while entering the village. The mob caught us and began to assault us,” Dhruw said. While most of the young people outran the mob, Dhruw’s father Bahadur, along with three others, were tracked down. “They beat my father and three others with sticks, legs, fists, bricks, and stones until they all fell unconscious,” Dhruw said. While Dhruw and his friends managed to take the victims to the hospital, Dhruw had to release his father from the hospital the same night when two of the assailants identified him in the hospital and threatened to call the mob on them again. “We did not return to our village since that day,” Dhurw said. The
Indian state chief vows action against church attackers
A Catholic church was vandalized and a senior police officer injured in the attack in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district The chief of the provincial government in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh has promised action against those behind Monday’s attack and vandalism at a Catholic church. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel met Archbishop Victor Henry Thakur of Raipur within hours of the attack on Sacred Heart Church in Narayanpur district on Jan. 2. “We discussed the serious threat Christians face in the state and the failure of the police and district officials to prevent targeted attacks against them,” Archbishop Thakur told UCA News on Jan. 3. The chief minister assured him he would do everything possible to bring those responsible to justice, the prelate added. "They broke the church doors and smashed windows to gain entry" Sporadic violence has flared in Narayanpur and Kondagaon districts in the past few months in the tribal-dominated southern region of Bastar. The roots of it lie in non-Christian indigenous people insisting that their Christian counterparts give up their faith and return to traditional animist practices. The Sacred Heart Church was attacked by a mob armed with wooden sticks and iron bars. They broke the church doors and smashed windows to gain entry and
Mob Tries To Attack Church In Chhattisgarh’s Bastar, Cop Injured In Attack
The injured officer is Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Sadanand Kumar, who has been shifted to a hospital. A church was vandalised and a senior policeman was attacked and injured during a protest by a group of tribals in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district in Bastar on Monday, police said. The injured officer is Narayanpur Superintendent of Police Sadanand Kumar, who was seen clutching his head as blood trickled down his face. He has been shifted to a hopsital. A meeting was called in by an Adivasi group to protest against a clash that took place between two communities over alleged religious conversion in Edka village in Narayanpur district on Sunday, say preliminary reports. It quickly escalated into a big argument between two opposing groups. Chairs, stones were thrown around and people came to blows. Soon, it turned into a full-scale fight. Talking to reporters at the hospital, SP Kumar said that protesters arrived near Vishwa Dipti Christian School in the afternoon and tried to charge towards a church located in the school premises. "After being alerted about it, I immediately rushed to the spot with other officials and tried to pacify the protesters. They seemed convinced and were about to return, but suddenly someone hit me with a
