| New Delhi (Agenzia Fides) - Conviction for the serious gesture,
solidarity with the victims, need for an immediate investigation: is
what Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, President of the Bishops' Conference of
India asks for, after what happened to a Catholic priest, Fr. Jose
Kannumkuzhy, and three lay people near Coinbatore, a city in the state
of Tamil Nadu in South India. As reported in a note sent to Fides, on
January 28 a crowd of young people, probably close to Hindu extremist
groups, attacked the priest and three lay Catholics in the diocese of
Ramanathapuram, hitting them with violence. The priest, 49, pastor of
the church of San Sebastian in Arapparaora, is in shock and is in
hospital in a state of semi-consciousness, given the many traumas and
wounds due to the beating.
Fr. Jose Kannumkuzhy, and the lay Liji, Joseph and Kannumkuzhy, all
members of the Diocesan Pastoral Council, had gone to the local health
center for AIDS patients, called "Assisi Snehalaya", created and run by
the Friars Minor Conventual, where the death of a child with HIV
occurred. The priest and the lay Catholics were on their way to the
police to report the incident, but on the way, they were attacked by a
mob of 30 persons that forced them to follow them and were accused of
the child's death. The police, though warned, did not acted promptly to
stop the aggression.
The Bishops' Conference has appealed to the authorities to act promptly
and called for more protection for Catholic people. (PA) (Agenzia Fides
02/02/2016)
|
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please no anonymous comments. I require at least some way for people to address each other personally and courteously. Having some name or handle helps.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.