Christians hope to celebrate Christmas in Orissa.

(Nov.12,2008):-Christian leaders,who met the chief minister of violence-affected Orissa State say they are hopeful of having a peaceful Christmas this year. "Not big celebrations but we hope our people may be able to go back to their villages and live there”, said Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar.
Orissa’s Kandhamal district was the focal point of seven weeks of violence that Hindu extremists waged against Christians beginning on Aug. 24. The violence not only claimed numerous lives, including that of a Catholic priest, but several women, including a nun, were raped and some 50,000 people, mostly from villages in Kandhamal were displaced. These people now live in state-run relief camps, as they are still afraid to go back to their villages, Archbishop Cheenath told UCA News on Nov. 11, a day after he and other Christian leaders met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to submit a memorandum.
The prelate said one of the Christian leaders' demands is for the state to provide police and paramilitary security for people to return to their villages. Another is to split relief camps of 2,000 to 3,000 people into smaller camps of 800 to 900 people. According to the Church leader, Patnaik agreed to the plan and has already started setting up smaller camps. Church workers including priests and nuns would also live in the camps,or in nearby undamaged church centers, to assist the villagers.
Archbishop Cheenath, who heads the Catholic Church in Orissa said the "ultimate aim of the Hindu fanatics is to demolish the whole Christian Church from Kandhamal, and that is why we insist on celebrating Christmas." He said Church leaders conveyed these sentiments to Patnaik, who responded, "You will celebrate Christmas this year.” The Christian delegation's memorandum also asked Patnaik to have the attacked churches restored before Nov. 25 to accommodate "spiritual preparations" for Christmas.