Mangalore Catholics pray for persecutors on anniversary of church attacks

(Sept.16,2009): In southern India’s Karnataka State, numerous people prayed on Monday at Adoration Chapel in Mangalore for the anniversary of the outbreak of anti-Christian violence in the city. Many cried before the broken crucifix at the chapel's entrance. The time of the attack on Sept. 14 at 10:20 a.m., is engraved on the crucifix, as a reminder of the anti-Christian violence in Karnataka state. hroughout the region, Catholics fasted and prayed on the Sept. 14 anniversary. Bishop Aloysius Paul D'Souza of Mangalore, who celebrated Mass that day in Adoration chapel, said he had told his people not to hold protests on the anniversary but rather to pray for their persecutors and for victims of the violence.
Adoration chapel, which belongs to the cloistered Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration nuns, was the first Christian building targeted in the violence. That day radicals attacked 24 churches across Mangalore and Udupi districts, accusing Christians of trying to convert Hindus. Police intervened only after Catholics blocked roads, using tear gas and canes against hundreds of Catholics, including women and children sheltering in some churches.A judicial enquiry into the day's events is underway.