2010-07-26 14:56:01

Indian Catholics protest church demolition


(July 26, 2010) Catholics in the northeast Indian state of Nagaland closed all their schools for one day last week in protest against the demolition of a village church, allegedly by Baptists. The Catholic Association of Nagaland organized the protest on Friday after the newly built church in Anatongre, Kiphire district, was destroyed on July 9. “We will not react hastily as Christians, but remain patient and make decisions carefully,” said Father Carolous Neisalhou, vicar general of Kohima diocese which covers the entire north-eastern Indian state. The inter-denominational tussle in the village of the Christian majority state has been going on since 1973 when several villagers resisted efforts to start a Catholic church. In 2001, the village council decided there would be only one village church – the Baptist Church, but earlier this year, 17 people wrote to the village elders saying they had formed a Catholic community and had started raising funds to build a place of worship. In April, village authorities wrote to the parish priest of nearby St. Peter’s Church opposing the construction. The priest wrote to police along with 21 other people calling themselves Catholics, declaring their right to have a church. They then built a wooden structure. But before it could begin services, a crowd pulled it down. Church sources said of the 20 families who had embraced Catholicism, 11 families were pressured into renouncing their faith. The Catholic Association of Nagaland has appealed to the state governor, the chief minister and other top officials to ensure that Catholics enjoy “freedom of religion” as guaranteed in the Indian constitution.







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