Church attacked in Pune

(August 17, 2011) Hooligans desecrated a Syro-Malankara Catholic church in Pune in western India’s Maharashtra State on the Feast of the Assumption by burning the altar. The desecration of the church on Monday could have been the work of devil worshippers, Church officials said on Tuesday. Several people “broke into our church in Warje Malwadi in the small hours on Independence Day, vandalized the altar, burnt the tabernacle, and tore up the Bible and prayer books,” said Fr. Varghese Valikodath, who is in charge of the church in Pune. The Holy Eucharist was not kept in the tabernacle, as priests don’t reside there, said Fr. Valikodath, who is also the parish priest of St Mary’s Malankara Church in Khadki, in Pune. Paintings of Jesus, Mother Mary and other saints were vandalized and the words “Satan is God” were written on the walls and some of the paintings, he said. The priest said robbery was not the motive as collection money and valuables were not stolen. Police investigating the crime have launched a manhunt for the culprits.
“This is the first attack on the Catholic Church in Pune and we condemn the desecration of a place of worship,” said Diago Almeida, president of the Catholic Association of Pune.