15 Sep - Persecution of Christians in Orissa

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Persecution Of Christians In Orissa Will Be Raised At European Union-India Summit, As Concern Grows In Europe

ROME, September 15, 2008--The persecution of Christians in the eastern Indian state of Orissa starting in late August is slated to be discussed at the European Union (EU)-India Summit scheduled Sept. 29-30 in Paris.

The Council of Foreign Ministers of the 27 EU member states decided this at an informal meeting in early September. Italy raised the issue and other states agreed it should be placed on the agenda for the summit, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini revealed to the media after that gathering.

The Republic of India and European Union, its largest trading partner, benefit from a longstanding relationship that goes back around 40 years.

A cooperation agreement between the two sides in 1994 opened the door to a broad political dialogue, punctuated by annual summits, and they entered into "a strategic partnership" for the 21st century in 2004.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will head his country's delegation to the September summit, while President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, will lead the EU delegation.

On Sept. 12, Sarkozy gave a state welcome to Pope Benedict XVI when he stopped over in Paris on his way to Lourdes to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Mother there. The two leaders had a private meeting, but the content was not reported.

The following day, at the end of the torchlight procession at the famous Marian shrine in Lourdes, the pope spoke about "the suffering in today's world."

He elaborated that he was thinking about "the innocent victims who suffer from violence, war, terrorism and famine; those who bear the consequences of injustices, scourges and disasters, hatred and oppression; of attacks on their human dignity and fundamental rights; on their freedom to act and think."

Pope Benedict then went on to state: "Nor must we forget those who suffer for the name of Christ and die for him." Vatican observers considered those last words particularly significant in light of events in India.

While the question of the anti-Christian violence at Orissa will be raised at the summit meeting, the question of religious freedom, in India and several other countries, is gaining renewed attention in the European Union. It is an issue unlikely to be swept aside easily.

On Aug. 28, four days after the Orissa violence started, the Italian government issued a press statement saying it had instructed its Foreign Ministry to summon Indian Ambassador Arif Shahid Khan to convey its "strong expectation that the Indian authorities would take incisive preventative and repressive action in the face of such unacceptable acts of violence." The ambassador was received at the ministry on Sept. 2.

The actions by Italy, and the European Union at its request, were sparked by widespread media coverage of the anti-Christian violence in Orissa. At least 27 people, mostly Christians, have been reported killed, and around 4,000 Christian homes and 50 churches and Church institutions destroyed. Mobs of Hindu extremists went on a rampage after a Hindu religious leader in the state was killed on Aug. 23, for which Maoists claimed responsibility.

National Italian national dailies -- Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica, La Stampa -- as well as national TV and radio, and electronic media carried reports on the Orissa violence, and more recently reported on attacks against Christians in other states, including against Mother Teresa's nuns.

The Catholic daily Avvenire, which the Italian Bishops' Conference owns, sent a special correspondent to Orissa to file first-hand reports on the situation there and gave it extensive coverage.

Vatican Radio broadcast reports on the Orissa violence in its worldwide news service, in various languages, and L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican daily, also provided substantial coverage, as did Catholic media in other countries including Britain, France and the United States.

The Italian Catholic Church followed the situation and subsequent violent acts against Christians in some other Indian states with increasing concern. It designated Sept. 5, Blessed Teresa of Kolkata's feast day, a nationwide day of solidarity, prayer and fasting with Christians in India.

Bishops' conference president Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa said the local Church wanted "to express our most profound solidarity with our brothers in the faith who are suffering." (UCAN)