Catholic World News News Feature

Hindu fanatics attack Christians again in Orissa state July 09, 2008

A Christian orphanage has been destroyed and a parish church attacked in India's Orissa state, in the latest assault on the Christian minority there, the AsiaNews service reports.

A Jesuit residence and church, and a nearby orphanage under Protestant administrators, were looted and destroyed by Hindu zealots in the town of Tumudiband. Christians in the same district has been troubled by attacks in the past. “The fanatical forces of Hindutva want to eliminate Christians from Orissa, especially those in Kandhamal district,” said Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar.

Witnesses say that the attackers were easily identified, but police have made no arrests. "There is collusion between the government and the fanatical groups," the archbishop charged.

[For a more detailed report see the AsiaNews web site.]