India: bishop who led diocese through anti-Christian pogrom passes away

August 17, 2016

Archbishop Raphael Cheenath, the retired archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, India, died of cancer on August 14 at the age of 81.

Archbishop Cheenath led the Church in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, now known as Odisha, through a 2008 pogrom in which Hindu radicals killed 100 Christians, destroyed hundreds of churches, and caused tens of thousands to flee from their homes.

“They told me, we lost everything, our house, our people, our clothes, but we won’t give up our faith,” the prelate recounted later.

 

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Further information:

• Champion of Kandhamal Christians passes away (Vatican Radio)
• Indian archbishop’s death marks loss of a giant for new martyrs (Crux)