Catholic layman arrested for Goa desecrations

July 19, 2017

A 54-year-old Catholic layman has been arrested for the desecration of a Catholic cemetery and the destruction of at least 11 crosses in the past month.

Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrão said that the vandalism was “designed by vested interests to provoke communal discord and promote religious hatred.”

Father Savio Fernandes, executive director of the Council for Social Justice and Peace, questioned whether a layman of that age could have been responsible for all the crimes.

“All the attacks have been executed with heavy steel implements directed at the bases of the structures to cause maximum damage,” according to a report coauthored by the Council, which citing recent inflammatory statements by Hindu extremists in the area.

 

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Further information:

• Catholic arrested in connection with smashed crosses in Goa, but some see a cover-up (AsiaNews)
• Crosses broken and cemetery desecrated in Goa due to religious hatred, Mgr Neri Ferrao says (AsiaNews)