Nepal’s bishop calls for daily Rosary amid Maoist protests

May 05, 2010

With a general strike gripping the country for a 3rd consecutive day, Bishop Anthony Sharma has called upon all parishes, religious communities, and Catholic schools to recite the Rosary daily “for national peace, and for a successful drafting and approval of a new Constitution without violence.”

“We pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary to intercede that peace may prevail and bloodshed be avoided, that our rulers may be illuminated and reach a political compromise to end the crisis,” said Father Pius Perumana, pro-Vicar Apostolic of Nepal.

Bishop Sharma, who has led the Church in the landlocked Asian nation since 1984, has also called for weekly Eucharistic adoration.

Only 6,000 of the nation’s 26.1 million people are Catholic, but the Church there is blessed with 63 priests, 24 seminarians, and 136 women religious.

 

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Further information:

• As strikes paralyse the country: Christians pull out 'special weapon', the Holy Rosary (Fides)
• Nepal's Maoists block roads to government offices (AP)