Bangalore: Catholic bishops in India have expressed anguish over the “dastardly attack’’ on a Missionaries of Charity center in Yemen that killed 16 people, including four nuns.
Such brutal attacks by the “evil minds should not deter us from our commitment to serve the poor and the sick,” said a statement from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) on March 6.
The conference is holding its biennial assembly at St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, southern India, March 2-9.
According to reports, suspected Islamic militants attacked March 4 a home for the elderly managed by the Missionaries of Charity congregation founded by Blessed Mother Teresa.
The four slain nuns belong to the congregation. One of them hailed from Gumla diocese in Jharkhand state, eastern India.
The 180 bishops who are attending the plenary assembly held special prayers for the victims of Yemen attack and expressed condolences to the Kolkata-based Congregation of Missionaries of Charity and to the bereaved families.
The bishops also expressed concern over the plight of an Indian Salesian Father Tom Uzhunnalil, who is missing since the attack on the home for the elderly. The priest was residing at the attacked convent in Aden, Yemen.