Tura: Thousands of Catholic faithful on Sunday thronged churches across the five districts of Garo Hills to hold special prayers during a day of protest against rising cases of attacks on Christians and minorities by right wing groups in North India.
In their sermon priests across the region urged the faithful to pray for Christians across the country and to stop the ongoing attacks, verbal and physical, against Christians by fringe elements.
They also highlighted the recent attacks in Madhya Pradesh where a group of seminarians (young brothers) were assaulted by right wing groups while organising a Christmas Carol singing at Satna with even police refusing to act.
The most recent incident of attempt by these fringe groups to organise their own prayer service inside a Catholic college in Madhya Pradesh on the 4th of January has further created fear among the minority Christians in that state.
At the Sacred Heart Church Shrine in Tura, Rev. Fr. Theodore T Sangma called on Catholics to stay united and pray for the persecuted and also those who persecute us so that they find true peace in God and stop these ongoing atrocities, The Shillong Times reported.
“Such cases of attacks on Christians are worrying. We need to be cautious and concerned. We must all stand together and pray for peace and harmony in our country,” appealed Fr. Theodore Sangma in his sermon to the faithful during Sunday’s Holy Mass.