By Purushottam Nayak
Bhubaneswar: Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar released a book on Kandhamal on August 25, the tenth anniversary of the modern India’s worst anti-Christian violence witnessed in the Odisha state.
The Divine World archbishop hailed the “Flames of Faith in Kandhamal” as an “original creative pedagogy” to understand the vibrant faith of Odisha’s modern martyrs as it depicts the “flames of faith and the hope and aspiration of Kandhamal Church,”
The book’s author, Father Udayanath Bishoyi, said he has tried to explain the anthropological survey of the people Kandhamal. It narrates the coming of Christian faith in Kandhamal hill, the works of congregations such as the Missionaries of St Francis de Sales and the Congregation of Mission.
It also compares the religious persecution of Kandhamal Christians in 2007 and 2008 with what Christians underwent in the first three centuries under the Roman Empire.
“The final reflections will inspire us to continue our welfare work for all. The book will help one to know the people of Kandhamal district and their culture,” the author claimed at the function to release the book in Bhubaneswar, capital of Odisha state.
Father Jesuraj Rayappan, former provincial of the Society of the Divine Word in Odisha said the book was an asset as it chronicles the Church’s history in the eastern Indian state and highlights the commitment of pioneering missionaries.
Father Mohan Doss, chairman of Doctoral Committee of Theology at Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth of Pune, who was present on the occasion, said the new book reflects on the persecution of Kandhamal Christians through a Christological reading and presents a vibrant and strong Church in the post violence Kandhamal.
Veteran journalist John Dayal, in his Foreword, wrote the book depicts the vibration of Christian faith in the hills of Kandhamal.
“It is an incisive thesis the first formal academic study of the violence and the post-violence situation in this beautiful land. Kandhamal Christian have stood for their faith and taken for Christ at the cost of their dear and near ones’ lives, property and there is a strong faith among Christians in the hills that the whole world prayed and continue to pray for them,” he adds.
Father Bishoyi hails from Adibonda, Kattingia, Kandhmaal in Odisha. He holds doctorate in Systematic Theology from Jnana Deepa Vidya Peeth.
He is a visiting professor of Systematic Theology at Khristo Jyoti Mahavidyaloyo, Sason, Sambalpur, Morning Star Regional Seminary, Kolkata, St. Albert’s Ranchi and Vidyajyoti, Delhi. He was ordained a priest in 1996.