Kolkata Christians pray at Mother Teresa’s tomb for peace in Manipur

By Isaac Gomes

Kolkata, June 28, 2023: Christians from various denominations have come together around the tomb of Saint Mother Teresa of Kolkata to pray for peace in Manipur, a northeastern Indian state where ethnic violence has raged for the past two months.

The Commission for Ecumenism under the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India organized the June 27 event in the hall that holds the tomb of the saint at the headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity congregation.

Father Francis Sunil Rosario, the secretary for the Bengal region’s Dialogue and Ecumenism Commission and the organizer, pointed out that unprecedented violence in Manipur has killed more than 120 people and displaced around 60,000 others.

Many people stay in makeshift refugee camps and thousands have fled the state, he regretted.

The peace prayer invoked God’s grace and immediate peace in Manipur, without casting aspersions on either the Meiteis or the Kukis, the two main warring communities.

Both have lost their people and suffered huge losses of properties and documents, Father Rosario said.

He then requested Father Baptist Pais, the national executive secretary of the Bengaluru-based CCBI commission, to lead the prayer service.

Father Pais regretted that a handful of leaders in several parts of the world have “shamelessly seized all powers to themselves, maiming important institutions meant to keep checks and balance in society.

What is happening in India and Manipur is just a test case of a deviously-planned sinister political play, Father Pais regretted.

Leaders from various denominations also prayed for peace. They included Reverend Asis Sarkar of the Kalinga Baptist Church, Reverend Patrick Joseph of the Assembly of God Church, and Reverend Rathin Chatterjee from New Life Ministries.

One of the pastors said that he firmly believes that 200 plus churches razed to the ground in Manipur would one day be rebuilt. The precious blood shed to defend Christ would never go in vain, he asserted.

Father Rosario expressed his deep grief for the suffering of the people of Manipur. He said many conflicting and divergent reports on the Manipur mayhem making it impossible to know the ground reality there.

The program was attended by lay persons from various parts of Kolkata and Sisters of St Joseph of Cluny, Missionaries of Charity, Salesian Sisters, and Sisters of Charity. Also present was Father George A. Gomes from Bangladesh.

Alexis Badal Gomes, a professional from the hospitality sector and a singer, too said the sacrifice of Christians in Manipur would not go in vain.

However, he reminded the gathering that mere prayer and petitions from armchair conferences would not suffice. Christian leaders must have the courage to visit Manipur to experience first-hand the suffering of the people there and do whatever they can to alleviate their agony, Gomes asserted.