New Delhi (Fides Service/UCAN) - Hindu and tribal villagers have helped build a Catholic chapel and an attached community centre at Burdwan, west Bengal. The complex took two years to build.
Kartik Das, a Hindu leader of Dhitpur village explained that they helped with the construction out of gratitude for the shelter and care offered to all by the Catholic mission during disastrous floods in 2000. "We are happy for the Church. It is a sign of God's presence in the area said Hindu Tapan Mondal who supervised the construction work.
On October 30 Bishop Cyprian Monis of Asansol blessed the chapel and the centre, and he thanked the villagers for contributing one-fifth of the building costs. For the local people the complex is undoubtedly a bright sign of inter-religious harmony. It was a Belgian Jesuit, deceased Fr Charles Pencelet, who opened the first mission station in the predominantly tribal village in 1958. (Fides Service 11/11/2002)