|
|
 |
| |
|
CBCI CONDEMNS ATTACK ON SWAMINARAYAN TEMPLE
-Appeals for Peace
and Harmony-
|
 |
New Delhi: SAR News
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) strongly condemns
the attack on the Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple in Gandhinagar,
Gujarat on Tuesday, 24 September , in which more than forty people
including women and children have been killed and more than sixty
have been injured. In a statement issued on the same day afternoon
by the deputy secretary general of CBCI, Fr. Donald D'Souza, an
appeal for peace and harmony was made.
It stated "the Christian Community is horrified to note that
the killings took place in a place of worship, where hundreds of
devotees had gathered for prayer and spiritual solace." Expressing
his deep sadness at the horrible tragedy, the President of the CBCI,
Archbishop Cyril Mar Baselios said, "The killing of innocent
devotees in the temple is a blatant attempt on the part of anti-social
and anti-democratic forces to disturb the religious harmony of the
country."
Archbishop Vincent Concessao of Delhi and Vice President of the
CBCI said, "The Church is appalled at the attack on the Swaminarayan
Temple. I offer my heartfelt condolences to the families of devotees,
killed by the terrorists and to the injured. Such acts can never
be justified and they must be condemned by all in the strongest
terms possible."
The Secretary General of the CBCI, Bishop Percival Fernandes, expressing
his deep shock at the attack said, "It is an attack on our
secular and democratic traditions and on the heritage of religious
harmony of India."
The CBCI appeals to all people in the country to maintain peace
and harmony at a time when the country is facing many challenges
from various quarters. It appeals in a special way the Christian
Community of India to remember all those killed in the temple attack,
the injured and their families in their prayers. It calls upon the
Central and the State Governments to provide adequate protection
for places of worship all over the country |
|
|
|
