VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI yesterday condemned Hindu-Christian violence in the eastern Indian state of Orissa which has claimed several lives in the past few days.
“I learned with great sorrow the information concerning the violence against the Christian community in Orissa state which broke out after the reprehensible assassination of the Hindu leader, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati,” he said.
“Until now several people have been killed and many others wounded,” he said. “Several places of worship belonging to the church and private properties have been destroyed.”
At least seven people have died in Orissa’s Kandhamal region and other areas since the Hindu leader and four other people were shot dead by unidentified killers.
“While firmly condemning the attacks on human lives, whose sacred character must be respected by all, I extend my spiritual comfort and solidarity to the monks and nuns who have been put through such a difficult test,” he said.
The pontiff called upon religious and civil authorities “to work together to restore peaceful coexistence and harmony between the different religious communities.”
Police have blamed the death of the Hindu leader on Maoist guerrillas. However, hard-line Hindus have accused minority Christians of the killings in Kandhamal, southwest of the state capital Bhubaneswar.
The death toll in clashes since Saraswati’s murder rose to seven, Orissa Chief Minister Navin Patnaik said. However, the Press Trust of India news agency quoted state officials as saying the toll had gone up to nine.
Among those killed have been a woman working at an orphanage who was burned to death when the Christian-run facility was torched by a Hindu mob.
The state is where Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons were burned alive in 1999.
