Cathedral Purified, Re-dedicated Following Arson Attack

By Saji Thomas
9/29/08 JABALPUR, India (UCAN) — A Catholic cathedral in central India was ritually cleaned and re-dedicated 10 days after arsonists tried to torch it.

Some 2,000 Catholics and Protestants attended the hour-long ceremony on Sept. 28 to re-dedicate Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Jabalpur, 815 kilometers south of New Delhi.

Two unidentified people broke into the 120-year-old cathedral in Madhya Pradesh state on Sept. 18, poured kerosene on the altar and set it on fire. The fire was put out before it could spread to other areas.

As Bishop Gerald Almeida of Jabalpur led the re-dedication liturgy, the cathedral reverberated with hymns and penitential prayers that sought the offenders’ healing and repentance.

Catholic Church law requires a “penitential rite” for reparation if the local bishop thinks desecration has done grave harm to a place of worship. Until the rite is performed, worship there is prohibited. Additionally, a sacred place loses its “dedication or blessing” when it is “destroyed in large part” or is under secular use for a long time. A re-dedication is held such in cases.

Bishop Almeida told UCA News he decided on a re-dedication because the altar was “desecrated willfully.” For Catholics, he explained, the altar “is Christ, and the re-dedication was necessary to restore its purity and dignity after its desecration.”

For the re-dedication, Bishop Almeida, accompanied by priests, came to the cathedral altar in a procession. The liturgy began with the blessing of water kept in two containers on the right side of the altar. The bishop then used the blessed water to wash the altar with a white towel in a symbolic cleansing gesture. The concelebrants and parish representatives joined in this.

After the cleansing, the bishop covered the altar with a white cloth and sprinkled holy water around the cathedral as the choir sung the litany of all saints in Hindi and people knelt.

Bishop Almeida lit a Paschal candle placed on the altar’s right side. Concelebrants lit candles from the Paschal candle and handed them over to parish council members, who used these to light the candles fixed on the sides of the altar.

Following this, children offered burning candles on decorated plates, placed at the foot of the altar.

The bishop incensed the altar and tabernacle and then, accompanied by some priests, incensed other parts of the church. He also decorated the altar, amid prayers for purity. He took a flower, touched his forehead with it and placed it at the altar’s front central edge. Repeating the gesture, he then placed flowers on all the four corners.

People then decorated the altar with garlands and flower vases, and children sprinkled it with scented water.

The liturgy also re-installed the Bible. The bishop moved from the entrance of the church holding the bible to be placed on the pulpit, while children lined on both sides threw flower petals.

The re-dedication ended with the bishop blessing the congregation.

An ecumenical prayer meeting in the church courtyard followed. Speakers stressed the need for Christians to work together to spread the word of God. They also prayed for the pardon of those who have attacked Christians and their institutions.

Bishop Almeida said the attack has increased people’s “faith and attachment” toward the Church. Besides, “a sense of unity is also on the rise among various denominations, who want to stand as one body of Christ,” he added.

Echoing similar sentiments, Father Antony Rocky, the cathedral parish priest, told UCA News the incident also “woke up our young people,” who began to participate in “everything, showing deep interest in religion.”

The arson attempt came as Hindu extremists attacked Christians and churches in Orissa state in eastern India and Karnataka state in the south.

Source: http://www.ucanews.com