ICC Note:

Christians leaders in India have pledged their support and solidarity to Christians living in India’s Odisha state. Odisha, formally known as Orissa, regularly ranks among the worst states for Christians each year in India. In 2015, Odisha ranked within the top ten states for the number of attacks on Christians or their places of worship according the the Catholic Secular Forum. Odisha has also where the worst incident of Christian persecution took place in India’s history. In 2008, anti-Christian riots swept across the Kandhamal district of Odisha leaving over 100 dead and 56,000 displaced.  

2/8/2016 India (UCAN) – The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India has pledged the commitment and closeness of the Indian church to Christians in the eastern state of Odisha.

Cardinal Baselios Cleemis of Trivandrum, conference president, expressed this in a message to Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, which covers Kandhamal district, a region in 2008 that witnessed perhaps the worst anti-Christian violence in India’s history, Vatican Radio reported.

“I join in praying and thanking God for the blessings showered upon the Kandhamal Christian community. I want to assure my commitment and the unwavering support of the CBCI to the suffering brethren in Kandhamal,” Cardinal Cleemis wrote in his letter.

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