Australian Jesuit
missioner attacked in Ranchi 1/21/2006
Ranchi (ICNS) January 21,2006
An Australian Jesuit missioner based in Ranchi was attacked by a gang
of three suspected robbers as he walked through a busy road to his
office in the morning. Father Peter Jones, 78, director of
Chotanagpur Catholic Cooperative
Society was attacked Jan. 18. The priest is now hospitalized with deep
head injuries. The missioner, an Australian Jesuit, was attacked
as he walked to his
office in the morning from Jesuit's Manresa house, which is just
walking distance from his office. The cooperative society is also known
as Catholic Bank. The priest said he carried a brief case and
robbers might have thought
that as the head of the "bank" he was carrying some money in it. But
the briefcase had only some keys, his lunch and diary. He said he
tried to tell the attackers that he carried no money, but
they attacked him before he could say anything. He was beaten with an
iron rod from behind in head and hand.
He said he fell unconscious and some people reached him hospital, where
he recovered consciousness. Cardinal Telesphore Toppo of Ranchi
and several top police officials
visited him at the hospital. Carinal Toppo condemned the attack
and said it was a sign of increasing
crimes in the city. He said it showed the deteriorating law and order
in the state and asked the state to act.
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Marian Shrine In
Dilemma As Tsunami Survivors Refuse To Vacate Temporary Shelters
By T.S. Thomas VAILANKANNI, India (UCAN) Jan 23,2006
A year after a Marian shrine in southern India built temporary sheds
for about 3,000 tsunami survivors, the survivors now refuse to vacate
the area unless permanent houses are built for them on the same land.
Soon after the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami devastated the area around
the Shrine Basilica of Our Lady in Tamil Nadu state's Vailankanni town,
shrine authorities built shed rows on shrine land for the survivors.
The rows are divided into about 800 units. Vailankanni is 2,000
kilometers south of New Delhi.
Shrine procurator Father A. John Bosco told UCA News in early January
that the Church is prepared to build permanent houses on land that the
government has allotted six kilometers south of the shrine. The funds
for this have come from Caritas India, the local Church's relief
agency, and Thanjavur diocese, to which the shrine belongs.
However, the people occupying the tin-roofed temporary shelters say
they cannot live far from the shrine because they depend on its
pilgrims for a living. The sheds are about 200 meters from the shrine.
Houses cannot be built for the people where their destroyed dwellings
stood, because the state government has ruled that any new houses built
for tsunami survivors must be at least 700 meters from the shore.
"We are doing everything possible for the victims, but they are united
against us," Father Bosco said.
One of the residents, Lourdes Mary, says their life in the temporary
shelters is "really horrible," but living far from the shrine would be
worse. Her temporary shelter is a room measuring about 18 square
meters. It functions as a kitchen during the day and a bedroom at
night, Mary, 36, told UCA News.
Like her, about 70 percent of the people in the temporary shelters are
Catholics. The rest are Hindus. They lost their houses and all they
owned to the tsunami, which killed more than 1,000 people in the area.
The shrine proper was not affected because it is on high ground.
Mariadass, who lives in a shed with his wife and two children, told UCA
News on Jan. 7 that most people in the temporary shelters make their
living by selling fruit, pictures, candles, flowers and refreshments to
pilgrims who throng the shrine by the thousands throughout the year.
They have lived around the shrine for decades and some run small shops
near the shrine.
The people "want a place near to the shrine," said Mariadass, who
carries an identity card the shrine issued him to maintain a shop. Many
families would face "permanent troubles" if they shifted to the place
the shrine has recommended, he added. Women and children who gathered
around him said they are in a fight with the shrine priests, who "want
to send us too far."
According to Father Bosco, the dispute started when the people in the
temporary shelters asked for permanent houses within the shrine land.
"It is practically impossible," the 45-year-old priest insisted,
explaining that the shrine is already pressed to improve its
infrastructure to cater to growing numbers of pilgrims. He also
suspects that outsiders with "vested interests" have instigated the
tsunami survivors staying at the shrine.
On the other hand, Mariadass maintained that his people cannot accept
the proposed site because catering to the pilgrims is the only living
they know. "We are not fishermen," he said. "We will not go away from
here."
A Hindu neighbor, Balachandra, 60, said he would sleep on the road but
would not go away from the shrine. His wife said she is hopeful that
"Mother Mary will help us."
Meanwhile, the shrine has built a memorial tower 16 meters tall on a
mass burial ground for those killed in the tsunami. It was blessed on
the first anniversary of the tragedy. Heads of various religions
attended an interreligious prayer meeting held there that day.
Bishop Devadass Ambrose of Thanjavur, who blessed the memorial, said
the diocese has "done whatever possible" for those who died and those
who survived. The tower is built on the main road near the town's arch
and is visible from afar. The bishop said the Church also plans to
build an interreligious prayer hall and a garden around the memorial.
The shrine's assistant parish priest, Father Jyothi Nallappa, told UCA
News many people now visit the burial ground. "Soon it may become a
definite dropping place for most pilgrims before entering the shrine,"
he said.
But this prospect does not excite those in the temporary sheds. "The
Church is ready to build houses for us. The government is ready to
allot free land for us. But is that enough? Don't we have to live?"
asked Devenasam, a resident of the temporary shelters. Her neighbor
Mary agreed. "The dead have got a tower at least. We are still
suffering," Mary said.
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Indian Marian Shrine
"Lourdes of the East."
Hosting Interreligious Meeting Area Devastated by Tsunami
VELANKANNI, India, JAN. 28, 2005 (Zenit.org).
The Marian Shrine of Velankanni, devastated by last month's tsunami,
will host an interreligious meeting to be led by the president of
India's episcopal conference.
Some 1,500 people in Velankanni died during the tsunami, officials
said. The majority were pilgrims, hundreds from other Indian states, as
well as fishermen and local villagers. More than 1,100 people died at
the shrine, known as the "Lourdes of the East."
Priests, nuns and teams of volunteers of the Diocese of Tanjore
organized rescue and relief operations in Velankanni and the adjoining
coastal villages.
According to Father Anthony Philimin Raj, executive secretary of the
Indian episcopal conference, a large number of Church leaders and
leaders from other religious communities will congregate at Velankanni
for the unique interreligious prayer service, being organized by the
Catholic Church.
Cardinal Telesphore Toppo will lead the meeting that will be attended
by leaders of the Islam and Muslim communities. Bishop Devadass Ambrose
Mariadoss of Tanjore and a large number of priests and nuns of the
diocese will also attend. Bishop Mariadoss oversees the relief and
rehabilitation projects in the area.
Cardinal Toppo will also inaugurate temporary thatched housing
constructed by the Tanjore Diocese for the villagers and fishermen who
lost their homes.
Twenty million pilgrims from India and Southeast Asia visit the Shrine
of Velankanni annually, including many Hindus and Muslims. ZE05012808
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