Diocese of Mangalore Condemns Attacks on Christian Community During Christmas Festivities, Urges Government Action

Diocese of Mangalore Condemns Attacks on Christian Community During Christmas Festivities, Urges Government Action

Mangaluru: The Diocese of Mangalore has issued a strong condemnation of recent attacks targeting the Christian community across India, including the state of Karnataka, during the Christmas season. Fr J B Saldanha and Roy Castelino, Public Relations Officers for the Diocese, stated that these incidents are “highly condemnable” and called upon concerned governments to take immediate and appropriate measures to guarantee the safety and security of the Christian community.

The statement highlighted several specific incidents of violence and intimidation. In Palakkad, Kerala, members of a Christmas carol team were reportedly attacked by extremist elements. Elsewhere, individuals selling Christmas-related merchandise faced obstruction and violence. In New Delhi, activists affiliated with a Hindu organization allegedly harassed a group of Christian women and children wearing Santa Claus caps, accusing them of proselytization. Furthermore, in Bengaluru, Satyaniṣṭha Arya and his supporters are accused of disrupting a church program and threatening a priest, actions the Diocese asserts are “against the spirit and values of the Constitution.”

The Diocese emphasized the dissonance between the Prime Minister’s participation in Christmas prayers at a Delhi church and the simultaneous attempts by extremist forces to disrupt Christmas celebrations in various states. They noted reports of attacks, disturbances, and deliberate efforts to undermine the festive spirit in states including Kerala, New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Odisha. These incidents have caused “deep pain” to the Christian community, which, according to the statement, “lives with faith in constitutional values.”
The Diocese of Mangalore clarified that the recent attacks on Christian traditions are not isolated incidents against a single community, but rather “attacks on India’s constitutional values themselves.” The statement asserted that “threatening the freedom of worship is an unconstitutional act and strikes at the very foundations of democracy.”

The Diocese concluded by reiterating that the Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to practice their religion. It characterized acts of violence in a secular nation as “highly condemnable” and urged governments to initiate strict legal action against fundamentalist groups attempting to create unrest during festive celebrations. The Diocese called upon both the Central and State Governments to ensure that “Christian brothers and sisters in the country are able to live peacefully and with dignity.”