On 1, April 2018, in the late night of Easter Sunday, some miscreants vandalized a grotto outside the compound of St. Thomas Church, Salangabahal, mutilated the Statue of Our Lady, and broke the head of the Statue of Child Jesus in the grotto. They smashed a Statue of Our Lady in another Grotto in Gyanpali village and attempted to burn the Church of the Victory of the Cross in Bihabandh in the Diocese of Rourkela. Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) visited the affected areas and prayers were offered for reparation as well as for forgiveness and conversion of those who were involved in these reprehensible crimes.
According to the assessment of the security forces, there seems to be a systematic premeditated ploy to disturb the peace of the people who have been living in age-old harmony with each other in these villages. It appears that the anti-social elements targeted the holy places of two communities seeking to create a communal divide. The alertness of our priests and the Bishop Kishor and Archbishop Barwa, both of whom began contacting immediately the Government and police authorities saved the situation which could have otherwise turned grave.
The prelates addressed the crowds and thanked them for their peaceful and prayerful response to the incidents. They told the people that they shared their shock, deep anguish and pain. Condemning the attacks on both the Christian and Hindu places of worship, they exhorted them not to fall prey to the divisive forces. Later the Bishops also visited the damaged Temple and met with the Managing Committee Members and expressed reciprocal respect and promised that they would work together to maintain peace.
CBCI encouraged the people by noting that “While we reiterate that the incidents against the places of worship should have never happened and bring us shame and pain, we are proud of the people of Sundargarh District who have shown that we are capable of fighting the forces that want to divide us and polarize us.”
