Vandals broke into a Catholic church in south Delhi this morning, stole the sacred chalice, broke open the tabernacle and threw the consecrated hosts (bread) on the floor and defiled the altar.
The fifth such attack on a church in the capital in the past two months prompted the Archdiocese of Delhi to express anguish at the “deafening silence” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The vandalism – described by police as a “theft” – took place less than a week after President Barack Obama publicly said in New Delhi that “every person has the right to practise his faith without any persecution, fear or discrimination”.
St. Alphonsa’s Church, the target of the latest pre-dawn attack, is one of the biggest churches in the capital and is located in Vasant Kunj.
The church is named after St. Alphonsa after sainthood was conferred on the Kerala sister by Pope Benedict in a ceremony at St. Peter’s Square in 2008. While conferring sainthood on Sister Alphonsa 60 years after her death, Pope Benedict had appealed for an end to anti-Christian violence in some parts of the country.
Church authorities said they felt the attack was orchestrated to instil fear in the minds of the Christian community and create communal tension ahead of the February 7 Delhi polls.
The police claimed it was a case of “theft” and did not lodge an FIR for hurting religious sentiment even though the church officials told them that all valuables, including several cash boxes, were left intact by the intruders.
“It was nothing but a targeted attack to hurt religious sentiment and to violate our rights. The attackers did not touch several donation boxes lying inside as the motive was to desecrate the church,” said Fr Vincent Salvatore.
Fr Mathew Koyical, the chancellor of the Archdiocese of Delhi, said a clear pattern of orchestrated attacks was emerging. “We are pained and shattered. Modiji is also our Prime Minister and it is a matter of anguish and anxiety that he is maintaining deafening silence on recurring targeted attacks on our places of worship. He is not saying anything against these elements. We are sure he would not have been silent if temples were desecrated,” he said. (Imran ahmed siddiqui, Telegraph)