Fifteen years after anti-Christian violence tore through India’s Odisha state with Kandhamal district as its epicentre, survivors welcomed a special visitor: Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, the Vatican’s ambassador to India, who came to witness firsthand the enduring faith of a community that refused to be broken.
The Archbishop’s visit on 31 January, though not officially designated as such, carried profound significance for local Christians still healing from the 2008 riots that claimed 100 lives and forced 50,000 people from their homes.
“You have become examples for millions of Christians how to persevere in suffering,” Archbishop Girelli told a congregation of 1,500 faithful gathered at Our Lady of Charity Parish in Raikia. Thirty priests and 25 religious members joined the Mass, where the Archbishop drew parallels between the Kandhamal Christians and early Christian communities. The day’s first reading, focusing on perseverance in love, hope, and faith during persecution, held particular resonance for the gathering.
The violence that engulfed this remote district in Odisha state had erupted over false rumours that Christians had killed Swami Lakshmanananda, a controversial leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad - an accusation later proven false when Maoist guerrillas were identified as the perpetrators. The ensuing four months of riots left a trail of destruction: 300 churches and 6,000 homes razed, thousands injured, and many forced to flee into nearby forests where some succumbed to hunger and snakebite.
At a reception hosted at Vijay High School in Raikia, the Archbishop conveyed Pope Francis’s blessings: “We are going together to pray and to commit ourselves so that we can be a community of peace, harmony and love, because we are a people of love, because we love everybody.”
In Tiangia, a Catholic village where seven Christians lost their lives, the Archbishop paused at the Martyrs’ Memorial, built by Father Manoj Kumar Nayak with support from Bishop Anthonisamy Neethinathan of Chengalpattu. “Your village is a village of peace, harmony, faith and love,” he said after paying his respects. The visit gained additional weight following the Vatican’s October 2023 decision to begin beatification processes for 35 Catholic “martyrs of Kandhamal”.
The Archbishop’s journey also took him to Nandagiri, where 82 families have rebuilt their lives after being driven from their original village of Beticola. Father Mrutyunjaya Digal, Secretary of Archbishop John Darwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, himself originally from Beticola, noted the Archbishop’s message of universal solidarity with the suffering and displaced.
For Father Madan Singh, who directs the local grassroots organisation Jana Vikas, the visit sparked hope for advancing the martyrdom recognition process. Among those seeking such recognition is Benedict Digal, whose brother Father Bernard Digal was the only Catholic priest killed in the violence. “We are encouraged and empowered to follow Christ despite threat and intimidation in our daily life,” Benedict Digal said.
The Archbishop’s Kandhamal visit followed his appearance at the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India’s 36th plenary assembly in Bhubaneswar, Odisha’s capital, some 300 kilometres east. Throughout his encounters, he consistently emphasised themes of peace and reconciliation, urging the community to become “disciples of Jesus, bringing peace, love, and harmony.”
For many survivors, the Archbishop’s presence offered more than just spiritual comfort - it represented recognition of their suffering and resilience. As Anita Pradhan, sister of victim Dasaratha Pradhan, told the Archbishop, the surviving families are “grateful and thankful” for the Vatican’s recognition of the 35 victims as Servants of God, marking a significant step in their journey from tragedy to remembrance.
