Arsonists have attempted to set fire to Assumption Cathedral, the first public Catholic place of worship in Hindu-majority Nepal.
Fr Ignatius Rai, parish priest at the cathedral, said “unknown persons” broke into the church premises at about 3am. They started a fire that partially damaged the priest’s residence and the western part of the church. A car and two motorbikes were also burned. No casualties were reported.
“This is shocking. The local Christian community is now living under threat,” Fr Rai told ucanews.com.
This is a second time the church has been targeted. A bomb exploded there in 2009, killing three people, including a schoolgirl. Ram Prasad Mainali, a Hindu extremist leader, was arrested in connection with the incident.
Fr Silas Bogati, a former parish priest at Assumption Cathedral, told ucanews.com: “We are panicking. Nobody left anything in the church premise this time, so we don’t know whether it was a personal attack or by some disgruntled organisation.”
A statement from the parish said: “The Catholic Church has been involved in social work for half a decade now and will continue with our work despite the frequent attacks.” It added that no one should allow the attack to disrupt religious harmony in the country.
Nepal will hold the first local elections in two decades on May 14. The elections are seen as a significant step towards the implementation of a new constitution passed by Nepal’s government in 2015. For the first time, the constitution mandates a restructured, federal and secular republic.
But the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, the fourth largest force in parliament, is campaigning for the reinstatement of a Hindu state.
“We are eagerly looking forward to the upcoming local elections in the country. This incident, if politically motivated, will not [harm] the peaceful environment in the country,” said Fr Bogati.
Assumption Cathedral, which can seat 1,000 people, incorporates Buddhist and Hindu elements in a pagoda-Gothic style. It was built after a 1991 constitution gave the Nepalese the freedom to practise any religion in public, provided there was no attempt to convert others. Prior to that, Catholic services were held in chapels of Catholic schools, convents and social centres.
The Nepal Catholic Directory counts about 8,000 Catholics in Nepal. The country has a population of 28 million people, 80 per cent of whom are Hindus.
Businessman gives away life savings to Fatima devotion
A retired Portuguese businessman has donated more than 1,000 statues of Our Lady of Fatima to parishes around the world.
José Cámara, who has paid for statues to be sent to South Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius, Australia, the United States and Britain, said the donation has nearly depleted his life savings.
“I started out just over four years ago with the idea of offering 12 hand-made statues of Our Lady of Fatima – one for each apostle – to parishes in South Africa, where I lived for many years,” Cámara said.
In the first week after his offer was publicised in South Africa’s Catholic weekly, The Southern Cross, he received 63 applications. Now, every time he decides his task is finished, a new email reaches him from regions in need of a statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
He said he has been inspired by people he has met, such as a priest in Namibia who drove 560 miles each way to collect a statue for his parish. A young girl in England wrote to Mr Cámara “to request a statue for her daddy, who was in prison” in Kent. So he sent a statue to the jail.
“The father now prays the rosary with his fellow inmates in prison,” he said.
Seers to be canonised on May 13
Pope Francis will canonise Blessed Jacinta Marto and Blessed Francisco Marto during his visit to Fatima on May 13.
The date for the canonisation of the two Fatima visionaries was confirmed during an ordinary public consistory last week – a meeting of the Pope, cardinals and promoters of the Causes.
The date marks 100 years since the first apparition of Our Lady to three shepherd children in Fatima.
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