A Catholic prelate has asked his people to remain calm after some
miscreants mutilated three statues in a southern Indian shrine.
Father Rachumala Prakash Reddy, parish priest of Arogya Matha (Our
Lady of Health) Shrine at Guntakal, said people coming to Sunday morning
Mass on Dec. 12 discovered the desecration.
The miscreants chopped off the heads of the statues of Saints John
and Mary Magdalene and disfigured Mother Mary’s face in the replica of
Calvary near the shrine.
On hearing the incident, Bishop Anthony Poola of Kurnool telephoned
Father Reddy to preserve communal harmony and refrain from public
protest over the incident.
Father Reddy told ucanews.com that his parishioners wanted to
organize a protest rally, and pastors of other Christian denominations
backed the idea saying, “If we don’t protest, worse things will happen.”
Bishop Poola pacified the people. They offered special Mass and prayers as reparation for the desecration.
Father Reddy said it was first case of vandalism in the diocese and he has no idea why the attack took place.
The priest said the church was elevated as the diocesan Marian Shrine
after Mother Mary is said to have appeared to two Hindu boys on Aug. 4,
1999.
Thousands of people visit the shrine throughout the year.
SIC: CTH/IND