More martyrs: a Carmelite priest is massacred in Andhra Pradesh (India)

Asia News ^ | August 18, 2008 | Nirmala Carvalho

[NYer]

38 year old Fr. Thomas Pandippallyil, was assassinated on the night of August 16th on his way to a village to celebrate Sunday mass. His body showed signs of torture, with wounds to his face, his hands and legs broken and his eyes pulled from their sockets. The bishop of Hyderabad denounces the growing climate of “violence against Catholics” in the country.

New Delhi (AsiaNews) – “Father Thomas is a martyr: he sacrificed his life for the poor and marginalised.  But he did not die in vain, because his body and his blood enrich the Church in India, particularly the Church in Andhra Pradesh”. Those are the words of Msgr. Marampudi Joji, archbishop of Hyderabad and secretary of the bishops’ conference of Andhra Pradesh (a state in South East India), commenting the barbarous killing of the Carmelite priest Thomas Pandippallyil, 38, assassinated on the night of August 16th in Mosalikunta, on the road between Lingampet and Yellareddy, 90 km from the regional capital.

On the night of August 16th his body was found on the roadside by a group of people, not far from the village of Balampilly; the body of the Carmelite of Mary Immaculate carried wounds to the face while the hands and legs had been crushed and the eyes gouged out.  His motorbike was found one kilometre on from the body.  According to witnesses, Saturday afternoon Fr. Thomas celebrated mass in Burgida, before setting out for another village in the district where he was to have celebrated Sunday mass. The last people to have seen him alive were religious sisters from Lingapetta convent, where the priest had stopped for supper before continuing his journey.

 “P. Thomas is a martyr – said Msgr. Marampudi, archbishop of Hyderabad, on hearing of the brutal murder.  The Indian Church is shocked and deeply saddened by this barbarous killing, the result of a growing climate of intolerance and violence against Christians in this country”. The prelate immediately made his way to the area where the massacre took place and speaks of a “traumatized” Christian community.  He forcefully denies accusations of “proselytism and forced conversions”. Given that there are “five families of Catholic faith” in the parish where Fr. Thomas was murdered.

Msgr. Marampudi Joji maintains the crime is the result of a climate of “jealousy of the Catholic Church”, whose only fault is that of trying to help develop the abandoned rural areas of the country and support and aid those who are “victims of violence and oppression”. “Priests and nuns – continues the archbishop of Hyderabad – have for decades been at the service of the least fortunate in India, and this makes them targets of forces of evil who do not want the marginalized and impoverished to become empowered”.

 

The remains of Fr. Thomas Pandippallyil will be laid to rest on Wednesday in the Carmelite provincial house in Balampilly: the priest was actively involved in educational field. He joined the Chanda mission of the CMI on 24th June 1987. He was ordained a priest in 2002. He was the rector for the Chanda mission province of the CMI, and also worked as hospital administrator, school manager and mission centre director.

[redstateconfidential]

“P. Thomas is a martyr –

[NYer]

“Father Thomas is a martyr: he sacrificed his life for the poor and marginalised. But he did not die in vain, because his body and his blood enrich the Church in India, particularly the Church in Andhra Pradesh”.

Blessed are you, O Church, garden of the Beloved.
From a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, you have grown,
Your roots are in firm soil, sheltered from the winds;
In your branches are the martyrs, they are a display of blood shed for the faith.
The birds quench their thirst at this marvel.
Psalms and prophecies fill your vast space.
You are the land of the Spirit, the meeting place of the nations.
Blessed are you, dwelling place of the guest, neighbor of the One who is near.
Maronite Morning Prayer

[Liberty2007]

My guess is it the perps were not Hindu, sounds like the religion of Piece ™

[Thorin]

>>>>>My guess is it the perps were not Hindu, sounds like the religion of Piece ™

Hindus have attacked and killed Catholic clergy in India before this.

[vladimir998]

Actually Hindus are worse than Muslims when it comes to persecution of Christians in India. The fact that he was not beheaded is another indicator that it was Hindus who were responsible.

[rochester_veteran]

Fr. Thomas Pandippallyil is a martyr and he died for his Faith but also because of his faith.

He was a Carmelite priest. We had a Carmelite priest from Zimbabwe speak at our church yesterday and we had a special collection for his missionary work.

[AliVeritas]

Another Thomas, eternal rest grant unto him.

[Radl]

I’m sure there will be someone behind a computer in comfortable suburbia who will ask, “Yeh but was he saved?”

[livius]

The attackers probably were Hindus. There is a very violent strain among them, and these folks have already attacked and killed numerous Christians.

[PapaBear3625]

A point of upset among upper-caste Hindus is that lower-caste Hindus who become Christian exit the caste system. This upsets the local power structure