A delegation of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of India (CBCI) on April 7 visited the affected areas in Odisha’s Sundargarh where Marian statues were vandalised on Easter.

On April 1, during the late night of Easter Sunday, few “anti- social” elements vandalised a grotto outside the compound of St Thomas Church, Salangabahal, and mutilated the statues of Mother Mary and baby Jesus in the grotto. Marian statue in another grotto in Gyanpali village too was smashed and the goons attempted to burn the Church of the Victory of the Cross in Bihabandh, the Diocese of Rourkela.

To make the situation graver, theheadofastatueofabullofa Shiva Temple in the vicinity was also found chopped off.

The bishops’ delegation included Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, CBCI Secretary General, Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, the Regional Chairman of the Odisha Catholic Bishops’ Council, Bishop Kishor Kumar Kujur of Rourkela, Bishop Telesphore Bilung, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Arch- diocese of Ranchi, and Emeritus Bishop Alphonse Bilung of Rourkela.

The church did not link the incident with any of the radical groups or Hindutva groups as such. However, it has accused the state of showing apathy in dealing with such cases.

“It appears that the anti-social elements targeted the holy places of two communities seeking to create a communal divide,” it reads further.