Christians in the eastern Indian state of Odisha seem elated that Pope Francis has created a commission for new martyrs. They hope the new commission would address their demand that the Church recognize as martyrs their people killed during the 2008 anti-Christian violence in Odisha’s Kandhamal district.
“The Vatican move is a welcome step in the right direction,” says Ajay Kumar Sin-gh, a human rights activist and part of a seven-member committee that prepared a document on the Kandhamal victims.
Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, the head of the Catholic Church in Odisha, points out that the Kandhamal Christians were killed solely because of their “unwavering faith” in their faith.
“They were not criminals, nor were they anti-socials or a burden on society. They were well-liked community members,” asserted the Divine Word prelate in his foreword of the book “Kandhamal Massacred in Anti-Christian violence in 2007-2008” sent to the Vatican for the recognition of 36 Catholic martyrs of Kandhamal.