The Catholic Church has postponed a function to celebrate the Vatican recognition of the Kandhamal martyrs after the civil administration denied security.
More than 10,000 people were expected to attend the January 9 function at Raikia to honor 35 Servants of God who were martyred for their faith during the 2008 anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal, a district in the eastern Indian state of Odisha.
The Vatican on October 2, 2023, gave the archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar a go-ahead to start the beatification process for the martyrs.
A message from Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli to Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar said the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints has granted “no objection” to initiate the process of beatification for the Servant of God Kanteeswar Digal and companions, “martyrs of Kandhamal.”
The archdiocese shared the letter with the media on October 15.
It says the nuncio is pleased to forward the letter from the dicastery to the archbishop.
The dicastery was responding to Archbishop Barwa’s May 31 letter requesting the Vatican to consider beatification for the 35.