The Catholic Church obser-ved the Holy Week with chur-ches packed with refugees in the north-eastern Indian state of Manipur where ethnic violence has raged for 11 months.
Fr Varghese Velickakam, vicar general of Imphal archdiocese that covers the entire state, said they had Palm Sunday services on March 24 “practically in every parish centre.” “Even in parishes with a large number of refugees the churches were packed for Psalm Sunday liturgical services,” the priest told on March 26, when the Church conducted Chrism Mass, another ritual in the week commemorating Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. The violence between Manipur’s largely Hindu Meitei majority and the predominantly Christian Kuki-Zo minority communities began on May 3, 2023. It has so far claimed nearly 200 lives and rendered thousands homeless. Hundreds have taken refuge in Don Bosco Parish in Churachandpur town and in St.Mary’s Parish at Tuibong in Churachandpur district.
“The situation is slowly settling down. The refugees are already in the separated area. We are trying to rehabilitate them. Con-struction is going on. Support is coming from different parts of the country and from their own community,” explained Fr Velikakkam, the convener of the relief and rehabilitation committee.
In the packed Imphal Cathedral, new Archbishop Linus Neli was the main celebrant. A report from Archbishop Neli’s predecessor Archbishop Dominic Lumon on June 15, 2023, said the violence claimed 150 people until then. More than 200 Kuki villages with one or more churches were attacked. “About 249 churches belonging to the Meitei Christians have been destroyed. All these destructions took place with precision within 36 hours of the start of violence,” Archbishop Lumon’s report said.