Archbishop asks government to check church burglars, vandals

Panaji, Mar 16 (UNI) Expressing serious concern over a series of burglaries, vandalism and desecration of several places and symbols of worship belonging to minority communities in the last 14 months, Archbishop of Goa and Daman Filipe Neri Ferrao here today sought intervention of the civil administration to restore confidence among minorities.

''In spite of repeated requests and appeals to the concerned authorities, there seems to be certain indifference in tackling the matter and nabbing the culprits. We are indeed deeply pained with this disturbing trend,'' he said in a statement.

At the same time, he urged the people, particularly Christians, to remain ''calm and unprovoked at such violent acts''.

Asking the civil administration to take ''prompt and effective steps and thereby restore the confidence of the people who are wondering whether the intelligence has collapsed in our state'', the Archbishop said Goa reported a host of burglaries churches or chapels, besides a number of incidents of vandalism, affecting the revered religious symbol in the last 14 months.

Appreciating the solidarity shown by the people of other faiths in rebuilding the vandalised cross and its restoration, to a certain extent, offers a sense of security to the aggrieved Christian community of the locality, he said.

''This noble act surely goes to confirm that those who resort to such destruction do not belong to any religious community, since violence has neither religion nor God,'' he added.

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