Sibling survivors of India’s
anti-Christian violence opt for consecrated life
 |
| The Cross. |
On December 27, Fr. Anand was ordained a priest of the Order
of Friars Minor and his sister, Anjali, pronounced her final vows as a member
of the Society of Saint Anne of Luzern. The two are survivors of India’s 2008
anti-Christian violence in Odisha state.
In 2018, Christians in eastern India’s Odisha state marked
the 10th anniversary of the terrible massacre and atrocities
inflicted on them by Hindu extremists. The year ended with the grace and
blessing of the Lord when two siblings who survived the persecution, offered
themselves to the Lord in consecrated life.
They are Fr. Anand Pradhan and Sr. Anjali
Pradhan, brother and sister, who 10 years ago had to flee to save their
lives from Hindu zealots who destroyed their home in Odisha’s Kandhamal
district, the epicentre of the anti-Christian violence.
The two have another sister, Sr. Jitima Pradhan,
a member of the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de
Paul.
On December 27, Fr. Anand was ordained a priest of the Order
of Friars Minor and his sister, Anjali, pronounced her final vows as a
member of the Society of Saint Anne of Luzern. A reception
was held in Mundakanga on December 29th in which more than
1,500 people, 15 priests and five nuns were present. Among them were also
7 Christian families and 80 local Hindus who
felicitated the siblings donating fruit and other gifts, according to the
custom of their religion.
Flight and reconciliation
It was on August 25, 2008, that hell broke loose on the
Christians of Kandhamal, with the extremists attacking them for the August 23
murder of Hindu leader Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati, even though Maoist
rebels claimed the assassination.
The Pradhan brother and sister who escaped were prevented by
Hindu families from returning and rebuilding their home in Mundakanga. It
was here that the two returned for a ceremony of reconciliation and
thanksgiving, in which the entire village joined the celebration.
Speaking during the ceremony, Fr. Anand Pradhan urged for
reconciliation. "We are Indians citizens of one country, of one
state, of one family. God created us in his image and likeness tolive in
unity, peace and prosperity. Reconciliation is the great virtue of the Catholic
faith," the Franciscan friar said.
Fr Anand entered the Arundaya Capuchin Ashram Minor Seminary
in Barakhoma in 2006, after finishing high school. He trained in the
Idukki district of Kerala and then continued his philosophy and theology
studies in Andhra Pradesh. He took final vows in 2017.
His sister, Sr. Anjali joined the Society of St. Ann, Luzern
in 2010. She completed her novitiate in Vishakapatnam and made her first
profession of faith on 21 November 2016.
Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar and the
Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) marked the 10th anniversary
of the 2008 massacre with a solemn Mass on August 25, 2018, in the state
capital, Bhubaneswar, and appealed for secularism, democracy, justice and peace
and brotherhood.
Once more, as has been evident through the centuries, the
ordeal of the Pradhan siblings prove how true the words of the 2nd century
Church Father, Tertullian are: “The blood of martyrs is the seed of
Christianity.” (Source: AsiaNews)
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