Update on Mangalore situation

Mangalore Sept 14, 2008: In an incident that has shocked the peace loving Christians of Mangalore, a group of persons claiming to be from the RSS group have entered the Adoration Monastery Chapel at Milagres and desecrated the blessed sacrament and broken everything they could get their hands on. Fr. Prakash Monteiro from the Bishop's house speaking to Mangaloreancom informed that the incident occurred at 10:15 am today. He said the miscreants entered the chapel by breaking two windows. The chapel is being run by the cloistered carmel sisters, where Sr. Mary Carmel is the Mother Superior. Speaking to Mangalorean.com, the nuns of the Cloistered Carmel said that a group of youth about eight in number barged into the chapel around 10:15 am and started attacking everything in sight. The cloistered nuns were inside the enclosure and heard the sounds. There were about three lay people praying in the chapel. One of the persons who was praying caught hold of the youth who was climbing the altar and tried to stop him from breaking the sacrament but he did not succeed. The nuns said the sacrament fell on the floor and broke. The miscreants then went on a rampage and broke the crucifix, the oil lamps, the vases on the altar and then proceeded to destroy the statues.

Eye witnesses in the chapel said they were armed with big stones and heavy sticks. The nuns said though they tried to break the statue of Mother Mary by beating it with the stones, it did not break and not a scratch is seen on it. However, they did manage to break the statues of St. Joseph and St. Francis Xavier. People who have gathered around this area are shocked and in tears. The whole attack took about four to five minutes. The person who tried to stop them from desecrating the sacrament was also beaten up and is hospitalised. The police are on the premises now. Similar attacks have taken place in Belthangady, Kodaikal, Chikmangalore and Udupi Koloor, Chickmangalore, Kundapur, Karkal, Koppa, Balehanoor and Moodbidri.