India, the martyrdom of a nun helps Church spreading the Gospel
Udainagar (AsiaNews/Ucan) - Sister Rani Maria was stabbed to death 10 years ago, but her sacrifice has made missioners' work less difficult in a central Indian region. Since the Clarist nun's death, people in the area of Udainagar have begun to trust the Catholic Church and "no longer look at it with any suspicion," according to Father Cyril Coutinho, local parish priest.
Udainagar is in Madhya Pradesh, 820 kilometers south of New Delhi. Some days ago a solemn Mass and opening of a newly built church near the nun's tomb marked the anniversary of her death.
On that day 10 years ago, an assailant attacked the nun on a bus and he stabbed her more than 50. The killer, now serving a life sentence, said at his trial that people opposed to Sister Maria's work hired him to kill her.
Local bishop George Anathil of Indore, who led the memorial Mass, said in his homily that the Church has "overcome" the sorrows of Sister Maria's murder over the years and is now being blessed through her intercession. The diocese has initiated steps to begin her canonization cause.
According to the bishop many have experienced special favors after praying to her. The Church is proud of the nun, who sacrificed her life to fight injustice against the poor, he said. During the offertory, the slain nun's niece broke bread to symbolize her aunt's sacrifice.
Udainagar parish has only one Catholic family, but about 200 tribal people who knew the late nun attended the Mass. Hundreds of priests and nuns working in the region also attended the ceremonies.
Father Coutinho said people living around Udainagar have begun to realize the nun's "great contributions." This has helped the Church's work among the local people, who are all Hindus.
The pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian people's party) rules the state, where several attacks on Christians have occurred the past few years.
A parish house was the only Church building in Udainagar before Sister Maria's death. Since then, the parish has built a monastery named after the nun in the compound, where it holds special prayers, meditation and other spiritual programs. The parish also has started a primary school in her name.
Several Hindu villagers who visited the nun's tomb on the anniversary said she was killed because her work upset moneylenders and feudal lords who had exploited the villagers. Madan Rawat, 35, recalled a meeting Sister Maria led in his village at which the nun convinced the villagers to fight together against injustice and exploitation. She helped them "grow together," said Rawat, who watched the ceremonies at the church from under a roadside tree near the nun's tomb.
Another person who recalled Sister Maria's village visits was Sharati Bai, a Hindu tribal woman. During those visits, the nun taught them about health care, hygiene and proper nourishment, and education of children. "I have not found any other sister so loving and caring," Bai said, also standing beside the tomb. She said she came to the tomb to express her gratitude for the "good work" the nun had done in her village. The woman, who cannot read, said Sister Maria had come to the villagers' rescue on many occasions. She remembers that the slain nun helped them with money and seeds for farming, taught them to conserve water and helped them to dig wells.
Also recalling Sister Maria's work, Shiv Jia said the nun had done "only good works." The 60-year-old Hindu villager added that he had "neither heard nor seen her doing anything wrong." Nodding in agreement, Munnalal Lahir, 18, said he was grateful to the nun for forcing his parents to send him to school.
Bishop Anathil had declared the nun's tomb a pilgrimage site, to keep her memory alive. He stressed that her "heroic sacrifice" would help strengthen people's faith. She would be a "great inspiration to the people and spiritual support".
Samandar Singh, the man who killed Sister Maria, has publicly repented for the crime, saying he now realizes he "committed the most reprehensible sin by taking the life of an angel who worked for the poor."
In 2002 the nun's sister, also a Clarist nun, Sister Selmy Paul, met Singh in prison during the Hindu festival of Rakshabandan and symbolically accepted him as her brother by tying a thread around his wrist.
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