Persecuted Christians in India Celebrate Unity

ICC Note:

The persecuted Christian community of India takes time each year to celebrate a value that keeps their community strong. Although Christians only make a small portion of India's exploding population, Christians find the value of unity important. These Christians face persecution from radical Hindus and sometimes local governments. Often, anti-forced conversion laws are used to persecute Christians without fear of being arrested. Will the value of unity help Christians withstand the persecution they face in India? 

1/17/2013 India (ChristianRegister) - This year Christians around the world are being asked to learn about unity from India.

Prayers and readings for the Jan. 18-25 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity were prepared by members of the Student Christian Movement in India.

Each year the writing team for the ecumenical event comes from a different country. In 2014 Canadians will choose the readings and make Bible and liturgy suggestions.

The 105-year-old annual event is jointly sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the World Council of Churches’ Faith and Order Commission.

For India’s tiny Christian minority, less than 2.5 per cent of India’s 1.2 billion people, unity has become more than an ideal. It’s a real, immediate need, said singer and sitar player Chris Dircan Hale.

“They’ve faced opposition and persecution. That has brought people together,” Hale told The Catholic Register.

“People really have suffered. This is a good time to think about Christian unity.”

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Tags: Asia, India

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