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‘The church is like our home. We were shattered when it was gutted.’
‘The manner in which the police has handled the cases is disappointing.’
Members of Delhi’s St Sebastian’s, which was gutted down last year, are resilient. Our ‘home’ is lost, but not our faith, they say, as Rediff.com’s contributor Upasna Pandey listens in.
There’s a famous adage, ‘God resides not in buildings but in the hearts of the faithful.’ For Catholics living near St Sebastian’s church in Delhi’s DilshadGarden, this adage holds true.
Despite the church being gutted in a blaze late last year, services have not been interrupted even for a day, as the members of the church have found alternate spaces around to carry out their services.
“The church will require at least Rs 60-70 lakh to repair the damage; donations have been coming in. We hope to start work in a few months,” said Delhi Catholic Archdiocese spokesperson Savarimuthu Shankar.
Many of the members of the church said they were dejected and shocked when the church burnt down. “The church is like our home. All important events in my family, for my kids, including their baptism have happened here. My son is 12 and he is an altar boy. We were, of course, shattered when we found out about the incident,” says Mini Shijan, a resident staff nurse at the GuruTeghBahadurHospital, which is near the church.
St Sebastian’s Church parish priest Father Anthony Francis said, “On weekdays, the Sneha Sadan is used for prayers, while on Sunday, as crowds tend to be larger, the Mother Teresa Leprosy centre, which is situated nearby, is used.”
Following the four attacks on Delhi churches, the Delhi police told the Union home ministry that none of the attacks were perpetuated by any group and that they were cases of theft, or stone pelting.
However, Shankar says the attacks have been “downplayed”. “The manner in which the police has handled the cases is disappointing. On the first day, police said there may have been a short circuit, but all the lights were working and there was no fault in the electricity meter too. But after some time, we were told that cops had ruled out this angle and call records of people who were around the church at the time of the incident were being investigated. But, now we read about media reports that Delhi police has submitted its report but the truth has not been uncovered.”
Shankar added that the Delhi Catholic Archdiocese had met the LG and union minister Venkaiah Naidu post the incident in DilshadGarden. “Both assured that the government would be able to offer compensation for the incidents in case the probe proves the churches have been vandalised.”
“There has been specific damage to all the churches in all the incidents. In one incident, there was damage done to the statue of Our Lady and a window pane was broken. In others, there was theft. The police seemed more keen on cleaning up everything instead of preserving the evidence of the damage,” he added.
Shankar further pointed out that there a few members of the community who do not expect much response from the government. However, there are a few who view the issue differently.
Pauline, a senior staff nurse at GTB Hospital, another regular visitor at the St Sebastian’s Church says, “We were shocked by the incident but we forgive those who have damaged the church. Our faith has grown stronger. God made sure an alternate building was ready next door to the church and we are able to continue with our prayers without any interruption.”
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