‘Premeditated ambush’

A violent mob ambushed two Catholic priests, two nuns, and a catechist in eastern India earlier this week, as they were leaving a village following a memorial Mass, according to an Aug. 8 report from Agenzia Fides.

The attackers, reportedly about 70 members of the militant Hindu nationalist group Bajrang Dal, accused the group of attempting religious conversions — allegations Church leaders called false and inflammatory. India’s Latin Rite bishops later condemned the assault, describing it as “disturbing and out of place,” according to Agenzia Fides.

The incident occurred Aug. 6 after Fathers Nirappel and Lijo, joined by religious sisters and a catechist, arrived at the local mission station around 5 p.m. for the second anniversary of two Catholics’ deaths. The liturgy began after 6 p.m., timed to when farmers were returning from the fields. As they left the village around 9 p.m., they were attacked.

“Less than half a kilometer from the village, in a narrow, wooded area, a group of about 70 men from the Bajrang Dal was waiting for us,” said Fr. Lijo in a statement released by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CCBI). “First, they attacked our catechist, who was riding a motorcycle. They brutally beat him, dismantled the motorcycle, emptied the fuel tank, and threw him away.”

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