India: Prayers for wellbeing of Christian community

Source: Fides News

Christians in India observed 1 October as a special day of prayer for the Christian communities present in India and will pray throughout October, in communion with Pope Francis. "It is the second year in which a special prayer vigil is organised at a national level, to entrust Indian Christians to God in times when they are still touched by violence and persecution", explained one of the organisers of the day. "Indian Christians desperately need to resort to continuous, ardent, coherent prayer, full of faith, for the persecuted Church and against the forces of evil, as Pope Francis asks", he said.

The Indian Christians praying in October will invoke divine protection on all the communities of baptised present in India. They will pray for the release of the faithful who are still held in prisons, that God may give them perseverance and faith in facing injustice, persecution, pressure to abandon faith. They will also pray for falsely incriminated Christians, in various states of India, on the basis of the so-called anti-conversion laws in force.

Another special intention is to ask God for the grace to forgive persecutors, recalling that "the prophet Daniel did not hate his persecutors, but humbled himself and sought the mercy of God, to give a testimony of true love".
The Indian organisation 'Persecution Relief', among the organisers of the day of prayer, counted 40 cases of violence against Christians in India from August to September 2018.