Kandhamal had become synonym for communal carnage. Its land was soaked with the blood of scores of Christians massacred. Its horizon was blanketed with smoke smoldering from the houses and worshiping places of Christians which were set on fire; its air was filled with venom of hate-mongers of Hindutva breed. 

Fifteen years down the line, 35 stars are emerging from the same place to brighten its gloomy sky. The announcement by the Vatican Congregation for the Cause of Saints granting permission for initiating the process of beatification of 35 martyrs of Kandhamal in Odisha, who gave up their life for their faith during the 2008 anti-Christian riots, is nothing less than a miracle. From now on, they will be called ‘Servants of God’ and it is the first step towards sainthood. 

It is only in the rarest of the rare occasion that Vatican gives its green signal for initiating the beatification of a group of persons. Some of the group canonization in the past are the 120 martyr saints of China, 103 Korean martyrs, 117 Vietnamese martyrs and French Revolutionary martyrs. It is of unprecedented significance that 34 of the 35 Kandhamal martyrs are lay people, the only other person being a priest. Among the lay people, 11 are women. India has hitherto got just one lay person saint in Devasahayam Pillai. This makes the Vatican announcement an epoch-making one.

The Church in Kandhamal is less than two centuries old. But faith of the Christians there is deeper than the deepest seas and stronger than the strongest. The orgy of violence that hit Kandhamal put their faith to test. The Hindutva goons put to use the most gruesome methods like beheading, strangulation, setting on fire, and many more cruel measures to break the back of their faith. Houses of umpteen number of Christians were vandalised; worshiping places demolished; thousands were forced to leave their hearth and home and live in jungles for days together. But, many of them like Kantheswar Digal, Fr. Bernard Digal and 33 others, whose process of beatification is underway, preferred to give up their life rather than giving up faith. Their faith in Lord Jesus Christ could not be lessened even a bit by the most heinous and brutal attacks unleashed on them. This should be an eye-opener for those who boast of caste, rite or similar mundane things as yardstick of faith.    

The message from the martyrs of Kandhamal is loud and clear. It is not only priests, nuns and religious but the lay people too can be on the way to becoming saints if their lives measure up to the Christian faith. It is neither rituals and rubrics, nor ceremonies and celebrations that make one truly Christian. 

The unadulterated faith in Jesus Christ and observance of the core values He preached should be the soul of our Christian life. That is the message coming from the martyrs of Kandhamal. 

There is a message for the Church in India to focus on strengthening the faith of the people rather than splitting its energy on amassing material possessions. The growth of the Church lies in strengthening its spiritual base, not enlarging its physical empire. It is a bit shocking that the Vatican announcement has not made much ripples among the political circles or in the media.