Ready to die for Christ, Bangalore Archbishop tells Yeddyurappa

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Ready_to_die_for_Christ_Bangalore_Archbishop_tells_Yeddyurappa/articleshow/3515705.cms

[The Economic Times] 24 Sep 2008--BJP chief minister B S Yeddyurappa got a taste of the wrath and anguish of the Christians over the continued attacks against churches in different parts of Karnataka from no less a person than the Archbishop of Bangalore Rev Dr Bernard Moras when he bluntly said that he was ``ready to shed blood and give his life for Christ.’’

When the chief minister called on the Archbishop along with senior cabinet colleagues, including home minister Dr V S Acharya, on Monday afternoon soon after an emergency cabinet meeting, a visibly upset Dr Moras, who returned from a visit to the Holy Land early Monday morning, greeted the visitors with a grim face without the customary geniality and blurted out his anguish: "I am deeply hurt and saddened. This is not a happy occasion to meet the head of the state."

"The church and the entire Christian community not only in Karnataka but all over India and even abroad is terribly angry and upset at the desecration of its sacred places, especially the blessed sacrament in the sanctum sanctorum, which is the Living Body of Christ," the Archbishop said deploring the attempts to dismiss the incidents as minor involving petty thefts or burglary.

"For Christians, the blessed sacrament is the most holy religious symbol signifying the body and blood of Christ. I am prepared to shed blood and give my life for the cause of Christ and Christians,’’ he said.