Indian Mission Station Shaped by 2008 Violence Celebrates St. Michael Feast, Looks to Future with Hope

About 500 Catholics gathered at St. Michael’s Mission Station in Tiangia, in Odisha’s Kandhamal district in eastern India, on September 29 to celebrate the feast of St. Michael the Archangel and mark a new chapter in the life of a community shaped by violence and loss.

Auxiliary Bishop Rabindra Ranasingh of the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar presided over the Eucharistic celebration, joined by 12 priests and Catholics from Tiangia and neighboring communities.

In his homily, Bishop Ranasingh reflected on the meaning of the name Michael, “Who is like God?” and encouraged the faithful to reflect God’s love through their faith, service and daily lives.

“God is always there, guiding us through St. Michael,” the bishop said, encouraging the community to remain firm in faith.

He also highlighted the community’s contribution to the Church through vocations, noting that Tiangia has produced eight Catholic priests and 12 religious sisters. He encouraged families and young people to remain open to God’s call.

For the community, however, the feast carried a deeper significance because of Tiangia’s experience during the 2008 anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal.

Seven Catholics from the village were killed during the violence, including Fr. Bernard Digal of the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar and six lay Catholics. A memorial was later established in the village to remember those who died.

The memory of the victims remains closely connected with the community’s continuing life of faith.

“It is a proud moment for all of us to celebrate the patron feast of St. Michael, who intercedes for us to remain firm in faith despite pain, agony and threats to life,” said Anakleta Nayak, the village’s senior-most catechist and a survivor of the 2008 violence.

The feast also marked an important pastoral development with the establishment of St. Michael’s Mission Station. For a community that has experienced displacement, suffering and loss, the mission station brings the Church’s pastoral presence closer to Catholics in Tiangia and surrounding areas.

The celebration brought together remembrance and thanksgiving while highlighting the community’s continuing faith. The vocations emerging from Tiangia also point to the way its Catholic identity has been carried forward despite the hardships experienced by earlier generations.

St. Michael the Archangel is traditionally honored in the Catholic Church as a defender of God’s people. For the Catholics of Tiangia, his feast provided an opportunity to seek his intercession while celebrating the community’s journey.

The gathering therefore looked beyond the memory of violence toward the life of the Church today, a community sustained by faith, strengthened through pastoral care and seeking to pass that faith to a new generation.