Ecumenical prayer festival draws 400,000 - World - Brief Article

National Catholic Reporter, Nov 9, 2001 by Gill Donovan

INDIA: About 400,000 people attended an ecumenical prayer meeting in eastern India that went ahead despite Hindu militants' opposition, church leaders say.

Christians from Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal states joined the Oct. 17-21 "Jesus Calls" prayer rally in Rourkela town, Orissa.

Some Hindu groups opposed the gathering, but local authorities gave the necessary permission and protection to hold the meeting, which included healing sessions, Bible preaching and singing.

In 1999, Christian groups canceled a similar meeting at the same place following opposition from militant Hindu groups.

Jayant Kishan Sahu, Orissa state president of the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, said that Hindu groups opposed the gatherings because they feared attempts at mass conversion, but he admitted that he "saw nothing of the sort" during the recent program.

Sahu and other senior Hindu leaders even shared the dais with Christian dignitaries and main speaker Paul Dinakaran during a session.

"We congratulate the organizers for the peaceful conclusion," Sahu said.

He and the meeting organizers admitted that many Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains and Parsees attended the prayer rally led by Dinakaran, a Protestant evangelist, and his team.

Divine Word Bishop Alphonse Bilung of Rourkela, a co-organizer of the event that took place on a Catholic church campus, said that the prayer meeting "has strengthened Christian unity."

Hindu Jagaran Samukhy, which means vigilance forums, was one of the groups that asked district administrators to ban the meeting. Its memorandum alleged that the event aimed at "mass conversion" and would "encourage cow slaughter" as thousands stayed together for four days "in a festive mood."

Briefs, gathered from news services, correspondents and staff, are compiled and edited by Gill Donovan.