Rome, Italy, Nov 12, 2008 / 01:10 pm (CNA).- Speaking to thousands of the faithful gathered in the city of Bharananganam in India, the prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, called for an end to the anti-Christian violence, “as a sign of authentic respect for the religious freedom of all the sons and daughters of India.”

According to the L’Osservatore Romano, during his visit to the country to mark the canonization of the first saint of India, Alfonsa de la Inmaculada, the cardinal said on Sunday, “Non-violence is the only possible solution to every kind of conflict and this begins with the resolve to instill fraternal solidarity.”

“Know that Benedict XVI has in his heart all those suffering in Orissa and other places in your country,” the cardinal said.  “The Pope prays that peace, like our prayer for daily bread, will be granted to all of India and that all signs of discrimination will disappear.”

“Neither poverty nor difficulties are signs that God has abandoned us,” he continued.  “He is always present wherever his children have difficulties. He comforts us and is our strength.  In remembering Saint Alfonsa, may our pilgrimage through life be a journey begun with simplicity and the dignity of being inheritors of the Spirit of God,” the cardinal said.

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