ANGAMALY (Kerala): Two churches, one of them among the oldest in India, were vandalised by unidentified people in the early hours of Sunday at Akapparambu in Nedumbassery panchayat, about 35 km from Kochi city.
A seven-foot statue of Christ in the cemetery of the 467-year-old Garvasis and Prothasis Church, belonging to the Syro-Malabar Church, was broken and knocked off its pedestal. Next door, at the Mar Sabore Afroth Syrian Cathedral Church, the glass windows of a chamber that houses the sandalwood cot used by St. Paulose Mar Athanasius were smashed. The cathedral, said to have been built in 825 A.D., is one of the ancient churches of the Jacobites.
Fr. Paulose Arackaparambil, vicar at the cathedral church, told The Hindu that the glass windows must have been smashed between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. As soon as a church employee informed him of the incident, he reported it to the police and they arrived soon. At the Catholic church, the destruction of the statue was noticed by early worshippers and church staff.
While the police and church authorities suspect a deliberate attempt to instigate communal ire, Nedumbassery and nearby panchayats, which are home to scores of churches of various denominations, remained calm.
http://www.hindu.com/2008/09/22/stories/2008092256011300.htm
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