Bishop from India’s Manipur state urges Catholics to help amid “terrible” violence

Archbishop Linus Neli of Imphal, India has said the Christian community in conflict-torn Manipur state “really needs help” as they cope with the fallout of religious and ethnic violence.

Speaking to OSV News in Ireland, where he addressed congregations in Dublin and Belfast, Archbishop Neli said conditions “are very hard” in Manipur in north-eastern India.

He was visiting Ireland as a guest of pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need for the so-called “Red Week,” or “Week of Witness,” which highlights the plight of Christians persecuted and discriminated against for their faith.

“Just before I came … there was an escalation in violence—the anger, hatred and resentment—it is still at the peak of it,” he explained.

“Last week over 10 people, including women and children, were abducted and killed in ethnic clashes” between the Kuki, a mostly Christian group, and Meitei, a Hindu-Sanamahi majority group.

“In May 2023, ethnic clashes between these two communities resulted in the death of hundreds and displacement of more than 60,000 people still languishing in relief camps,” the archbishop said.

Appealing for financial, moral and spiritual support for Christians in the north-east Indian state sitting east of Bangladesh and bordering Myanmar, the 67-year-old Archbishop Neli, who was appointed by Pope Francis in October 2023, said the needs are “increasing day by day.”