KARACHI: Thousands of Catholics endured body searches here on Sunday as they filed into St Anthony’s church to celebrate the birth of Mother Mary. This was the first time that Christian worshippers in the city were submitted to a body search.
Church wardens frisked males with the help of a hand-held metal detector and checked the purses of all female devotees. "Though the step was unusual, it was taken to safeguard the congregation from any terror attack and infiltration from the outside," a church worker said. "A small lapse of security on our part could have resulted in chaos," he said, explaining that the heavy contingent of rangers and policemen outside the church was meant to deter terrorists at the gate. "But if the attackers disguised themselves and came into the church, then what could we have done?" he asked. On feasts days St Anthony's church attracts the single biggest congregation of Christians in Karachi. Under those circumstances, he said, the church officials had no option but to augment security provisions for the worshippers. The Archbishop of Karachi Simeon Pereira, Fr. Melito Dias and Fr. Benny Travas concelebrated the feast-day mass held three days before the first anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks on the United States. In his homily message, Fr Travas cautioned the people against asking for mere material favours from Mary and ignoring the spiritual gifts she could ask God to endow us with. Later the priests prayed for world and regional peace and urged the congregation to work hard for that goal. After the mass the congregation knelt down to offer the final novena prayer ahead of commemorating the birth of Our Lady. The prayer was partly read out in Tamil, a language that a majority of the devotees did not understand but which had come to symbolise the piety of those who first began the devotions to Mary here. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Finance - Get real-time stock quotes http://finance.yahoo.com =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
