Cross vandalized in Old Goa Indian Catholic February 12,2006 Panaji (ICNS) -- A roadside cross was knocked off its pedestal at Carambolim, near Old Goa on Feb. 9, the second case of vandalism in nine days on Church premises in this West Indian coastal state. Local people later re-installed the cross, Church officials said.
Footprints were also noticed on the pedestal, which incidentally was whitewashed the previous day. Believed to be over 100 years old, the cross is located barely 1.5 kms from the Old Goa church complex. "The concrete cross was forcibly removed from the seven-foot pedestal and was hurled on the ground sometime between Wednesday night and early Thursday morning," police inspector V Karpe told Indian Catholic. A police team led by Karpe brought the defiled cross to the police station for safe custody. "We are shocked at such incidents of vandalism on places of worship," village Sarpanch Wilson Valladares said. This is the second cross to be vandalized since January 31 when another roadside cross was broken into pieces at Carona-Aldona. On that occasion, miscreants scribed the words 'Shree Pardeshi' (Mr Foreigner) on the pedstal. The January 31 incident was just four days after the sacred Tabernacle was pulled out from Sts Cosmos and Damian Church at Bogmalo, 30 kilometers south of the state capital Panaji, and flung on a nearby hill along with the consecrated hosts. Between June and July 2005, as many as four crosses were desecrated at various places in the state. Meanwhile, the executive committee of state unit of the Congress has demanded that the government take strong action against those involved in vandalizing places of worship in the state.