Marshall Mendonza <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Fri Sep 19 03:56:58 PDT 2008 > Friday, September 19, 2008 > 150-year-old cathedral set afire in Madhya Pradesh > Bhopal: A 150-year-old church in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur town was set on fire by two unidentified men, police said on Friday. > Mario observes: > I noticed this post when it first appeared and noticed an error of fact in Marshall's report, which I informed him of, then set it aside to correct on Goanet and promptly forgot about it until reminded today in a conversation with an old friend. > This St. Peter & Paul Cathedral in my hometown of Jabalpur is where I was baptized, confirmed, celebrated my First Holy Communion, served my first Mass, joined the choir to impress the Convent girls, and sneaked my first sip of wine when sent to the cellar to retrieve a bottle for Mass. > The original colonial-era Cathedral, complete with a tall bell tower, whose bells could be heard for miles around, was built by the British over a 100 years old. However, the original Cathedral of my youth was destroyed several years ago by an earthquake that hit central India. That magnificent old bell tower collapsed and the cracks in the walls were so severe that re-building the structure was impossible. > The diocese then cleared the debris and built a new Cathedral with modern architecture. It was this relatively new Cathedral that was attacked and vandalised in late September. >
