Burned churches, raped nuns and murdered missionaries are just a few images that characterize what has been happening to the Christians of Orissa, a state on the East Coast of India, since the beginning of August.

Although only about 2.5 percent of Indians are Christians, that figure rises to 20 percent in some areas of Orissa. Due to the recent surge in the number of Christians in the region, Hindu nationalist extremists have accused them of forced conversions, justifying the destruction of homes and church properties.

A further pretext for this persecution was the blaming of Christians for the death of a Hindu nationalist politician, who was in reality killed by Maoist guerrillas. According to the Aid to the Church in Need (a non-profit organization), about 100 Christians have been killed, and 50,000 are homeless. Yet most Western Christians are unaware of this bloodshed.

The silence of the world regarding these massacres is appalling. With the exception of the Pope, I can recall no head of state that has condemned these killings. Meanwhile, the media around the world has ignored the recent tragedy of Christians in India. However, Creighton students must be a lonely sign of contradiction in this sea of apathy.

What the Christians of India (and Iraq, and all areas of the world where they are persecuted) need is our prayers. As a campus community that claims to be devoted to creating a more just world on the basis of Christ’s teachings, Creighton should more vocally condemn these atrocities.

While there is nothing wrong with Creighton’s recent prayer service for Jesuits killed in El Salvador in 1989, it is rather strange that more attention on campus is given to six clergymen murdered almost 20 years ago than to the thousands of Christians who die for their faith today.

It is also odd that Creighton’s Center for Service and Justice has not organized any activities that would increase awareness about these forgotten martyrs or raise money to provide basic humanitarian services for homeless survivors.

Above all, Creighton students should pray the Church in India grows from this tragedy and we ourselves can learn from these Indian Christians.

Although it may seem paradoxical, mass martyrdom leads to the strengthening of the faith. “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,” wrote the Christian author Tertullian in the second century.

Much more recently, attempts by the former Soviet Union to ban religion by violent means led to opposite results, while the “priest block” of the Dachau concentration camp (where Catholic, Lutheran and Orthodox clergy were detained for anti-Nazi activities) was the only source of hope to many prisoners.

Likewise, Indian Christians who are faced with examples of martyrs around them may be inspired by their example of faith. The socially conscious Indian churches continue to provide disproportionate education and health care to India’s poor in the face of such violence.

May Creighton’s Christian students learn from this example and commit to being charitable and faithful even under the threat of death, the ultimate test of moral strength.