Bomb blast kills two at Nepal church: CEN 5.29.09

A bomb blast at a Roman Catholic Church in Nepal has killed two and wounded a dozen more. The May 23 attack on the Church of the Assumption in Lalitpur, three miles south of the capital Kathmandu, comes amidst growing political instability in Nepal. On May 4, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who is also known by his guerilla nom de guerre “Prachanda” or “fierce”, resigned after President Ram Baran Yaday refused to relieve army chief of staff General Rookmangud Katawal. The Maoists refused to endorse a replacement and a leader of the Communist UML party, Madhay Kumar Nepal was elected Prime Minister, hours after the attack on the Catholic Church. The Rev Normal Beale, priest in charge of the Church of Christ Our Peace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia a former missionary and Dean of the Anglican Church in Nepal told The Church of England Newspaper: “We are shocked and saddened by the violence used against Christians while worshipping in Nepal this morning. We deplore the use of terror and the targeting of innocent civilians in this atrocity.” Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper.