KATHMANDU (UCAN) -- Catholic, Protestant and Hindu leaders in Nepal have expressed concern about the anti-Christian violence in eastern India's Orissa state.

Bishop Anthony Sharma, apostolic vicar of Nepal, told UCA News on Sept. 4 that parishes all over Nepal are praying for the thousands of Christians affected by the violence.

"It is not possible for us to do anything concrete for the situation in Orissa, but we have been praying," Bishop Sharma said. He added that he has sent a letter of "sympathy and assurance" to Divine Word Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, who heads the Catholic Church in Orissa.

Nepal and India share a common border and both countries are predominantly Hindu, with Christians forming a very small percent of the local populations.

Violence erupted after Hindu religious leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his associates were killed on Aug. 23 in Orissa. Maoists reportedly claimed responsibility for the killings, but some Hindu groups allege Christians masterminded the killing, a charge all Christian Churches and denominations have denied. The 85-year-old Hindu leader, based in Orissa's Kandhamal district, had for several decades opposed conversions to Christianity.

Church sources in Orissa have confirmed 25 deaths in the violence there. They said 40,000-50,000 Christians went into hiding in Orissa's forests as Hindu radicals attacked some 300 villages and destroyed more than 4,000 houses. The attackers also burned several schools, churches, convents and presbyteries.

Damodar Gautam, president of the World Hindu Federation's Nepal chapter, has condemned the violence. "Whatever is happening in Orissa is not good. No religion accepts violence and it should be stopped immediately," he told UCA News on Sept. 4. The World Hindu Federation is an umbrella organization of Hindus all over the world.

"Both Christians and Hindus are at fault in Orissa, for they, being God's people, should not have resorted to violence," he said. "People of one religion killing people of another religion and resorting to violence is, for the Christians, going against the path Jesus Christ showed them and, for the Hindus, going away from satyam, sivam, sundaram," the Hindu tenets of truth, goodness and beauty.

In a press release issued on Sept. 4, Gautam urged the two sides in Orissa to "exercise restraint, shun violence and live in peace."

Binod Gurung, president of Nepal Catholic Society, the legal entity that represents the local Catholic Church, told UCA News on Sept. 3 that parishioners at Assumption Church, the main parish in Kathmandu, "are keeping the situation in Orissa in their personal prayers." He added, "Orissa is mentioned during Mass held at the Assumption Church every morning."

Gurung also pointed out that members of the lay Couples for Christ group in Kathmandu have been circulating short messages on mobile phones asking others to pray for victims of the anti-Christian violence.

"Pray urgently for families of believers and Church leaders who are in hiding with their families and kids in the jungles of Orissa; pray and forward (this message) urgently," one message reads.

Reverend Simon Gurung told UCA News on Sept. 4: "These things (anti-Christian violence) will happen. It is written in the Bible. We all have to be careful and not point fingers at others but understand them, pray for them and try to make them understand." Reverend Gurung is president of the National Council of Churches of Nepal, a Protestant umbrella organization.

He said Protestant groups are holding a special one-month prayer meeting in Kathmandu to pray for "all these things." Church ministries in Nepal can also be affected by such incidents, he added. "As such, we have to pray and be very careful."

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