Under Cloud of Violence, Malaysian Christians Come Together

They begin arriving in the soft morning light, before the tropical humidity descends: Indian women in vibrant colored saris, an elderly Chinese woman leaning heavily on her walking stick, parents carrying bleary-eyed young children.

Some stop to pray at a shrine that holds a statue of the Virgin Mary, where candles flicker in a light breeze.

Pews in the 50-year-old Catholic Assumption Church in Kuala Lumpur filled quickly on Sunday before the hymns began, leaving only standing room. Outside, more parishioners listened to the service via loudspeakers in the church compound, where a little more than a week ago a Molotov cocktail exploded.