Wednesday, April 2, 2008 at 1:01am
Sri Lanka Catholics launch peace drive
The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka launched a strong appeal to the government and to the Tamil rebels to respect the Marian shrine in Madhu, where an escalation in military operations also struck a few Christian sites in the area. Bishop of Mannar Rayappu Joseph raised the alarm and delivered a joint memorandum to the local authorities and to president Rajapakse and to the leaders of the Tamil Tigers, AsiaNews reported Wednesday.
To emphasize the urgency of the situation, 4,000 people gathered at the Cathedral of St. Sebastian in Mannar in response to the bishop's call for a day of prayer. Fr. Arul Raj, assistant pastor of the cathedral, told AsiaNews, "We have invited all Catholics and people of goodwill to join in our cry addressed to both the government of Sri Lanka and the Tigers to completely desist from using the Madhu Shrine for their military and political purposes."
On Tuesday the defence minister cited mortar fire launched by the rebels against the shrine. The hospital of Murunkan was also struck, together with a local mission house. At the time, there were three priests, four sisters and six laypeople at the shrine.
Finally, in his letter Bishop Joseph set Friday as a day of prayer and fasting and asks for the recitation of the rosary each Saturday "for peace in our dear land."
To emphasize the urgency of the situation, 4,000 people gathered at the Cathedral of St. Sebastian in Mannar in response to the bishop's call for a day of prayer. Fr. Arul Raj, assistant pastor of the cathedral, told AsiaNews, "We have invited all Catholics and people of goodwill to join in our cry addressed to both the government of Sri Lanka and the Tigers to completely desist from using the Madhu Shrine for their military and political purposes."
On Tuesday the defence minister cited mortar fire launched by the rebels against the shrine. The hospital of Murunkan was also struck, together with a local mission house. At the time, there were three priests, four sisters and six laypeople at the shrine.
Finally, in his letter Bishop Joseph set Friday as a day of prayer and fasting and asks for the recitation of the rosary each Saturday "for peace in our dear land."