Mgr Oswald Gomis (Profile)
Mgr Oswald Thomas Colman Gomis, 72 years, was appointed as Archbishop of the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo in 2002. Between 1998 and 2002 he was president of the country's Bishops' Conference. He is currently secretary-general of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC). A member of the National Peace Committee, the prelate is personally committed in the social sector.
Chief among the struggles he faces together with other representatives of the country's Catholic Church and Christian leaders is a bid to block the enactment of two "dangerous" anti-conversion laws, as well as another battle against the introduction of an "insidious" law on women's rights. The first two are aimed at persecuting as illegal conversion from Buddhism. The second would absorb CEDAW the UN Convention on the elimination on all forms of discrimination against women into the national legislation. While recognizing the importance of safeguarding women, the bishops' conference fears that CEDAW "encourages the legalisation of all forms of abortion". In Sri Lanka, abortion is only allowed in cases where the mother's life is in danger.
Sri Lanka ranks as the second hardest-hit country in the tsunami. In the months following the disaster, Mgr Gomis was on the frontline of taking help to victims. As soon as he heard about the disaster on 26 December last, the archbishop left for a three-day trip to the most badly damaged areas. In many messages, even through AsiaNews, the prelate called the people to show solidarity without ethnic or religious discrimination in a bid to recover from the natural disaster.
The archbishop has called on the government several times to commit itself to seeking peace with the Tamil Tigers and to conduct "politics of values" without discrimination.
.png)
