Murdered Priest: Church calls for “imperative” commitment to peace
Colombo (AsiaNews) – An urgent appeal to the political authorities and Tamil rebels to “re-establish peace” in Sri Lanka has been launched by the local Church. Still under the shock from the death of Fr. Nicholaspilai Packiyaranjith, killed by a land mine on September 26th in the North of the country, the Catholic community and its religious leaders have once again appealed to both sides of the conflict to return to the negotiation table.
Numerous declarations followed the death of 40 year old Fr. Packiyaranjith, Mannar district co-ordinator for the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). Condemning the assassination, Archbishop Oswald Gomis of Colombo underlined that “peace is an urgent imperative”. The prelate is asking: “for how long will this slaughter go on? We are praying that this incident spurs the peace process on, so that these victims will not have died in vain”.
Bishop of Mannar, Msgr. Rayappu Joseph, along with the JRS asks “the International community and all men and women of goodwill to condemn this killing and effectively voice their strong condemnation of the ongoing senseless war”. The Bishop also appeals to the local parties to open the path of political negotiations and seek civilised methods of ushering in much awaited Peace in this country. The same demands are issued by Caritas Sri Lanka (Sedec) as well as by the commission for Justice and Peace.
For its part in an official statement the Sri Lankan Bishops conference (CBCSL), put peace as the “most urgent issue of the highest priority for the country”. Above all in the wake of the violent death of Fr. Packiyaranjith “it is our fervent wish and prayer that this senseless violence and the culture of death that have overtaken our land would come to an end and that law and order be established forthwith”. And also the Conference of the Major Religious Superiors (CMRS) of the Catholic church are also issuing a special statement about the death of Father Packiyaranjith, which urges the government and rebels to stop all violence against humanitarian workers and civilians and to seek a political solution based on respect for all communities.
Sri Lanka’s civil war has been ongoing for over 20 years now between the Liberation Tigers Of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) – who claim the rights to an independent state for their ethnic minority in the north – and the governing army. A ceasefire was signed in 2002, but is has lost all value. About 5 thousand people have perished in violence between the military and Tamil tigers since the beginning of 2006. Over 70 thousand have died since the war first started in 1983, while hundreds of thousands have become refugees.
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