Civil strife is main topic as Pope meets with Sri Lankan leader
December 01, 2008
Sri Lanka's President Mahinda Rajapaksa met with Pope Benedict XVI in a private audience on Monday, December 1. The Sri Lankan leader subsequently spoke with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Secretary for Relations with States.
A brief statement released by the Vatican after the visit indicated that the Pope's talk with Rajapaksa centered on the current situation in Sri Lanka, where the government continues to battle with Tamil Tiger rebels. The Vatican communiqué emphasized "the necessity of meeting the basic needs of the deeply-affected civilian population and consolidating the path of dialogue and negotiation, which is the only way to reach a just and lasting political solution to the ongoing conflict." The Pope also spoke of the need to maintain the country's full commitment to religious freedom.
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