Sri Lanka: police remove saint's statue, disperse Catholic protesters
September 22, 2014
In Sri Lanka, an estimated 3,000 Catholics, who had gathered on September 21 to protest the removal of a statue of St. Philip Neri, were dispersed by police using water cannons and tear gas.
The statue, which had been placed on public property outside a parish church dedicated to St. Philip Neri, was removed by public officials after Buddhist monks protested. Catholics said that the placement of the statue was protected by the country's constitution, which guarantees freedom of worship.
Police dispersed the protest at the site where the statue had been placed because they said that the demonstration was blocking traffic on a major road.
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