News

Sri Lankan bishops urge release of Tamil civilians as government lifts blockade on shrine

August 17, 2009

A day after the Sri Lankan government allowed pilgirms to return to the shrine of Our Lady of Madhu, the nation’s bishops called for the release of ethnic Tamils who are still being detained three months after close of the civil war. “There are a lot of pilgrims gathered here from all parts but the people of this area are not here. Where are they? They are all in refugee camps,” said Bishop Thomas Savundaranayagam of Jaffna. ‘These people are behind barbed wire like prisoners and suffer many hardships with this rain.”

Seven percent of the nation’s 21 million inhabitants are Catholic.

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• Catholic leaders urge Sri Lankan Tamils’ release (AP)
• Sri Lanka allows pilgrims at Catholic shrine (AP)

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