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#323862 - 06/02/09 01:34 PM Churches Destroyed in Sri Lanka War
Two Lungs Offline
Member

Registered: 01/21/02
Posts: 1919
Loc: Takoma Park, MD
The war in Sri Lanka finally seems to be over, but a number of Churches were destroyed during the fighting.


Quote:
JAFFNA, Sri Lanka, JUNE 1, 2009 (Zenit.org).-

The Bishop of Jaffna is reporting that his diocese is torn apart and many parishes are destroyed after the recent fighting between government forces and the rebel Tamil Tigers.

Aid to the Church in Need reported today the words of Bishop Thomas Savundaranayagam of Jaffna, in northern Sri Lanka, who wrote a letter describing the situation of his people.

The prelate stated that his priests stayed with the people "to the last," till the fighting ended on May 19th, and one of them, Father Mariampillai Sarathjeevan, died of exhaustion while ministering to the refugees.


The full article can be found at:

http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory_print.asp?number=95811

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#323887 - 06/02/09 05:51 PM Churches Destroyed in Sri Lanka War
StuartK Offline
Member

Registered: 11/09/01
Posts: 6012
Loc: Falls Church, VA
"The war in Sri Lanka finally seems to be over, but a number of Churches were destroyed during the fighting."

You should have seen Europe in 1945.

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#323888 - 06/02/09 05:59 PM Re: Churches Destroyed in Sri Lanka War [Re: StuartK]
Irish Melkite Offline
Global Moderator
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Registered: 10/27/03
Posts: 8894
Loc: Massachusetts
Originally Posted By: StuartK
"The war in Sri Lanka finally seems to be over, but a number of Churches were destroyed during the fighting."

You should have seen Europe in 1945.


Somehow, one thinks that the Christians in Sri Lanka - who don't exactly have a surplus of churches - would not be comforted by the comparison - which was uncalled for and inappropriate!!!
_________________________
"One day all our ethnic traits ... will have disappeared. Time itself is seeing to this. And so we can not think of our communities as ethnic parishes, ... unless we wish to assure the death of our community."

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#323891 - 06/02/09 06:25 PM Re: Churches Destroyed in Sri Lanka War [Re: Irish Melkite]
Pavel Ivanovich Offline
Member

Registered: 07/03/03
Posts: 2799
Loc: Western Australia
The bishop's comment prove the point the church is not buildings but people. It was great that when put to the test the priests and their people stayed together. This was similar to the situation in Kosovo. Now the real work starts. So many people are now in refugee camps and towns reduced to rubble.

cool

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#323895 - 06/02/09 06:59 PM Re: Churches Destroyed in Sri Lanka War [Re: Pavel Ivanovich]
StuartK Offline
Member

Registered: 11/09/01
Posts: 6012
Loc: Falls Church, VA
"Somehow, one thinks that the Christians in Sri Lanka - who don't exactly have a surplus of churches - would not be comforted by the comparison - which was uncalled for and inappropriate!!!"

Well, a church is just brick and mortar and wood, but a Church is people. The buildings come and go, the people endure. And, as in Europe during World War II, much that was material had to pass away before peace could return. The war in Sri Lanka had gone on for almost two decades, during which the Tamil Tigers killed tens of thousands of people. It was time for it to stop, and one of the sad truths of the world is wars only stop when one side can no longer continue fighting. Had a cease fire been negotiated, as the U.S. was trying to do right up to the last minute, the fighting invariably would have resumed at some time in the near future, because war was not allowed to continue to its proper conclusion. In a year, ask the Christians of Sri Lanka if they would rather have their churches, or would rather have peace.

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#323926 - 06/03/09 12:28 AM Re: Churches Destroyed in Sri Lanka War [Re: Pavel Ivanovich]
Two Lungs Offline
Member

Registered: 01/21/02
Posts: 1919
Loc: Takoma Park, MD
Originally Posted By: Pavel Ivanovich
The bishop's comment prove the point the church is not buildings but people. It was great that when put to the test the priests and their people stayed together. This was similar to the situation in Kosovo. Now the real work starts. So many people are now in refugee camps and towns reduced to rubble.

cool


Amen!

Father Van Stratten of blessed memory began Aid to the Church in Need in similar circumstances in post WW II Europe.

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