Aid to the Church in Need: Srl Lanka: “No people, no parishes, no priests and no churches”

Srl Lanka: “No people, no parishes, no priests and no churches”

Posted by Press release on 2/6/2009, 10:39 am
Board Administrator

ACN News: Tuesday, 2nd June 2009 – SRI LANKA

“No people, no parishes, no priests and no churches”
Bishop of Jaffna gives his personal account of the people’s trauma
• Tribute to priest who died ministering to the displaced
• Criticism of Tamils for denying safe passage to homeless
• Death toll put at 20,000 – casualties 40,000 – refugees 200,000+

By John Newton and John Pontifex

THE bishop in Sri Lanka closest to the heart of the fighting has given a dramatic account of the people’s suffering and described how his priests were determined to stay with them “to the last”.
In an emotional message sent to the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, Bishop Thomas Savundaranayagam of Jaffna told how one priest died of “exhaustion” as he tried to minister to the people trapped as the final battle raged between the Sri Lankan government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) Tamil Tigers.
The bishop, who in January went under cover to deliver aid in the conflict zone, claims that in the final battle ending on 19th May, 20,000 people died and 40,000 were injured as a “small space of land” fell victim to heavy artillery and shell fire.
He attributes the high number of deaths and casualties to both sides using heavy artillery and rockets – even though government forces claimed to have stopped using heavy weapons on 27th April and have said no civilians were killed by government forces during the final assault.
Criticising Sri Lankan President Mahinde Rajapakse for initiating a final push which “brought so much suffering”, the bishop went on to speak out against the Tamil Tigers.
The bishop, who in March wrote to the President to stop the bombing, described how he had begged rebel Tamil Tiger leaders to allow people trapped close to the battle zone to be given safe passage to a place of sanctuary in government-held territory.
But sadly to no avail.
He wrote: “The hardest part was that the [Tamil] Tigers used the people – civilians – as shields…
“I pleaded with them to allow the civilians to go to any place of safety in the Government side but they did not listen to it.”

Bishop Thomas Savundaranayagam of Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka (Photo: ACN)

The bishop paid tribute to Fr Sarathjeevan, the priest who lost his life helping people in the refugee camps, and praised other priests for their work among those worst affected.
Writing that he wanted ACN to understand “the cause of [my] suffering”, he described how there were now more than 200,000 refugees and that 18 parishes in Kilinochy and Mullaitivu were now “totally kaput”.
Describing these two regions at the heart of the fighting, he wrote: “I saw parishes falling one after the other.
“I have no access to those places now – no people, no parishes, no priests, no churches.
“Some of my priests were staying till the last with the people and were rescued by the Army. They are still in the refugee camps.”
He described how the priests in Kilinochy and Mullaitivu are now trying to assist civilian refugees in the nearby town of Vavuniya.
The priests, he explained, organise Mass on Sundays in the camps, carry out family visits and provide top-up food supplies.
Bishop Savundaranayagam ended his letter to Aid to the Church in Need saying, “Though sad and grieved I am OK. God bless you”

Editor’s Notes:

Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An outstanding Apostle of Charity”, the organisation is now at work in about 130 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 46.5 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information, please contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web: www.aidtochurch.org

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Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148 ABN: 62 418 911 594
Ph/Fax (02) 9679-1929 e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org web: www.aidtochurch.org