Sri Lankan bishop appeals for peace zone near prominent Marian shrine
With Sri Lankan forces closing in on the Marian shrine of Madhu in northwestern Sri Lanka, Bishop Rayappu Joseph of Mannar, Sri Lanka, has appealed to government forces and the Tamil rebels to leave the area around the shrine a "zone of peace."
"Today as the military operations are taking place very close to the shrine, we are compelled to make an urgent appeal to both the government and the (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) to respect the Madhu shrine and (its) area as a zone of peace," Bishop Joseph said in a written appeal.
Tamil rebels had already moved into the church compound, and Sri Lankan soldiers were very close, the bishop said.
"The situation is really serious, and the shrine could be razed to the ground unless an immediate cease-fire is declared there," Bishop Joseph told Catholic News Service April 1 following his appeal.
Read more,
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0801777.htm
"Today as the military operations are taking place very close to the shrine, we are compelled to make an urgent appeal to both the government and the (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) to respect the Madhu shrine and (its) area as a zone of peace," Bishop Joseph said in a written appeal.
Tamil rebels had already moved into the church compound, and Sri Lankan soldiers were very close, the bishop said.
"The situation is really serious, and the shrine could be razed to the ground unless an immediate cease-fire is declared there," Bishop Joseph told Catholic News Service April 1 following his appeal.
Read more,
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0801777.htm
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