Colombo diocese promoting a day to help widows

(July 09, 2009) Tens of thousands of Sri Lankan women have lost their husbands. About 40,000 were widowed during almost 30 years of civil war between the Sri Lankan military and the Tamil Tigers. Many others were widowed when their husband died on the job, as a result of untreated diseases or a life of poverty and deprivation. With them in mind Father Julian Patrick Perera, director of Family Apostolate in the diocese of Colombo, decided to launch a ‘Day for Widows’. Last Saturday on the 4^th of July, the clergyman invited widows but men as well of every age and from every walk of life to the Paul VI Centre in the Sri Lankan capital for a meeting “to help them understand and deal with their sorrow, support them and tell not to be afraid.” In many cases, and this is especially true for women, the loss of a husband also means the loss of the main breadwinner. Oftentimes widows are left helpless, facing marginalisation, illnesses and social exclusion. Those who attended the meeting expressed their appreciation saying the initiative of Father Perera’s is an attempt to “give widows and widowers some value and a place in society.” He plans to hold such a meeting every month and open it to as many people as possible. His aim is to make them to understand that they are not alone in this world, and that they have a task to perform because God expects great things from them for the good of all.