Sri Lanka pays tribute to Mother Teresa on 12^th death anniversary

(Sept.08,2009): Sri Lanka paid tribute to Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata on the 12th anniversary of her death. On Sat. September 5, the NGO Christian Alliance for Social Action (CASA) promoted a celebration in the auditorium of Caritas-Sri Lanka, Colombo. It was attended by priests and religious of the island, together with many lay people involved in the Churches charity work.
Speaking at the ceremony, A.T. Ariyaratne, a devout Buddhist, founder and president of Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, described Mother Teresa as "the angel of mercy" and "the saint of the slums”. The winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award (the "Nobel Prize of Asia"), recalled the figure and work of Mother Teresa underlining its universal value recognized by the Buddhist tradition. The Director of Caritas –Jaffna, Fr. C.G. Jeyakumar, highlighted that Mother Teresa "should become a model for the life of those who, like us, work in social projects”. Her "work of mercy and love, full of love for the poor and abandoned" is a sign of hope for the future of Sri Lanka, he said.