“Together on long road to peace” says Nuncio in Sri Lanka

(May 18,2010) The Church of Sri Lanka is making great strides in rebuilding not only the structures but also the lives of those who have suffered from a long civil war. But there is still a long way to go in the North, a road that we must travel together”. The remarks were made by Archbishop Joseph Spiteri, Apostolic Nuncio in Sri Lanka, to AsiaNews after his recent visit to the Northern provinces of the island nation.
At the invitation of Bishop Thomas Savundaranayagam of Jaffna, the Vatican diplomat made his pastoral visit to parishes, seminaries, orphanages and camps for the displaced in Jaffna, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Mannar. The Nuncio said he was satisfied by the Church's commitment to the victims of war. He said there are negative aspects and positive aspects in this whole story and much remains to be done. He hoped that everyone would look at this matter with an open mind, because it is not so easy to move entire communities overnight.
In the presence of the Nuncio the project of Caritas Jaffna " Vic-Jaf Fishnet " was inaugurated. According to the Apostolic Nuncio Spiteri it is a structure that will help victims of war and the tsunami, giving them a way to maintain their livelihood.
He said All Catholic structures, including Caritas, religious congregations, human rights groups and volunteers, are doing their best to help victims regardless of creed and nationality. But Vatican’s representative also spoke of cooperation from other facilities around the world. He said our brothers and sisters in Australia, Italy, France and churches in the United States are doing a lot for the Tamil community, and have made a substantial contribution to Caritas Internationalis development projects.