2010-10-12 15:10:26

Sri Lanka honours Christian writers


(Oct.12,2010) Christian writers in Sri Lanka have contributed to uniting society by helping people appreciate each other’s culture, said the island-nation’s prime minister D.M. Jayaratne. “They opened up avenues for people to find spirituality needed for coexistence, which we need so much today,” he said during the awards ceremony for the 2nd National Christian Literary Festival. The awards were presented during the Catholic Cultural Day event organized by the Department of Christian Affairs, Religious Affairs Ministry, on October 8 at St. Joseph’s College in Colombo. Also present were Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo, his predecessor retired Archbishop Oswald Gomis and Archbishop Joseph Spiteri, apostolic nuncio to Sri Lanka. Jayaratne said “This Catholic Cultural Day has brought together people from different cultures and ethnic communities who speak different languages. This is what we long to see in Sri Lanka,” the prime minister stressed.
The six Christian artists who received awards for their lifetime contribution to literature and music were Archbishop Emeritus Oswald Gomis for Sinhala literature, Oblate Father Michael Silva for Sinhala music, Francis De Almeida for English music, Sebastian Jesudas for Tamil literature and Maduthinpillai Jesuthasan for Tamil music. Manel Abeyratne was cited for English literature.
In addition to the awards presentation for Christian writers, about 65 school students received awards for singing, essay-writing and speaking competitions in Sinhalese, Tamil and English. Archbishop Ranjith said “We need to identify children’s talents and encourage them to find spirituality in culture. I am happy to see children of different dialects gather in the competition. The Catholic Church has always taken the lead in such national events,” Archbishop Ranjith added.








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