SRI LANKAN ARCHBISHOP APPEALS FOR PEACE

(June 23, 2006): The Catholic Church of Sri Lanka has expressed serious concern over the escalating violence between Sri Lanka’s armed forces and Tamil rebels that is threatening to drag the Indian Ocean island-nation back to an all-out civil war. A sharp surge in violence across Sri Lanka has left dozens dead in the past week.
The rebels want to carve out an independent state for Sri Lanka's 3.2 million Tamils, saying they can prosper only away from the domination of the majority Sinhalese. The rebels and the government signed a Norwegian-brokered cease-fire in 2002 but peace talks have faltered.
Archbishop Oswald Gomis of the capital Colombo spoke to Vatican Radio on June 23, appealing to all to help stop the violence and bring the warring factions back to the negotiating table at the earliest. The Catholic Church has appealed for prayers for peace and is holding an inter-religious meeting at the Caritas centre in Colombo on Saturday, June 24, for this purpose.
Listen to what Archbishop Oswald Gomis told Vatican Radio: