International Book Fair, a success for the Catholic Church

(Sept. 29,2009):In Sri Lanka, the Church’s stand at the Colombo International Book Fair, which ended Monday was a great success. More than a million visitors browsed through the 400 stands set up at the Bandaranayake Memorial International Conference Hall. The secretary of Sri Lanka Book Publishers Association, Upali Wanigasuriya said, “this was the most successful book fair of the eleven held so far”. Fr. Bertram Fernando, who was in charge of the Catholic Books stand, said this was a boom year because of the end to the war. The priest told AsiaNews that “the fear of threats and bombs was no longer on people’s mind and Sri Lankans rediscovered the possibility of travelling freely.”
For the first time, the Church’s stand also exhibited religious articles like rosaries, statues and medals alongside books. “Many Buddhists, in particular monks, bought books, magazines and DVDs about Mother Teresa. But CDs with Marian hymns by the late
Fr Mercelin Jayakody were the best-sellers, Fr. Bertram Fernando added.