Sri Lanka should deal with its past to heal its wounds, Anglican bishop says

(Oct.21,2009): In Sri Lanka, the Anglican Bishop of Colombo urged the people to work for national reconciliation and not forget the 200.000 Tamil refugees still living in camps. Bishop Duleep de Chickera in his address to the annual session of the Diocese of Colombo, which opened last Friday, insisted that “we must deal with the mistakes of the past and work with other religions and Christian Churches to heal the wounds that afflict Sri Lanka.
The meeting between clergy and the faithful from the Diocese of Colombo also gave the prelate an opportunity to mention 125 Anglican families stuck in camps in Vanni. “We must never forget that those who crossed over are Sri Lankans, and that they crossed over at the invitation of their government to be liberated,” he said. Still, the controversy over conditions in refugee camps and the slow pace of resettlement back home continues, he added. For the prelate, once they are freed, refugees should “receive equal opportunities for education, development and growth.” For Bishop de Chickera, the “military defeat of the LTTE cannot be expected to resolve our national crisis.” On the contrary, Sri Lanka needs to heal from the deep wounds that have marked its history since independence
For the Anglican Church, 2009 and 2010 must be devoted to ‘National Reconciliation and Healing’ said Anglican Bishop de Chickera. Invited to the meeting as a special guest was Catholic Bishop Thomas Savundaranayagam of Jaffna.