Church attacked after Sunday Mass in Sri Lanka

(December 09, 2009) Catholics have taken to the streets to demand more security after a church in Colombo archdiocese was attacked for the third time in as many years. An estimated 200 people armed with an assortment of weapons stormed into Our Lady Rosa Mystica Church in Croos Watta, in the Ja-ela area, on December 6, soon after the 7 a.m. Mass finished. The mob, suspected to be Buddhist extremists, set about smashing construction materials and the interior of the church. Witnesses said they also tried to attack the priest, who managed to flee with parishioners. The mob then set fire to the priest’s car. No one was injured in the incident. As news of the attack spread, around 500 local Catholics protested by blocking the nearby main road. They demanded that police arrest those responsible for the assault. Father Jude Lakshman, the parish priest, attributed the attack to “fear among the majority Buddhists of the increasing number of Catholics in the area.” Media reports said a nearby Buddhist temple had been attacked, but Father Lakshman denied the report. The church was attacked twice earlier, also by suspected Buddhist extremists. In 2006, an armed mob vandalized a statue of the Blessed Mother. In 2007, all statues in the church were destroyed.