Lent: peace and reconciliation to rebuild Sri Lanka

(February 16, 2010) Catholic bishops and charities in Sri Lanka are using Lent as a time to mobilise Christians to heal the wounds left by 25 years of war. ‘Rebuilding lives though peace and reconciliation’ is the theme chosen by the bishops for this year’s Lent. They stress that this time of prayer, fast and penitence has special meaning in 2010, as the country tries to recover after years of interethnic conflict. They say the war might be over but so many lives lay shattered. The number of refugees, widows, orphans, wounded and disabled runs in the tens of thousands. “We want to share with everyone the reconciliation between God and man, which Jesus Christ delivered in his sacrifice,” said Bishop Harold Anthony Perera of Kurunegala, head of the Justice and Peace Commission, in his Lenten message. He referred to internally displaced people (IDP) who are still the cause for tensions. “It is high time we offered them justice, compassion and love so that they can live like men and women full of dignity,” he said. Caritas Sri Lanka director Fr George Sigamoney also issued a statement calling on Christians to work to rebuild the lives of those who have lived through 25 years of war. He also focussed on the harsh conditions of the homeless and refugees in government-run camps demanding “they return to their villages of origin and be allowed to earn a living.”