Churches in Sri Lanka urged to promote real social reforms
(April 14, 2011) The current situation in Sri Lanka, where people are still
on their knees after a 30-year war that ended in 2009, is an invitation to the Church
to promote real social reforms, because the country’s reconstruction cannot be done
by works of charity alone. The remarks were made during a panel discussion on the
“Role and responsibility of the Christians in Social Reform”. It was organised by
the Christian Alliance for Social Action held recently at the CARITAS Sri Lanka
head office Auditorium in Colombo.“The Church should take others by the hand,” said
retired Anglican Bishop Kumara Illangasinghe. “If we really want to change the situation,
we must become main actors in much-awaited change,” he added. According to Jesuit
Fr Lasantha de Abrew, the Church must actively cooperate with the people and be on
the side of the victims. “We are all Christians, and people should not feel Tamil
or Sinhalese,” he said. Methodist Pastor Muthiah Selvarajah, said the Church must
act as a mediator to protect people’s rights more than promote charity. The government’s
agenda at present does not include any political solution. For this reason, all Christian
confessions must act as one family,” he added.