Card. Ranjith celebrates New Year Mass for women prisoners

Sri Lankan Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith ushered in the new year celebrating Mass for the women ‎prisoners and their children in the country’s largest jail.  The cardinal who is Archbishop of Colombo, ‎celebrated the Mass in in the women’s ward of the Welikada prison in the suburbs of the capital, ‎organized by the prison chaplain, Fr Julian Patrick Perera, and the Sisters of the Holy Family.  The ‎inmates set up the hall for the Mass which was in Sinhalese, Tamil and English.  Later, the women ‎prisoners handed Card Ranjith some written requests urging him to intercede with the government on their ‎behalf to speed up trials and help have better contact with their children, so that they may soon return ‎to their families.   A woman noted some of them have been there for 10, 15 years, saying the ‎government would also gain saving on their expenses.   In his homily, Card Ranjith stressed that despite ‎their imprisonment their life does not end in the prison.  He urged them to use their imprisonment as a ‎good opportunity and a challenge in trying to convert their life and follow the right path. He reminded ‎them of their dignity, and their respect should not be destroyed, especially during the current Year of ‎Mercy of the Catholic Church.  He urged them to try and live in the Mercy of Jesus.  At the end of the ‎Mass, Card. Ranjith handed gifts to the youngest children of the prisoners.‎  (Source: AsiaNews)