SUNDAY JANUARY 25, 2015
SINGAPORE $0.70 CENTS / WEST MALAYSIA RM$2.10
MCI (P) 005/08/2014
PPS 201/04/2013 (022940)
NO. 02
INSIDE
POPE IN SRI LANKA
ReFonFiliation means dialogue ÂśSursuit of truth¡ COLOMBO, SRI LANKA – ArriYing in Sri /anNa, a country recoYering from two-and-a-half decades of ethnic and religious ciYil war, Pope Francis said reconciliation would require its people to explore their painful recent history and accept persistent differences within their multicultural society. “The process of healing also needs to include the pursuit of truth, not for the sake of opening old wounds, but rather as a necessary means of promoting justice, healing and unity,â€? the pope said on -an 3 at an arriYal ceremony at Colombo’s international airport. Pope Francis addressed his words to Sri Lanka’s new president, Mr Maithripala Sirisena, who was elected on Jan 8 and sworn in the next day. During his campaign, Mr Sirisena promised an independent inYestigation into war crimes allegedly committed during the -year struggle between goYernment forces and rebels belonging to the country’s Tamil minority. In his remarks to the pope, Mr Sirisena noted that during the last papal Yisit, by St John Paul II in 1995, “Sri Lanka was embroiled in annihilating terrorism, following the mayhem caused by the terrorists in the daily liYes of the peopleâ€? – a reference to the Tamil Tigers, Âżnally defeated in 9 by the military under Mr Sirisena’s predecessor, President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The war diYided Sri Lanka along religious as well as ethnic lines, since members of the Sinhalese majority are typically Buddhist, and Tamils for the most part Hindu. Catholics, who make up 7 percent of the country’s population, include members of both ethnic groups. Mr Rajapaksa, who sought reelection on Jan 8, had his political
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base in the country’s Sinhalese-Buddhist majority. Mr Sirisena enjoys more support among minorities. “Sri Lanka for many years knew the horrors of ciYil strife and is now seeking to consolidate peace and to heal the scars of those years,â€? Pope Francis said, his Yoice hoarse and weary-sounding after the 1 -hour Ă€ight from Rome. “I am conYinced that the followers of the Yarious religious traditions haYe an essential role to
play in the delicate process of reconciliation and rebuilding which is taking place in this country.â€? That afternoon, the pope met with local Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and other Christian leaders, telling them that efforts at “interreligious and ecumenical relations take on a particular signiÂżcance and urgency in Sri Lankaâ€? as sources of “healing and unityâ€? after years of “ciYil strife and Yiolenceâ€?. Again, he sounded a note of
The process of healing needs to include the ‘pursuit of truth, not for the sake of opening
old wounds, but rather as a necessary means of promoting justice, healing and unity.
’
– Pope Francis referring to the 26-year civil war in Sri Lanka
Minorities œreFonverted¡ to Hinduism
realism, stressing that dialogue could not eliminate cultural differences but would emphasise the need for their acceptance. “For such dialogue and encounter to be effectiYe, it must be grounded in a full and forthright presentation of our respectiYe conYictions. Certainly, such dialogue will accentuate how Yaried our beliefs, traditions and practices are. But if we are honest in presenting our conYictions, we will be able to see more clearly what we hold in common,� the pope said. “Men and women do not haYe to forsake their identity, whether ethnic or religious, in order to liYe in harmony.�
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