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Colombo (Fides Service) - Catholic Archbishop Oswald Gomis of
Colombo, Sri Lanka, who is also President of the Bishops' Conference,
issued a special message for Independence Day, February 4, in
which he said, among other things: "During the past several
years our National Day was celebrated with reserve
with a
sense of frustration and sadness
today a glimmer of hope
has dawned in the hearts of the majority on both sides of the
divide. Today we hope that the present situation would soon give
way to make every citizen in this country feel and live with a
sense of dignity in liberty, equality and brotherhood".
The Archbishop said that it would be puerile to think that a permanent
peace will fall from the skies, adding that "there is much
left to do for all of us". The Archbishop called for unity
among the people and among the two major political groupings.
"Therefore we once again appeal for consensual politics where
all those who have the welfare of the country and the people would
work in collaboration to eliminate the unhealthy elements that
have even from their own ranks, sneaked into the arena of governance
only to attain their selfish objectives". Lastly the Archbishop
rallied Catholic to pray for peace. "As a Catholic community
let us make this day a special prayer for peace" he said.
See the Message
from Archbishop Gomis at www.fides.org (Fides Service 7/2/2003
EM lines 18 Words: 255)
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