COLOMBO (UCAN) -- A Jaffna diocese priest active in promoting human rights was killed on April 20 by a mine explosion on his way back to his church after offering Sunday Mass in a parish sub-station.

Father Mariampillai Xavier Karunaratnam was driving the car and reportedly died instantly of head wounds in the explosion at 12:30 p.m. on the Mallavi-Vavunikulam Road, about 75 kilometers south of Jaffna. The jungle area, known as the Vanni, is under the control of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

An unnamed layperson traveling with Father Karunaratnam received critical injuries and was brought to a hospital.

According to a Church official at the bishop's house in Jaffna, 300 kilometers north of Colombo, the Tamil priest was killed while returning for his midday meal at Our Lady of Good Health Parish in Vavunikulam, a farming village. He had offered Mass at the church in Mankulam, about 12 kilometers away.

The priest's body was taken first to nearby St. Theresa's Church in Kilinochchi. His funeral and burial in Vavunikulam are scheduled for April 22. Thousands of people are reported to have flocked to the church to pay their respects.

Father Karunaratnam was founder and chairman of North-East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR) and offered trauma counseling to war victims and those who suffered due to the 2004 tsunami. He looked after cases of displaced people in the Kilinochchi area. NESOHR handles human rights violations against Tamil people in the north and east, where the ethnic minority community is concentrated.

Born on April 12, 1951, in Jaffna, he was ordained a priest in 1989. In addition to his work with NESOHR, he chaired the NGO Consortium, an umbrella group for NGOs in Jaffna, and also filed stories for Radio Veritas, the shortwave station run by the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences.

He died just a week after his 57th birthday.

Speaking from Jaffna by telephone, Father Justin B. Gnanapragasam, the diocesan vicar general, told UCA News his fellow priest's death is "a great loss to all people and the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka." The vicar, second highest official of the diocese, spoke on behalf of Bishop Thomas Savundaranayagam of Jaffna, who was in Canada on an official visit.

The vicar general said the late priest's performed an essential service for the Catholics and other communities, "because he raised his voice every time there was any (human rights) violation."

James Singarayar, 67, a retired Catholic teacher, also told UCA News from Jaffna that the late priest brought all rights violations to the attention of the world community. He was "a guardian and a strength for the victimized," Singarayar said.

Two parliamentarians who were members of NESOHR were killed in 2005. "Father Karunaratnam is the third victim," Singarayar told UCA News.

A representative of Caritas, the Catholic Church's social arm, in Kilinochchi told UCA News by telephone that "people are shocked and are mourning silently."

However, it is unlikely that priests or Religious will be able to attend the funeral, as the only transport route from Jaffna to Kilinochchi is closed, according to Father Ainsley Roshan, secretary to the bishop of Jaffna. The route between Kilinochchi and Jaffna has been closed since 2006.

Both government forces and the Tamil rebels have denied responsibility for the priest's death. According to a state report, the LTTE should be held responsible for the killing as it happened in their area of control. The LTTE claims government forces are at fault.

The independence struggle the LTTE launched against the Sinhalese-led government in 1983, demanding a separate Tamil state in the north and east, has affected Jaffna diocese heavily. Another priest, Father Thiruchelvam Nihal Jim Brown, 34, disappeared on Aug. 20, 2006, in the diocese's Allaipiddy parish, near Jaffna town. The layman who accompanied him, Wenceslaus Vinces Vimalathas, a father of five, also went missing, and their fate remains unknown.

In neighboring Mannar diocese, Father Nicholapillai Packiaranjith was killed on Sept. 26, 2007, when a mine exploded next to his car. His driver also was killed. They were transporting relief supplies.

The war has claimed around 80,000 lives and displaced a million more people.

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