No Pilgrims At Marian Shrine After State Rejects Bishops´ Cease-fire Appeal

The administrator of the revered Madhu shrine says hopes of pilgrims going for Christmas and New Year were dashed when the government rejected Christian leaders´ appeal for a temporary truce in the civil war.

Father Santhiapillai Emilianuspillai, administrator of Our Lady of Madhu Shrine, told UCA News by telephone on Jan. 2 that despite hopes for a big crowd, not a single pilgrim attended the Christmas and New Year Masses there. The shrine in Madhu lies about 220 kilometers north of Colombo.

“For security reasons, pilgrims were not allowed,” he said, adding that usually around 3,000 pilgrims will come at this time of year.

Catholic Bishops Thomas Savundaranayagam of Jaffna, Rayappu Joseph of Mannar and Norbert Andradi of Anuradhapura, and Anglican Bishops Kumara Illangasinghe of Kurunegala and Duleep de Chickera of Colombo had asked the government and Tamil rebels to declare a cease-fire over the Christmas and New Year period.

The government rejected the Dec. 17 appeal, however, and the shrine administrator said only one priest, four nuns, six Church workers and 30 military personnel attended the vigil Mass at midnight on Dec. 24, Christmas Eve.

Media reported a government spokesperson rejected the truce call on Dec. 18, saying the government would declare a cease-fire only if the rebels laid down their arms.

Rebels have been fighting for a Tamil state since 1983. The civil war is blamed for the deaths of 80,000 or more people. During 2008, however, government forces overran Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam-held areas in the north including, at the end of December, the rebel administrative headquarters in Kilinochchi. The government regained control over the eastern region of the country the previous year.

Catholics and people of other religions venerate the 400-year-old Madhu shrine, in Northern Province. It has served as a “safe haven” for people fleeing decades of war in the north, and has also been caught in the crossfire between Tamil rebels and the government troops.

According to Father Marimuthupillai Sathivel, an Anglican parish priest in Colombo, the rejection of the cease-fire appeal made the festive mood typical of the season low key in churches this year.

In a Christmas message, the Catholic Bishops´ Conference in Sri Lanka appealed to the country´s leaders to shed all political differences and other vested interests in the pursuit of peace. “Let us rededicate ourselves to be true peacemakers,” the said.

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