Buddhists and Catholics hold joint relief operation

As more and more civilians cross out of the battle zone to government-controlled areas, Buddhists and Catholics have jointly taken lorry loads of relief items to these displaced people.

“We collected milk powder, toothpaste, rice and eggs from Muslims, Buddhists and Christians,” Venerable Akurana Gunarathana said before starting his eight-hour journey around 3 a.m. on March 8 in a group with other Buddhist monks and some Catholic priests.

This effort took place at a time when Sri Lankan security forces were saying they were within weeks of defeating the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

About 40,000 people have escaped from rebel-controlled areas to makeshift government-run camps. An estimated 150,000 Tamils are still trapped in a small patch of LTTE-controlled area in the island´s northeast.

The LTTE launched an independence struggle against the Sinhalese-led government in 1983, hoping to establish a Tamil state in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The conflict has since claimed close to 80,000 lives.

Speaking at his temple in Hettipola on March 8, Venerable Gunarathana said three Buddhist monks and two Catholic priests were among the group that made an emergency appeal in temples and churches for contributions toward displaced civilians and injured soldiers. They received more than 800,000 rupees (US$7,000) worth of relief goods, then traveled to Vavuniya and handed them over to government officials to distribute.

“Religious representatives should work together to bring peace and harmony,” Father Neil Chrishantha affirmed en route to Vavuniya. The majority Sinhalese should care for Tamils as our brothers and sisters, the assistant parish priest of Sacred Heart Church in Hettipola added while having a meal with monks. Venerable Gunarathana echoed the remarks, saying Sinhalese are not against Tamils.

Buddhist and Catholic Church leaders in Sri Lanka have been appealing to people to contribute food and other relief items to people displaced by the ongoing war.

Archbishop Oswald Gomis of Colombo in a Feb. 18 press statement expressed the Church´s concern and solidarity with war victims from both sides. He concretized that concern by appealing to Catholics to donate food and medicine for displaced civilians and injured soldiers “in a true spirit of Christian charity.”

One parish in Colombo archdiocese that responded quickly to the archbishop´s request is Christ the King Church in Pannipitiya, which sent relief goods on Feb. 21. The archdiocese is collecting more relief goods from parishes through its local branch of the Church´s Caritas social-service organization.

Meanwhile, on March 8 the United Nations dispatched 500 tons of wheat flour, sugar and vegetable oil for people displaced by the fighting in the north.