Christians unite with message of reconciliation

Christians have come together in an ecumenical service, praying for the thousands of unknown dead in the country´s ethnic conflict, and for unity and reconciliation in the years to come.

A Catholic nun and layman light a candle on the map of Sri Lanka to remember thousands of people who were killed and buried in unmarked graves during the civil war

About 50 Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists and Pentecostals attended a candlelight prayer service in the Anglican church of St. Michael in Colombo on Dec. 12.

“We are here on behalf of the Churches … for peace and reconciliation among the people,” said St. Michael´s pastor, Reverend Marimuthupillai Sathivel. “We must … get ready to take up challenges that will test our commitment.”

People on both sides of Sri Lanka´s sectarian divide should make a paradigm shift in their thinking. They need to listen to each others´ grievances, the congregation was told.

“Sinhalese and Tamils must try to forget the bad memories of the past and strive for reconciliation,” said Oblate Father Rohan de Silva, convener of the Christian Solidarity Movement (CSM), which organized the meeting.

“We have prayed to overcome the mutual challenges and learn lessons from war so we can stride forward on the correct path,” Father de Silva told UCA News.

CSM is an independent group of Christians from various Christian denominations, dedicated to collective action on justice, peace and human rights issues.

It plans to hold similar prayer services across the country reminding people of their responsibility to remember those killed in the 26-year civil war.

During the service, Ruki Fernando, a Catholic civic rights activist, told UCA News, “We light candles here … for those who are unknown and have no graves.”

The service was conducted in Tamil and Sinhalese followed by discussions on future ecumenical services in other churches, and workshops and seminars in other parts of the country.

Although the war ended in May there is still no accurate estimate of the number who died.

During the last months of fighting, thousands of bodies were buried in unmarked graves. Some 300,000 Tamils were displaced when they fled the war zone.

According to official statistics, more than 90,000 people died in the war, including 27,639 Tamil rebels, more than 23,300 soldiers and policemen, and tens of thousands of civilians.