Colombage Melani Manel Perera

The parish of Nainamadama celebrated the long life of a member of the Apostolic Carmel, consecrated for 75 years. “I have experienced God's love in abundance,” she told AsiaNews. For a parishioner, she “extended her hands of mercy to the patients of the Maharagama Apeksha Hospital, and gave food and drink to starving people and those in war-torn areas.”

Sandya Ekneligoda, human rights activist in Colombo, included in the list compiled for 2022 by the BBC. She herself suffered the kidnapping of her husband, an investigative journalist and cartoonist who disappeared in 2010. Her comment to AsiaNews: "I seek justice, but I am still a victim of insults and slander".

Sri Lanka’s president opened the Sri Lanka Economic Summit 2022. In his view, the country cannot work its way out of its current crisis by returning to outdated economic systems; reforms need a “competitive social market economy”. To this end, Colombo should be turned into a global logistics hub via port development, while the country undergoes energy transition and agricultural modernisation.

Fr Basil Rohan, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies, appeals to Sri Lankans at home and abroad. For him, at the start of Advent, people should turn their heart towards the poor and the country’s economic hardships.

They are Wasntha Mudalige, student delegate, and Galwewa Siridhamma Thero, representing monks. They were remanded in custody last week. The police forcefully suppressed civil society protests demanding the release of all detainees under the anti-terrorism law.

​Held yesterday, the ceremony was attended by several priests. Caritas Antoniana of Padua funded the housing project. "We are ready to forgive,” said Card Malcolm Ranjith, if the culprits admit their responsibility in the attacks.

The president of one of the countries most seriously affected by recent price rises calls on the United Nations to develop a global emergency plan by February 2023. The combination of higher food costs and increased interest on debt will result in US $9 billion in higher spending for the 48 countries most affected by hunger.

Thefts of cars, spare parts and livestock are on the rise. The number of murders is also up. According to experts, these are the consequences of the financial situation that has gripped the country for months.

The archbishop attends a meeting on the homeless. In a memorandum, the Negombo United Peoples Organisation asks the Church to help some 2,000 homeless people. The cardinal also criticised the government’s draft for a new constitution.

A family of blind people shares with their village the little they receive. Their honest example moved Fr Basil Rohan Fernando. Sri Lanka’s dioceses help some 8,000 families with emergency food aid.

Three were in prison for trying to assassinate former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaranatunga. To celebrate the Festival of Lights, young people from different religious backgrounds prepared meals for the poor. The event constituted a “very valuable” opportunity for participants.

Between 30 and 35 per cent of Sri Lanka's population depends on agriculture. In June food inflation topped 90 per cent. For years, farmers have had their land taken away, first by the military and then by conservationists.