Melani Manel Perera

Sri Lankan authorities renew their commitment to complete the national reconciliation process. The International Committee of the Red Cross presented a report titled 'Needs of the Families of Missing Persons in Sri Lanka: Living with Uncertainty’. For Foreign Minister, the process of reconciliation must be undertaken not to "appease international pressure or to keep the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,” but because "we owe it to the people of our nation to forge a new future where all citizens will be treated with equal dignity and respect."

Today is the memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Catholics of Sri Lanka share a deep reverence for the Virgin Mary, to whom they have entrusted the country, spared from the Second World War. The festival falls on February 4, but was celebrated on Sunday 7. Devotees tell AsiaNews stories of graces received from Mary.

A well-known trade unionist and head of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, Saeed Baloch was arrested in Karachi, and is currently being held at a secret location. No formal charges have been laid against him, but under Pakistani law, anyone suspected of terrorist activity can be locked up for up to three months without charges being laid. Currently, three fisherfolk activists are languishing in Pakistani jails.

Mgr Cletus Chandrasiri Perera is Sri Lanka’s official representative at the International Eucharistic Congress, which opens tomorrow in Cebu. The intensive schedule (Masses, catechesis, adoration, assemblies) raises awareness of the central place of the Eucharist in the Church’s life and work. Asian minority churches find a great joy of life in a country where Catholics are the majority.

The president of Sri Lanka partecipated at a ceremony marking Tamil Thai Pongal. Organised at a college, the event’s aim was to promote peace between ethnic groups starting with students. “We should abandon the notion of affiliation based on blood,” said the archbishop of Colombo during a Church feast. “Let us unite to face our challenges"

Fr Sarath Iddamalgoda, a member of the Christian Solidarity Movement and one of the coordinators of the People's Movement against the Port City, is against the 269-ha project in Colombo. As he analyses the plans in light of the teachings of Laudato si’, he focuses on crucial issues like drinking water, rock extraction, unsustainable development, the throwaway culture, and the role of the church.

The President said he will give 100 thousand refugees "land". Sinhalese Priest: "He did not say he will restore their land. The distinction is important. " Tamil nun: "While Sirisena says that the army will return the land to its rightful owners, the military of the Navy are preparing to occupy another 617 acres of land."

The People's Movement against Port City organized a march against the project, financed by China. Untold damage to water, marine and biological resources in the area. Activists have an environmental impact assessment with 128 negative opinions.

The cardinal leads New Year Mass in women’s ward with their children and guards. The inmates want speedier justice and quicker release to be with their families. Card Ranjith handed out gifts to the youngest children living in prison with their mothers.

For the past 25 years, residents from the village of Mullikulam have lived as IDPs in the jungle of Marichchikattu without proper housing, sanitation, running water, and electricity. They were also unable to attend Midnight Mass because it was “too dangerous, owing to the presence of elephants on the road." The military drove them from the refugee camp to the church, but soldiers “cannot do anything to improve the situation because everything depends on orders by senior officers.

Lawyers, religious leaders, artists and members of civil society groups call on the government of President Sirisena to provide more protection to Sri Lankan nationals working abroad. In the Gulf States, the latter earn less than other migrant workers. In case of arrest, their right to legal aid is uncertain. A recent example involves a woman sentenced to death in Riyadh.

​Card Malcolm Ranjith opened the Holy Year on 8 December. Prayers were recited in all of the country’s parishes. The Holy Door opened in Tewatte last Saturday, 12 December, and will remain so throughout 2016, from 6 am to 8 pm. The Catholic Church is set to offer new courses in religion, teach moral guidance to children, and encourage foreign pilgrimages.