Melani Manel Perera

For a priest, the special meeting was "an invitation to listen to the suggestions of the Holy Spirit." For a teacher, people in "poor countries are more concerned with making a living than with communion for divorced and remarried people or same-sex couples."

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) calls on the government to implement a programme of state assistance. In the Asian country, the ICRC has dedicated itself to prisoners and communities affected by the civil war.

The British High Commissioner in Colombo makes call marking the World Day against the Death Penalty. Rizana was executed in Saudi Arabia for the alleged murder of an infant.

In Geneva, the government reiterates its commitment to fight human rights violations. At home, a human rights activist is attacked and beaten by four men because he organised a demonstration in favour of another activist who has been in jail for months.

Fr Reid Shelton Fernando reflects on what the Extraordinary Synod on the family might produce. We should not give "a licence that everything goes" but meet the problems of today's family with today's methods.

Some moderate religious criticise pact between Sri Lanka's Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) and Myanmar's 969 movement to "fight" Islamic fundamentalism. "For us, they are a disgrace, not real Buddhists," critics say. Both groups are responsible for violence against minority communities in their respective countries.

The Professional Web Journalist Association (Pwja) accuses the government of trying to silence independent media. It is the fourth time in three months that the authorities prevent the holding of a seminar for journalists.

A member of the Asian Human Rights Commission, he was chosen for the 2014 Right Livelihood Award in view of "his tireless and outstanding work to support and document the implementation of human rights in Asia."

President Mahinda Rajapaksa was speaking at the UN summit on climate change. The world is facing a "current emergency that must be addressed in a collective and multi-dimensional way."

The Catholic intellectual died at the age 71 from cardiac arrest. Engaged since his youth in social and political activism, he also founded a number of movements to defend farmers.

The trilingual website (Sinhala, Tamil, and English) provides information about the visit. Francis will be the first pope to travel to the north of the island, a Tamil region strongly ​​affected by the civil war. The logo remembers the Blessed Joseph Vaz, "the apostle of Sri Lanka," whose canonisation the local church is waiting for.

Hundreds of people gather to honour those who went missing during and after the civil war. "We believe that our children are still alive," said a woman. "I call on President Mahinda Rjapakasa to find a solution to our tears, and stop once and for all these brutal kidnappings."