Colombo (AsiaNews) – Tens of thousands of Sri Lankan women have lost their husbands. About 40,000 were widowed during almost 30 years of civil war between the Sri Lankan military and the Tamil Tigers. Many others were widowed when their husband died on the job, as a result of untreated diseases or a life of poverty and deprivation. With them in mind Father Julian Patrick Perera, director of Family Apostolate in the diocese of Colombo, decided to launch a ‘Day for Widows’.
Last Saturday the clergyman invited widows but men as well of every age and from every walk of life to the Paul VI Centre in the Sri Lankan capital for a meeting “to help them understand and deal with their sorrow, support them and tell not to be afraid.”
In many cases, and this is especially true for women, the loss of a husband also means the loss of the main breadwinner. Oftentimes widows are left helpless, facing marginalisation, illnesses and social exclusion.
“I was very happy to read the ad about the ‘Day for Widows’ on Ganartha Pradeepaya, a Catholic weekly,” said Princy Fernando, 56, who lost her husband 14 years ago. “It is a new approach in the Church.” For her, Father Perera’s is an attempt to “give widows and widowers some value and a place in society.”
Katana D.A. Jayakody, a retired school principle and the father of five married children, lost his wife three months ago. Speaking to AsiaNews he said that “nobody can lessen the pain when you lose someone you love.”
However, an initiative like that of Father Perera’s is very important because “in my parish of Kandawala there are about 100 widows, most of them very old who live in a situation of utter poverty and loneliness.” A day for them provides an opportunity “to meet their economic and spiritual needs.”
Father Perera plans to hold such a meeting every month and open it to as many people as possible. He also wants to find ways to remove the obstacle of transportations costs that could keep away many people who live far from Colombo.
“I want them to understand that they are not alone in this world, and that they have a task to perform because God expects great things from them for the good of all,” he said.
“Walking together we can make at least the diocese of Colombo, if not our entire society, a place of peace, prayer, care, understanding and unity.”