Posted on 12/29/2005 1:35:59 AM PST by Straight Vermonter
BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka (AsiaNews) -- Catholics in this tsunami-affected town in this island nation off the coast of India went to church on Christmas in great numbers despite fears following a brutal murder carried out earlier during the Christmas midnight vigil.
Joseph Pararajasingham, an ethnic Tamil Member of Parliament and minority-rights activist, was killed in the church. Six other people were wounded, including his 71-year-old wife who has sustained serious injuries.
The Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) blamed each for the death.
Bishop Kingsley Swampillai of Trincomalee-Batticaloa, who was celebrating the Mass when the shooting occurred, told AsiaNews by telephone “the church was full.”
“Joseph had just received the communion and had sat by his wife when we heard a loud noise followed by shots,” Bishop Swampillai said. “He collapsed there and then, bleeding, and was taken to hospital.”
The gunmen escaped by shooting into the crowd. Despite the chaos, the religious function was completed.
According to local sources, Pararajasingham was a “good Catholic,” actively working for “minority rights” and a member of the Tamil National Alliance, a party backed by the liberation group, known as the Tamil Tigers.
“On Christmas morning, no one showed any fear and the faithful came to Mass,” the bishop said. “Unfortunately, such incidents are regular events in our country.”
Against the “growing violence,” the prelate has launched an appeal to the authorities that they may “assume the necessary responsibility to prevent such acts and bring the culprits to justice.”
The motive behind the killing remains a mystery. The Tamil Tigers blame “chauvinistic [Sri Lankan] forces for removing this patriot who has done so much for the liberation of the Tamil nation.”
For its part, the government said Tamil rebels orchestrated the murder “in a desperate attempt to distract public opinion, create confusion and disorder, so as to avoid political talks.”
For international analysts, the escalating violence in Sri Lanka that followed the election of the new President Mahinda Rajapakse in November represents a serious threat to the 2002 ceasefire.
Tamil Tigers have been fighting since 1983 for an independent Tamil state in the country’s northern and eastern regions.
> A reminder that there are people being martyred for the faith even today.
Requiem eternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Te decet hymnus, Deus in Sion
et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem.
Exaudi orationem meam,
ad te omnis caro veniet.
Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
Catholic nun tries to comfort Sugunam Joseph, widow of pro-rebel legislator Joseph Pararajasingham during his funeral in Batticaloa, about 230 kilometers (144 miles) east of Colombo, Sri Lanka,Thursday, Dec. 29, 2005. Unidentified gunmen shot and killed Pararajasingham, 71, at a church in eastern Sri Lanka during a Christmas service. (AP Photo/ Gemunu Amarasinghe)
I wonder if this was a ROP moment?
Unlikely. ROP is too outnumbered by too many people with too many weapons and too much willingness to use them, on the island of Sri Lanka... and they tend to be segregated from the rest of the society anyway.
In this tragedy, we see the care of our Lord, to provide food for the journey.
No. The combatants in the Sri Lankan Civil War are Hindus on one side and Buddhists on the other.
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