Ambassador Warnakulasuriya’s appeal to Holy See hits Vatican headlines

Rome, 19 April, (Asiantribune.com): The Vatican Daily New Paper Petrus has given much prominence to the statement made by Sri Lanka Ambassador Hemantha Warnakulasuriya at a press conference called by the Sri Lanka Embassy in Italy on the removal of Statue of Our Lady of Madhu, from the Church of Madhu, to the interior of the territory controlled by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam - A separatist Tamil outfit which is waging a war against the sovereign Sri Lanka Government for the last two decades.

At the press conference representatives of the three main News Agencies in Italy, APCOM, AGI and ANSA were present and carried the news item in their respective electronic media.

The appeal made by Ambassador Warnakulasuriya for the intervention of the Holy See and for the Pope to use his benevolence and appeal to the Tamil Terrorists outfit to leave the Church of Madhu and for Bishop Rayapu Joseph to return the statue to its original place, has been published by many newspapers and also telecast in the RAI UNO premier TV channel in Italy.

Given below the web page of “Petrus” the official online information from the Ponfificate of Pope Benedict XVI.

Online daily information from the Pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI 17th

April 2008: The Sri Lanka Ambassador in Italy requests the Vatican to intervene against the removal of the statue of our Lady from the Madhu Shrine The story of the statue of Our Lady of Madhu has now been brought to the attention of the Vatican.

The statue, venerated in Sri Lanka for over 400 years by Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists and Hindus is presently at the centre of a new clash between the Army and the LTTE for having been removed from its original shrine, with the approval of the Bishop, to an area controlled by Tamil rebels.

“We ask the support of the Holy See in order to find a solution to situation that is causing much concern and apprehension among the population”, writes the Ambassador of Sri Lanka in Italy, Mr.

Warnakulasuriya in a petition that has been made public in these last few hours. “We hope that the Holy See may solicit, through an official statement, the Tamil Tigers to evacuate the area and the Bishop to return the Holy Statue to its original place of worship.”

The statue is an object of cult and veneration not only for Catholics “but also for all religious believers of the country for its miraculous and thaumaturgical powers” explained the Ambassador of Sri Lanka.

The arbitrary removal of the statue from the Madhu shrine, carried out by Bishop Joseph Rayappu with the excuse that all around the place fighting, which is prohibited in the surrounding of places of worship, started once again, has become in a new source of clash between the Army and the LTTE.

“Bishop Rayappu”, added the Diplomat, “instead of asking the Government for help and requesting the terrorists to abandon the holy place, carried the statue 70 kilometers north of Madhu, at Thevanpitti, which is in an area strictly controlled by the terrorists and inaccessible to anyone and where the Bishop himself is staying.”

The Ambassador explained that nearly 25,000 Catholics live in that area and are the only ones that are able to come near to the Holy Statue. The action of the Bishop, according to the Ambassador, will enable terrorists to use this Catholic population as hostages, a real human shield, when the Army will advance in that area.

Meanwhile “concern and anxiety,” as the Diplomat added, has reached very high levels among the Sinhalese deprived of an object of worship similar to the one of the Holy Shroud in Italy.

“Many Catholics”, adds the Ambassador, “are crying for the removal of the statue and are in total despair. Our Lady of Madhu has cured cancer cases, deaf and dumb persons and people suffering from blindness. It has always been a place of worship and a peaceful meeting place for Christians, Buddhists, Muslims and Hindus”.

Ambassador Warnakulasuriya hopes in a direst intervention of the Holy See in order that it may exercise pressure on Bishop Rayappu, who, according to the Diplomat “It is evident that the LTTE has facilitated the removal of our Lady of Madu by Bishop Rayappu by refusing to vacate the house of God and turning the abode of peace into a terrorist camp”

(Asian Tribune)