Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

A statement by the Rt Revd Duleep de Chickera, Bishop of Colombo

An opportunity for national growth and harmony

I recently returned from one of my regular pastoral visits to our congregations (churches) and schools in Jaffna. Such visits are always educative and humbling.

What was immediately noticeable was the preoccupation with routine in the lives of the people; simply because there seems to be little else to look forward to.

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Two recent incidents of violence unleashed against innocent and defenceless Tamil civilians by the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam )must be condemned unreservedly by peace loving Sri Lankans of all communities.

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It is with great shock and surprise that we have learnt of the recent acts of violence in our country. The attack on the MTV Media Station and the assassination of Mr Lasantha Wickremetunga, the senior journalist of the Leader Group are clear indications of the state of the freedom of expression that is available in our country today. These are only the latest incidents of a long lasting threat on the media and on the freedom of expression. We hasten to condemn these treacherous acts unequivocally in the hardest possible manner and express our heartfelt condolences and the assurance of our prayers to the family of Mr Wickrematunga.

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The Rt Rev Duleep de Chickera the Bishop of Colombo of the Church of Ceylon led the Diocesan Councillors in a Peace Meditation calling an immediate halt to the 30 year long ethnic war.

The meditation was performed on the front lawn of the Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour just adjoining the Bandaranayake Memorial International Conference Hall, the premier convention centre of the island. 

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A Statement by the Rt Revd Duleep de Chickera, Bishop of Colombo 

The Church of Ceylon (E-P) – Ceylon People of conscience are perturbed that the current war in the LTTE occupied Vanni places the majority of civilians at tremendous risk. Unarmed and trapped in this war zone, large numbers of civilians, including children, are caught in the intense cross-fire of a deadly armed confrontation. Thousands are already displaced and can flee only to places of temporary safety.

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The Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour, Colombo

This month was World Environment Day and the theme for the current year is ‘Kick the Habit: Towards a Low Carbon Economy’. Modern lifestyles need to be supported by economic activities that release large quantities of carbon into the atmosphere, and this leads to unfavourable climate changes such as global warming, erratic weather patterns, increasingly frequent and severe storms and other natural disasters. Such adverse changes can be slowed down by corrective action but not stopped or reversed.

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122nd Session of the Diocesan Council, Colombo

Address by The Rt Revd Duleep de Chickera, Bishop of Colombo

My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I welcome you all to yet another Annual Session of our Diocesan Council. Many have travelled from distant places undergoing a great deal of hardship and I appreciate your efforts. We have gathered as a Council under Christ to confer and decide on behalf of the Church, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. So let us pray and work so that the time spent together in worship, study, fellowship and business may benefit God's agenda for God's Church and God's world. May all our doings be acceptable and pleasing in God's sight and may we return to our homes and congregations at the end of these three days fulfilled and renewed.

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Archbishop of Canterbury - Christians should stand for hope in conflict

Christian’s communities in the middle of conflict need to stand for hope, forgiveness, and reconciliation, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said. During a visit to Sri Lanka, Archbishop Williams told a packed congregation in the cathedral church of Christ the King in Kurunegala that Christians have to feed those around them by bringing hope:

‘When we find ourselves in the middle of conflict, of suffering, and even of despair, we as Christians have to say ‘we have food to give’. And the food that we have to give is the promise that forgiveness is possible, that reconciliation is possible’.

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An Easter Message to the Nation from the Rt Revd Duleep de Chickera, Bishop of Colombo

This year we celebrate Easter, the festival that commemorates the resurrection and new life in Christ, in circumstances of death and despair.

Desperate Sri Lankans

The East has become a full blown battlefield. The culture of killings, abductions and child conscriptions which have been the order of the day is now more intensified with aerial bombings, multi-barrel shelling and claymore mines.

There is little regard for the presence and protection of civilians. Last week, eight Tamil civilians were killed at Morakottanchenai, allegedly due to GoSL military shelling; this week, seven Sinhala and three Tamil construction workers were killed allegedly by a Tamil group at the Hope Village in Mylambaveli. Most recently an alleged LTTE bomb planted in a bus killed 16 persons; most of whom were civilians, in Ampara. All these killings must be condemned forthwith. The right to life and dignity of all, challenges these indiscriminate and aggressive military and militant strategies.

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By The Rt. Revd. Duleep de Chickera, Bishop of Colombo 

I have just returned from a Pastoral visit to the Eastern province. A sense of helplessness and frustration prevails. Armed security force personnel, check points, and the sound of continuous shelling are as real and conspicuous as are the camps for internally displaced persons. Both realities of war and displacement seem to be accepted with a sense of fatalism.

The people take each day as it comes. Reports of more deaths, more conscription, more displaced persons and more hartals are part of life. People speak only if they trust you. Independent voices are growing cynical and subdued. There is no trusted authority to hear their fears and grievances. In matters of life and death the people are weary of the cycle of bureaucratic explanations followed with indifference and inaction. There is a feeling that politico-military agendas are far more important than people and that little will be done to avert the hardship of the masses. These anxious persons are Sri Lankan, living in democratic Sri Lanka in 2007.

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Excerpts from the Address by the Rt Revd Duleep de Chickera, Bishop of Colombo at the 121st Annual Sessions of the Diocesan Council Diocese of Colombo, (Anglican) Church of Ceylon.

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A Statement by the Rt Revd Duleep de Chickera, Bishop of Colombo
 
The Nation was shocked to receive news of the massacre of 10 Muslim civilians in Panama near Pottuvil. This brutal act must be condemned unreservedly. It is another deliberate attempt to provoke our continuing conflict and add to the misery of communities who want to live in peace.
 
I repeat my call, that given the prevailing conditions, a team of competent Sri Lankan expatriates representing all communities should be invited to conduct an impartial independent investigation into these killings. I also express my disappointment that despite promises, no Commissions of Inquiry have got off the ground and completed their work. It also now appears that there will be no international investigation into the massacre of the 17 ACF aid workers in Muthur. The investigation into the killing of 5 students in Trincomalee and persons in Pesalai and Allaipiddy are further cases where justice is being delayed.
 
I urge the President in the name of a transparent and democratic society as well as in the name of our suffering and afflicted communities who long for justice and peace to expedite these investigations in a manner that is acceptable to all.
 
I extend the heartfelt condolences of our Church to the grieving families and to the Muslim community in Pottuvil.
 
The Rt Revd Duleep de Chickera
Bishop of Colombo

Justice Delayed is Justice Denied
 
The killing of the seventeen aid workers and the disappearance of Fr Thuraingham Jimbrown and his associate Mr Vimalathas have shocked the nation and even the world. Pertinent questions are being raised for which answers are imperative. The reputation and image of the nation is also at stake .To date, there has been no official explanation regarding the circumstances of these very serious and tragic events. We are no doubt in a very critical impasse of justice.

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Many Sri Lankans were shocked and dismayed with the ugly scenes at the anti-war front peace rally shown on TV on the 17th.

The manner of intervention by the monks was unfortunate and unacceptable.

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A call for truce and dialogue

The current escalation of hostilities is alarming and has spread immense human suffering and sorrow overnight. If it continues, it can lead to a large scale war that very few Sri Lankans want.
 
It is most disappointing that the differences that sparked off these hostilities were negotiable and could have been resolved amicably. The Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE have a long and much appreciated tradition of negotiating the sharing of facilities and natural resources. The A9 road was opened up this way and is used by all communities. It is regrettable that we were unable to draw on this tradition to deal with the Maavilaru water issue, and its spillover effect in Muttur.

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Signs of Hope and A Call to Repentance

On a recent pastoral visit to Mannar and Kebettigollawa we were greatly distressed at the deadly violence that has been unleashed against fellow Sinhalese and Tamils living on either side of the A9 road.  Many innocent, unarmed civilians have been killed, injured and displaced, not by accident but by fellow Sri Lankans.

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Anglican Bishop Duleep de Chickera of Colombo, Sri Lanka, says he will not visit Britain unless it lifts the mandatory fingerprinting of visa applicants from his nation, or applies it to citizens of all countries.

'This is discriminatory and an insult to the Sri Lankan citizens,' said Chickera, as he described his campaign against British fingerprinting requirements for Sri Lankan visa applicants, along with citizens of several African nations. 'I know this decision is a costly one for us as our mother church is there. But, my conscience does not permit me to honor this partisan requirement.'

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From the Relief and Rehabilitation Desk

Dear Friends,

It has been one year since that tragic day last December when each and every Sri Lankan lost a piece of our heart.

Twelve months on, even as the waters have long receded, the pain and suffering for many victims continue. Our programmes in housing reconstruction, livelihood support, trauma counselling, child care and human rights are in progress and we anticipate that they will continue well into the coming year.

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Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) is providing access to counseling services for Sri Lankans recovering after the tsunami. Many survivors lost family members and remain traumatized by the disaster.

ERD is working with the Diocese of Colombo to coordinate a trauma stress relief and rehabilitation program for people in need of counseling. David Baughn MD and Jennifer Baughn PhD, a physician and clinical psychologist trained in the field of trauma, will be stationed in Sri Lanka for three months. There, they will train local counselors, educators, and social service workers on post traumatic stress disorder methods and interventions.

"Many people in communities throughout the diocese are in need of counseling," said the Rt Revd Duleep de Chickera, the Bishop of Colombo. "'The sea that sustained us took everything from us,'" quoted Bishop Chickera. "This comment from a fisherman applies to people too. Both have the potential for nourishment and destruction."

More here: http://www.er-d.org/tsunami

The Mission to Seafarers plans to restart a full-time ministry in the port of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The move follows the decision last month by the Mission's trustees to set aside ?500,000 for the relief of seafarers and their families affected by the Boxing Day tsunami in the Indian Ocean region.

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