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Catholic Church calls for urgent peace talks
The Catholic Bishops of Sri Lanka and Major Religious Superiors in a joint statement yesterday called on the government and the LTTE to strictly uphold the ceasefire agreement and take urgent steps to resume peace talks.
In a message to mark Christmas, the Bishops and the Religious Superiors called on all people of goodwill to be peacemakers so that the country could work out a peace based on justice and reconciliation.

The Bishops and the Major Superiors said:
“This year we celebrate Christmas at a time when the fragile ceasefire is under severe strain and the prevailing peace seems to be fast receding. We seem to be poised between war and peace. But we cannot abandon hope, for God is sovereign and faithful to his Word. We urge the LTTE and the government to implement the ceasefire agreement in both letter and spirit. Each party accuses the other of its non-implementation. We appeal that both sides take into account the respective grievances ventilated by the other and pledge to uphold the ceasefire agreement fully. We earnestly appeal to the International Community to play a more active role in influencing both parties and any other rebel groups who are not a party to the agreement to respect the ceasefire.

We appreciate the stand of the new President to start the peace talks afresh. We hope and pray that he would address this issue with a sense of urgency.
“We have to accept that we have all made errors in the past which have to be rectified and resolved. Peace always goes hand in hand with Justice. Freedom, justice and non-discrimination are the keys to peace in a plural society where different ethnic and religious communities live side by side.

The Church upholds the dignity of the human person and stresses the need for freedom -- freedom in the religious, the social and the political spheres. In a multi-ethnic society the desires of people to manage their own affairs have to be catered to by a wide measure of devolution of power with constitutional guarantees that such devolution would not be withdrawn or undermined thereafter for reasons of political expediency or ideology.

“Christmas challenges every one of us profoundly to pursue peace by working for justice and reconciliation. Thus it is incumbent on all the people, especially the political leadership to shed their differences and work towards a lasting solution to the problems we are faced with. Christmas is also the time for giving and sharing with the less fortunate.

We cannot forget our brothers and sisters in the north, south and east who suffered from the tsunami last December. We must also expedite our efforts at the rehabilitation of those affected. We are happy that the new President has taken certain steps to ameliorate the situation. We must draw the attention of the Government to the tens of thousands of our Tamil and Muslim brethren still living in refugee camps. Our people are also suffering from the spiraling cost of living. Other countries which have also faced the hike in the oil prices in the world market have managed to cope with much lower inflation.

“Since peace is the core message of all religions we appeal to all religious leaders and all citizens to be peace-makers. ‘Blessed are the Peace-makers’ (Mt. 5/9). In the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ we wish all our faithful and all our fellow citizens a season filled with peace and harmony”.

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