As more and more civilians cross out of the battle zone in northeastern Sri Lanka to government-controlled areas, Buddhists and Catholics have joined forces to transport truckloads of relief items to the displaced people. “We collected milk powder, toothpaste, rice and eggs from Muslims, Buddhists and Christians,” Akurana Gunarathana, a Buddhist monk, told UCA News. He began his eight-hour journey northward around 3 a.m. March 8 with Buddhist monks and Catholic priests. An estimated 150,000 ethnic Tamils are still trapped in a small patch of Tamil-controlled area in the northeast of the island country . Since 1983, the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have been fighting for independence from the Sinhalese-led government in an effort to establish a Tamil state in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The conflict has claimed close to 80,000 lives.
Sri Lankan Refugees in Need of Aid
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
A portion of a new interview with Pope Francis will air tonight on the “CBS Evening News” at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, according to a release from the CBS News Communications office.
A Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, by Father Terrance Klein
The reflections of Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., convinced me that Pope Francis' reframing of the scope and meaning of synods will have staying power, because it opens up a new model for the church.
During his general audience, Pope Francis reminded his listeners of the importance of the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. Engaging the crowd by having them recite the virtues aloud, Francis said that theological virtues animate our everyday actions toward the good.