Sri Lanka Bishop condemns suicide attack at Muslim celebration

(March 12, 2009) The Catholic bishop of Galle in southern Sri Lanka has condemned a suicide bomb attack at a Muslim shrine that killed 15 people and injured 60, including a government minister. The March 11 attack occurred during celebrations of Prophet Muhammad's birthday at the Jumma Mosque in Godapitiya. Bishop Harold Anthony Perera, in a statement on March 11, said the attack came "at a time when there is an urgent need to build a bridge for equality, fraternity, justice and peace." The prelate, who is in charge of the Catholic National Commission for Justice, Peace and Human Development, called for an immediate "end to all acts of terrorism, which gravely offend the human family and severely destabilize peace and solidarity." He also expressed concern about terrorists specifically targeting religious communities and sacred places, and extended condolences to the bereaved families of all killed in the blast during the national Milad-un-Nabi festival. Government ministers and representatives of various religions, including Buddhist monks, Christian pastors and Religious, were taking part in a religious procession with thousands of Muslims when the blast occurred. A priest who was part of the procession said that Muslim men were playing on the drums and dancing when the bomber detonated the explosives. He said that said people from different religions in the predominantly Buddhist area had lived in harmony. The government has blamed the incident on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels who since 1983 have fought for a separate state for the Tamil minority.

The Catholic bishop of Galle in southern Sri Lanka has condemned a suicide bomb attack at a Muslim shrine that killed 15 people and injured 60, including a government minister. The March 11 attack occurred during celebrations of Prophet Muhammad's birthday at the Jumma Mosque in Godapitiya. Bishop Harold Anthony Perera, in a statement on March 11, said the attack came "at a time when there is an urgent need to build a bridge for equality, fraternity, justice and peace." The prelate, who is in charge of the Catholic National Commission for Justice, Peace and Human Development, called for an immediate "end to all acts of terrorism, which gravely offend the human family and severely destabilize peace and solidarity." He also expressed concern about terrorists specifically targeting religious communities and sacred places, and extended condolences to the bereaved families of all killed in the blast during the national Milad-un-Nabi festival. Government ministers and representatives of various religions, including Buddhist monks, Christian pastors and Religious, were taking part in a religious procession with thousands of Muslims when the blast occurred. A priest who was part of the procession said that Muslim men were playing on the drums and dancing when the bomber detonated the explosives. He said that said people from different religions in the predominantly Buddhist area had lived in harmony. The government has blamed the incident on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels who since 1983 have fought for a separate state for the Tamil minority.