Bombed St. Anthony’s Shrine of
Sri Lanka feels closeness of Universal Church
 |
| St. Anthony's Shrine Kochikade in Colombo, Sri Lanka, undergoing repairs after the April 21, 2019 bombing |
Father Jude Raj Fernando, the Rector of St. Anthony’s Shrine
Kochikade in Colombo spoke to Vatican News about the mood among Catholics
nearly a month after the suicide bomb attacks of Easter Sunday.
By Robin Gomes
The world was shocked and outraged to hear about a string of
coordinated suicide bomb attacks on 3 churches and 3 hotels in Sri Lanka on
Easter Sunday, the holiest day of Christians.
The bombings, claimed by the so-called Islamic State, killed
more than 250 people and injured some 500.
One of the targets of the April 21 carnage was the
Catholic St. Anthony’s Shrine Kochikade, in the capital
Colombo.
Amadeo Lomonaco of Vatican News visited the
popular shrine ahead of the nation marking a month since the attacks. He
spoke to the Rector of St. Anthony’s Shrine, Father Jude Raj, who
had a narrow escape that fateful day during the 8:45 morning Mass on Easter
Sunday.
God of love, not revenge
The priest said they never gave up their faith and continue
to pray and celebrate Mass inside the shrine saying, “Our God is not a god of
revenge. He is the God of love.”
He recalled the words of Jesus as he was dying on the cross
– “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.” He said Sri
Lanka’s Catholics have the same sentiments, saying they have to show to the
world that they are the followers of Jesus who asked his disciples to love one
another as He loved them.
Speaking about the message of Christians to those who have
committed the crime, Fr. Raj said that they extend their hands out to the
terrorists and pray for them and for their repentance so that the Lord may
touch their lives and hearts and that they may come back and to the God of love
and mercy.
Fr. Raj said that the entire Sri Lankan community has come
together, irrespective of religion, caste and language. Catholics are
showing the power of prayer, especially the rosary and the Mass, and they don’t
need any other weapon.
Solidarity of Pope, Universal Church
The Rector of St. Anthony’s Shrine said that in their
tragedy, they experience the closeness of Pope Francis and the Universal
Church.
St. Anthony’s Shrine maintains a soup kitchen that feeds
some 200 people daily, and it also has also a museum and relics. The
shrine also maintains a close link with Sri Lanka’s Catholic community of Italy
that is home to the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua where the
13th-century saint breathed his last.
Fr. Raj pointed out that Cardinal Fernando Filoni, the
Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, is
scheduled to visit the shrine on Wednesday. He said, all these show that
Catholics in Sri Lanka have not been abandoned by the Universal Church that is
praying for them. Many dioceses across the world have also expressed
their closeness with Sri Lankans.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét