An adjourment motion was moved by Dr. Jayalath Jayawardana, a Catholic Member of Parliament, on 22nd July 2008 drawing the attention of the gevernment to situation in the Madhu Shrine area and requesting the government to facilititate the pilgrims to visit Madhu Shrine for the Annual Feast. He also appealed to the government to oblige with the request of His Lordship Bishop Rayappu and the Catholic Bishops Conference in Sri Lanka, to declare the Madhu Shrine area as a " PEACE ZONE ", which he said, not yet declared. |
His Lordship Bishop Rayappu Joseph in his letter addressed to His Excellency the President Mahinda Rajapaksha, on 01st April 2008, said, "
The Catholic Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka, the Bishop and the priests of the Diocese of Mannar have been appealing to the LTTE and the Sri Lankan Army to refrain from using the area gazetted as the "Madhu Church" reservation under the "Pilgrimage Ordinance" in 1982 for military and political purposes and to respect its sacred and humanitarian nature. Appeals have been made to the President of Sri Lanka to declare the Madhu Shrine as a "Zone of Peace" through a special gazette notification, in order to ensure that the Shrine can continue to serve as a religious and humanitarian space." |
The Church of Our Lady of Madhu situated in Mannar District is a supreme sacred area revered by the entire Catholic community as well as by all non-Catholic people. Hundreds of thousands of people from the North as well as from the South come together in peace and brotherhood every year to worship Our Lady of Madhu.
Within the last few years, the sacred area of the Church of Our Lady of Maddu was a safe and peaceful refugee camp for the protection of lives of those who had been rendered helpless and displaced due to the fearful war.
The miraculous statue of Our Lady of Madhu, which is several centuries old, can be considered as a national treasure and heritage of our country.
As a result of fearful military operations that took place in 2008, the statue of Our Lady of Madhu had to be moved to another Catholic Church for its safety, according to a voluntary decision taken by the Catholic Rev. Fathers of the Mannar Diocese with the full consent and the permission of the sole incumbent of the Sacred Church of Our Lady of Madhu, the Bishop of Mannar, Most Rev. Rayappu Joseph. In the same way, the Catholic priests, Sisters and the staff who were at the Madhu Church had to volunteer to leave the sacred area to save their lives.
Today this historic sacred area has become an uninhabited, isolated area where no religious activities are carried out. Due to the above mentioned reasons, even the Annual Feast was not held on 02nd July, 2008.
As a result of the war in 2008, the Church of Our Lady of Madhu has been damaged in many places. Violent confrontations that took place there within the past few months had been the cause for the said damages. Although the Bishop of Mannar has made a request to the authorities to give permission to the Rev. Fathers and staff of the Church of Our Lady of Madhu to return to the sacred area and repair the damaged parts so that the honour, dignity and sanctity of the sacred place could be preserved, no response has teen received for that request up to now.
The Bishop of Mannar has stated through the media that as soon as the damages done to the sacred church are repaired under his supervision in a manner that the honour of the sacred church of Madhu is preserved, arrangements will be made for all the Fathers and members of the religious staff who had lived there earlier to reside at the sacred church again and the access road is reopened, the statue of the Church of Our Lady of Madhu would be brought back to the sacred Church, religious rites would be commenced and opportunity would be provided for the people to worship.
Accordingly, it is moved in this House that a conducive environment be crerated for the Fathers and staff to return to the sacred Church of Our Lady of Madhu and carry out the repair work speedily under the supervision of the Bishop of Mannar and to reside at the sacred premises again, the access road to the sacred area of Madhu be re-opened, and all the people who have been displaced from the area be resettled. It is further moved in this House that thereby, opportunity be provided to worship and participate at the Feast of Our Lady of Madhu again for all Sri Lankan people who eagerly look forward to worshipping Our Lady of Madhu.
Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena
Member of Parliament,
Sri Lanka.
22.07.2008
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