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Request to elevate Madhu Church as a national Basilica

Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Refugees Minister Dr. Jayalath Jayewardena in a supplication to Pope John Paul II has requested him to declare the Sanctuary of our Lady of Madhu as the National Basilica of Sri Lanka.

Minister Dr. Jayalath Jayawardena has said the sanctuary of our Lady of Madhu has been a meeting place not only for Catholics but also for people of different communities and faiths which had enabled them to have interaction and share love towards one another irrespective of their differences for the past several decades. Its elevation into a national Basilica will therefore help galvanize reconciliation between the North and South of Sri Lanka with the dawn of peace.

Tracing the origin and history of this holy shrine Dr. Jayawardena has said the statue of Our Lady of Madhu was taken in procession to the South last year and both catholics and non-catholics invoked Our Lady's intercession for dawn of peace and reconciliation. The catholics believe the signing of the ceasefire agreement between the Government and the LTTE is an answer to the prayers made during our lady's tour of the South.

Over the years this holy place had performed many miracles. Pilgrims still take away earth from the Madhu church and use it for healing purposes whenever they are stung by serpents. Marudha Madhu had been a missionary centre since 1706 and it had been a source of strength and spiritual healing especially during periods of persecution, epidemics and other calamities.

If it is elevated as a National Basilica it will help galvanise reconciliation between the North and South.

Dr. Jayawardena has said even after the real dawn of peace there will be remnants of animosity suspicion and lack of confidence between the people of the North and South. Accordingly the inner healing and confidence building would be vital for all people who have been subjected to mental and physical torture for over two decades to forget the past.

Since the Madhu church had served as a refugee camp for people displaced by the ethnic war it would also be prudent to declare the shrine and its vicinity as a Zone of Peace as well.

Copies of the petition has been forwarded by Dr. Jayawardena to the Apostolic Nuncio Most Rev. Dr. Thomas Yeh Sheng-nan, Archbishop of Colombo Dr. Oswald Gomis, all other Bishops in the country, the Administrator of Madhu Church Rev. Fr. Philips, the Prime Minister, the Interior Minister, all heads of Diplomatic Missions, LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran and all Roman Catholic members of Parliament.

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