Catholic Bishops condemn spate of killings

The Catholic Bishops' Conference yesterday condemned the recent killing of Navy personnel, civilians at Pesalai and MP Joseph Pararajasingham when participating in the Christmas midnight mass at Batticaloa.

The Catholic Bishops Conference in a release said: "We view with particular dismay the latter incident on Christmas night in a place of worship. While the killing of any person is a dastardly act doing so in a sacred place of worship on a day which is most sacred to that religion is abominable.

We offer our condolences to all the members of the bereaved families and assure them of our prayers. At a time when a concerted effort is being made to rally support and obtain the collaboration of all parties in the search for peace we fear that such killings will once again damage irreparably the peace process.

We, the Catholic Bishops therefore reiterate our earnest appeal in the name of humanity and the present and future generations in this country to bring to an end all killings and violence and to return to the negotiating table to work out an honourable solution to the ethnic problem in order to usher in lasting peace in our beloved country."