Vatican City, 8 June 2012 (VIS) – The Holy See Press Office released the following communique at midday today:
“This morning the Holy Father Benedict XVI received in audience Mahinda Rajapaksa, president of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The president subsequently went on to meet with Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States.
Read moreTHE CHURCH IS COMMITTED TO THE COMMON GOOD IN SRI LANKA
If not for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the Indian Independence struggle would have taken longer with more bloodshed, division and war. When senior leaders of the Hindu political groups urged Gandhi to respond ‘Violence with Violence’ and ‘sword with sword’ he opposed insisting and exhorting the path of non-Violence and peace, which Gandhi’s biggest sword to combat the trained and fully-equipped forces.
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI is expected to express concerns over the personal safety of most reverend Rayappu Joseph the Catholic Bishop of Mannar-Vavuniya diocese in Sri Lanka when Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa calls on him at the Vatican later this week.