"The Pope's message on religious freedom crucial for Sri Lanka"

 AsiaNews 

01/04/2011 10:35
SRI LANKA
"The Pope's message on religious freedom crucial for Sri Lanka"
by Melani Manel Perera
Fr. Reid Shelton Fernando, a political analyst and human rights activist, speaks to AsiaNews about the message launched by Benedict XVI for World Day of Peace, "Religious Freedom, the path to peace." Stressing that the faithful of every religion must root their beliefs in mutual respect.

 Colombo (AsiaNews) - "The Pope's message is very important to highlight the situation in Sri Lanka. If mistakes were made in the past, then Christians should be humble and ask for forgiveness, just as Pope John Paul II did on March 12, 2000, the first Sunday of Lent. " Fr. Reid Shelton Fernando, coordinator of the Young Christian Workers Movement in Sri Lanka, a political analyst and human rights activist, spoke to AsiaNews about how the Pope’s message for the  World Day of Peace reflects the situation in his country.
In Sri Lanka we speak of the presence of 4 major religious traditions in the country. We publicly acknowledge it. At the same time there is no religious persecutions meted out directly to minority religious. The Constitution adopted in 1978 there is a special chapter on the place given to the religion of the majority. I do not think that people from the minority race or minority religions could aspire to the leadership of the country. Even though that fact is not stated so in the rules. Who so ever aspire to lead the country must be from the majority race or religion. Indirectly there is no sense of equality in the strict sense of the word. However the religious leaders from the four traditions do occasionally come together for joint projects.
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