The Voice of the suffering in Asia

He believes there is a religious aspect to the kidnappings, particularly as the girls are Hindu or Christian. Yet, the archbishop did not believe it was the only explanation. “It is lust. They think ‘she is pretty and I want her.’ It is a crime and it has a possible religious component too.”

“I quickly noticed that something was seriously wrong. Though the matchmaker had told me that my husband was a Christian, I never saw him praying or reading the Bible. He didn’t provide money for meals, and he often beat me. He even confessed that he had only pretended to be Christian in order to get me to marry him."

To provide for their needs, the Archdiocese of Colombo has set up a team of 40 certified trauma therapists. They provide psychological care for grieving, injured and other severely traumatized people.

"Let us stand in solidarity and unity in our prayers. We pray for the safety of the bishops and all those wrongfully charged, that they might find strength in these trying times."

“THE PEOPLE HERE are good, but the government is bad.” This is the opinion of a Buddhist taxi driver. It’s a view is one widely held in Sri Lanka today. Ever since it became known that authorities had been warned by India’s secret service about the planned terrorist attacks that struck the country on Easter Sunday, criticism of the government has been intense. Feared revenge attacks did not materialize – not least because Cardinal Malcom Ranjith of Colombo hastened to the scene of the bombings and urged traumatized Catholics to renounce any form of reprisal. Altogether some 300 people ...

“On June 8, 2019, he went to work but did not come home. I was very worried, as he was never late. His brother helped me look for him. We went street by street but could not find him. The next morning, someone told us that he’d seen the body of Safdar Masih in the local hospital. He had been murdered."