The diocese of Mannar is situated in the northwest of Sri Lanka. A while ago we received an appeal for help from the Vavuniya deanery, where a vehicle was urgently needed for pastoral work.
The deanery includes 10 separate parishes, each of which serves several smaller villages. Altogether there are over 16,000 Catholics living here. The distances are considerable, however, and the area is pretty inaccessible, being covered in bushland and in some places by jungle. This is one of the areas that were particularly hard-hit by the terrible civil war that raged from 1983 to 2009. Many were forced to flee and lost all they possessed, and many others were killed. In many cases people still don‘t know what happened to their relatives who were abducted. Women were raped, and to this day many people still cannot forget the atrocities they were forced to witness. Even today, the spiritual wounds have not yet healed. And many families still suffer great material poverty. Most live a precarious hand-to-mouth existence as agricultural day labourers.
The Covid pandemic was a yet further blow and the current grave economic crisis, with its sharply increased prices, has made life still harder for people who were already poor to begin with.
As always, the Church has stood by the people and brought them hope. But her pastoral outreach has long been difficult. Travelling by motorcycle in this region is dangerous, with poor roads and the danger of attack by wild beasts. And besides, the priest would normally be accompanied by religious sisters when visiting the villages, where there is so much need. So what they really needed was a vehicle capable of transporting several people, and other necessary goods as well.
Thanks to the generosity of our benefactors, we were able to provide the 38,000 euros required for a minibus, which has now arrived safely in Vavuniya. In fact it is already working, visiting the remote villages and bringing help. Now the children and young people can be given a better and more intensive preparation for their First Holy Communion and Confirmation and young couples be better prepared for the sacrament of matrimony. There is support for families and counselling for those in difficult life situations, and care for the sick and dying. And now all the faithful can have more frequent access to the Sacraments and play a more active part in the life of the Church.
The Bishop of Mannar has expressed his thanks to all of you who helped make this happen. „I truly appreciate and treasure your support for the Church in need and I assure all your benefactors of our united prayers. May God bless you all!“
