Pope leaves post-war Sri Lanka after preaching reconciliation

Friday, 16 January 2015 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

POPE Francis left Sri Lanka on Thursday (15) after a visit where he preached a message of reconciliation between the country’s different religious groups to huge crowds.

Senior officials of the country’s new Government as well as church officials gathered on the airport tarmac to bid him farewell. On his way to the airport, Francis visited a Church-founded, post-war reconstruction institute and prayed at its chapel. The main purpose of Francis’ visit was to canonise the country’s first saint.But during the three-day trip he stressed the need for interfaith dialogue and reconciliation – a message which resonates in a country still trying to recover from a bitter 26-year civil war between the majority Sinhalese Buddhists and the Tamil minority who are mostly Hindu. On Wednesday (14) night he became the second pope to visit a Buddhist temple. Catholics make up about 7% of Sri Lanka’s population, while 10 times as many follow Buddhism. Both Sinhalese and Tamils are Catholics and the Vatican hopes that their common religion can assist in promoting understanding between the two ethnic groups. Francis will arrive in Manila later on Thursday to start the second leg of his Asia tour which ends on Monday (19).

Pope chooses SriLankan Airlines

MANILA, Philippines: Pope Francis arrives in the Philippines on Thursday aboard the flagship carrier of Sri Lanka, the first stop of his two-country Asian visit. To accompany him in the SriLankan Airlines flight will be his delegation of Vatican officials and journalists from different countries including the Philippines. Pope Francis, of course, had the option to fly the Italian carrier Alitalia, whose name is a fusion of the words ‘ali’ meaning wings, and ‘Italia’bBut he chose to fly the SriLankan Airlines. The papal aerial service is an ordinary plane set aside from the passenger operations’ normal schedule. The pilots and cabin crew are also employees of Alitalia. Pope Francis, as did previous Vatican heads of state, flies via Alitalia to and from Vatican, but can opt for the flag carrier of the host country he’s visiting. The Vatican Secretariat and other officials of the Holy See accompany the pope in his travels. As a citizen of Argentina, Pope Francis still uses Argentinian passport. (Source: globalnation.inquirer.net)