One of Sri Lanka’s holiest Catholic shrines stands idle and neglected — an unlikely victim of a decades-long internal conflict that the government said it is close to winning.
Standing 60cm tall, the 450-year-old pale yellow statue of the Virgin Mary, draped in golden robes, is especially revered by childless couples desperately wanting offspring.
But, protected in a bullet-proof case at the Ave Maria Church in Madhu, deep inside the northern coastal district of Mannar, pilgrims no longer visit, as mainly-Buddhist Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict rages nearby.
“Seeing this place so empty is a terrible tragedy for me,” said Father Emilianuspillai Santhiapillai, the shrine’s administrator, who fled clutching the statue in April, before returning with a handful of others in August.
The thousands who used to visit the cream-colored church each year and stay in chalets have been replaced by wild monkeys, while birds, stray cattle, dogs and an occasional jungle fowl roam the expansive church garden.
Keeping them company are dozens of heavily armed government troops, but there is barely a single worshipper in sight.
The military seized control of the area, 300km north of Colombo, in April. Since then it has given the church a fresh coat of paint, though the roof, walls, nearby chapels and tree trunks are pockmarked by artillery shells.
The military said it was keeping out worshippers until mines were cleared — fleeing Tamil Tiger rebels haphazardly planted hundreds of landmines and explosive-packed booby traps to halt advancing troops, officials say.
The Tigers have been fighting for an independent Tamil homeland since 1972, but the fighting with government soldiers has intensified this year after Colombo pulled out of a truce.
“The government plans to de-mine the area and develop it, but when it will happen, we don’t know,” Lieutenant Colonel Sampath Kotuwegoda, commander of the region, told foreign correspondents during a military-escorted visit last week.
Two neighboring villages are also abandoned after some 3,000 residents, hundreds of worshippers and dozens of church workers fled when fighting erupted here last year.
The military has allowed 12 people to live inside the church compound — two priests, three nuns and seven workers.
When Santhiapillai first arrived here in 2006, the church was within Tiger-held territory. As the artillery fire got closer, he watched hundreds of people flee with their meager belongings on foot, bicycles and mini-vans.
“It was very heartbreaking to watch the people go, but what could I do when I was not sure of my own safety?” he said, standing next to a plastic Christmas tree decorated with red and white snowmen.
A Tamil, he cites numerous contributions the church has received from Muslims and Buddhists as a sign of unity and prays that all communities will one day live together.
“This war is useless, both sides should talk — talking helps. War brings death and destruction to everybody, Tamils [the majority], Sinhalese and Muslims,” he said.
Christians account for about 7 percent of Sri Lanka’s 20 million population.
Santhiapillai continues to hold daily mass even if his congregation is only 11 people. After mass, they fill their time cleaning the church and re-planting trees.
In August, the military bused in some 700 pilgrims for the annual feast — a far cry from the 500,000 devotees who attended the festival in previous years. Worshippers were allowed to attend mass and then escorted out the same day.
“They,” Santhiapillai said gesturing to a group of military officials standing next to him, “should allow people to come here.”
“I hope they allow people to celebrate holy mass on Christmas Day. Otherwise there is no reason for the statue to be here,” he said.
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