Archbishop Oswald Gomis in a Press Release issued today says, "We are indeed very happy that the war is over and I congratulate His Excellency the President Mahinda Rajapaksha and the Chiefs of the Defense forces who supported him with deep commitment and self-sacrifice."

Full text of the press release –

Press Release of the Archbishop of Colombo on the conclusion of war

We are indeed very happy that the war is ended and that the government’s Security Forces have been able to release all the innocent civilians who were trapped in battle.

I congratulate His Excellency President Mahinda Rajapakse, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, for his very courageous leadership and thank the Chiefs of the Defense outfit who supported him with deep commitment and self-sacrifice. I also offer my deepest sympathies to those who laid down their lives in battle and those innocent civilians killed, trapped in war.

In a sense, we could say that we have won the battle but the war is not ended. The war would end only on the day that we grow in nationhood realizing that we are all one people in one country with equal rights. We have to realize the fact that we are a multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural community. As such we are now left with the great task of nation-building forgetting our ethnic, political and religious differences.

It is imperative that there be a political formula that will inspire confidence and promote a sense of belonging among the minority groups in the country. We have to leave the sad and bitter memories of the past three decades and look positively and optimistically towards the future in hope. All of us have to share the blame for our division and forgive each other. We should have the humility and wisdom to learn from the sad experiences of that past.

It is then, and only then, that we could build nationhood that will bring true peace and prosperity to our beloved country - Sri Lanka. Let us always remember that united we will flourish but divided we will perish.

May Sri Lanka be a land where unity, equality and fraternity reign supreme!

Archbishop Oswald Gomis  

Archbishop of Colombo

18th May 2009

Courtesy: Defence.lk