SRI LANKA Learn from the past, look forward with hope, say Church leaders

Church leaders have urged all Sri Lankans to put the 25-year civil war behind them and look to the future with hope.

State president Mahinda Rajapakse declared the end of war in parliament on May 19.

"We have to leave the sad and bitter memories of the past and look positively and optimistically towards the future in hope," Archbishop Oswald Gomis of Colombo said on national television that day. "We all have to share the blame for our divisions and forgive each other. We should have the humility and wisdom to learn from the past."

The archbishop delivered the message to his countrymen as many celebrated the ending of the war between the government and Tamil separatists in the north. Read more ...