Record crowds attend Madhu Church festival

[TamilNet, Sunday, 15 August 2004, 15:32 GMT]
The annual festival of Madhu Church concluded Sunday with three Bishops - Thomas Soundaranayagam (Jaffna), Malcolm Ranjit (Ratnapura) and Rayappu Joseph (Mannar) - jointly holding Holy Mass. About three hundred thousand devotees from all parts of the island participated in the final day of the festival of the Madhu Church, which is also called Jungle Shrine, revered by Tamils and Sinhalese, sources said.

Peace prevails in the country after several years. But the people fear whether the current no-war situation would come to an end early, said Rt.Reverend Malcolm Ranjit. People should rally round to oppose elements that are bent on destroying the current peaceful situation, he said.

"Every person has a right to select his faith. No one can dictate in this regard," said Bishop Malcolm Ranjit.

Vanni district parliamentarians Mr.Selvam Adaikalanathan, Mr.Kishor Sivanathan, Mr.Vino Noharathalingam and Colombo district parliamentarians Dr.Jayalath Jayawardene were among the devotees.