by Melani Manel Perera

Some vandals destroyed a statue of the Virgin and attempted to set fire to the shrine of St. Francis Xavier in Angulana (Archdiocese of Colombo). The consecrated hosts, however, remained intact and the faithful see this a sign from Jesus: "No one can destroy the love of Christ."

Colombo (AsiaNews) - There is growing religious intolerance in Sri Lanka: a group of unknown persons attacked the Catholic Church of St. Francis Xavier in Angulana in the Archdiocese of Colombo. The vandals destroyed an ancient statue of the Virgin, and then demolished the tabernacle: they removed it from the altar trying to set fire to the Eucharist. The incident occurred on June 5th at around 10 pm, but so far the police have not yet identified the perpetrators.

For the past several months attacks against religious minorities have been on the rise in Sri Lanka, particularly Christian and Islamic. These attacks are usually fomented by Buddhists extremist groups (Bodu Bala Sena or Sinhala Ravaya), struggling to protect the Sinhalese population and Buddhist (the majority, ed) religion. Such attacks are new to the country, where attacks occur infrequently religious roots.

The faithful of the archdiocese have been shocked by what happened. But many believe that in the midst of the raid a miracle also took place, which has refreshed and reinvigorated their faith. Although the tabernacle was found completely soaked in kerosene - police believe at least 30 liters - the consecrated hosts did not catch fire, remaining intact.



"This - say the faithful to AsiaNews - is a powerful miracle, through which Jesus is giving a message to our society and those who carry out such attacks, no one can destroy Christ and his love. Because he died, he gave up his life for us and then rose again. Nobody can do anything to him. "