Bishop uncertain of Madhu statue returning

by Norman Palihawadana

Although the Army had informed him that they had moved in and taken control of the Madhu Church area, after the LTTE pulled out on Thursday, he could not say whether the revered statue of ‘Our Lady of Madhu’ could be returned to its original place at the shrine and if the feast could be celebrated until the Government and the LTTE guaranteed that an area of two miles radius around the shrine would be a ‘no war zone’, the Bishop of Mannar Rt. Rev. Rayappu Joseph said.

Asked whether the statue could be returned to the shrine since the church area had been taken over by the security forces, he said he could not say whether the LTTE would permit the statue to be returned. In any event no military personnel including LTTE cadres should enter the church and its environs, he said.

The Army, moving into the general area around the Madhu Church, vacated by the LTTE, had found a number of bunkers built around the church grounds and trenches dug by the LTTE for defending their positions, Defence Spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanyakkara said.

Troops had found that the roof and some windows of the church had been damaged but the shrine was now open for worship by the pilgrims or people of the area, he said.

After moving into the church areas the troops had begun poushing towards Palampiddy which is under LTTE control. The objective of the government forces was to allow the devotees of the Madhu Shrine to carry on their religious practice and festivals without any obstruction he said.