Sri Lanka: Religions unite for Mother Teresa

On the 12th anniversary of the death of Mother Teresa the Church of Sri Lanka also paid tribute to the blessed of Calcutta. On September 5, the NGO Christian Alliance for Social Action (CASA) promoted a celebration in the auditorium of Caritas-Sri Lanka, Colombo, attended by priests and religious of the island together with many lay people involved in the Churches charity work.  

A.T. Ariyaratne, a devout Buddhist, founder and president of Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, described Mother Teresa as "the angel of mercy" and "the saint of the slums”. The winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award (the "Nobel Prize of Asia"), recalled the figure and work of Mother Teresa underlining its universal value recognized by the Buddhist tradition.  

"If the Buddha were to judge the life and work of the Catholic nun Mother Teresa - Ariyaratne said – he would tell us that her heart was one of loving-kindness, which turned into compassionate action, in to Karuna. Mother Teresa offered a free joy, the Muditha, and lived with equanimity, in upekkha. She was a manifestation of divinity that took on human form, because these four attributes are qualities of divinity”.

Ariyaratne said that "if Mother Teresa were alive today she would run with her sisters to where the war refugees live to heal them. This is an opportunity given to us to follow her example. Each month, hundreds of children are born in the tents of the Vavuniya and Menik Farm camps.  There is so much we can do for them".  

Fr. C.G. Jeyakumar, director of Caritas-Jaffna, highlighted that Mother Teresa "should become a model for the life of those who, like us, work in social projects”. Her "work of mercy and love, full of love for the poor and abandoned" is a sign of hope for the future of Sri Lanka.