News Archives » oblates
Tribute to Fr. Mariampillai T. Sarathjeevan, OMI May 26th, 2009
Rev. Fr. Mariampillai T. Sarathjeevan. OMI
Rev. Fr. Mariampillai T. Sarathjeevan died tragically of heart failure during the final evacuation of the so-called “No-Fire Zone” in northern Sri Lanka. Fr. Sara, as he was known, was determined to stay with his people trapped between the Sri Lankan Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. He cared for the wounded, buried the dead and gave spiritual support to those around him during the months of intense fighting. Those who survived the fierce, daily bombardment were able to escape when the LTTE decided to ‘silence their guns’ on Monday, May 18.
A moving remembrance of Fr. Sara has been written by Fr. David Manuelpillai, OMI. (Download PDF)
Oblates welcome First Nations Representatives in Rome May 21st, 2009
On April 29, Pope Benedict XVI held a special audience with Canada’s Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine and a delegation of First Nations Elders and former alumni of residential schools. The Canadian Catholic Church was also represented by Archbishop James Weisgerber of Winnipeg, President of the Episcopal Conference, and a delegation of missionary congregations involved in the residential schools. Fr. Timothy COONEN, the bursar of OMI Lacombe Province, represented the communities of men religious.
Click here to read more »
Khasi People Continue to Protest Destruction of their Forest May 20th, 2009
The Khasi people of Sylhet, supported by the Oblates there, have been fighting the cutting of the forest on which the people depend for their living. These efforts are also critically important for protecting area ecosystems.
On May 9th, the Khasi people staged a large public gathering to protest the continued logging as well as tea plantation expansion plans by a powerful landowner.
Click here to read more »
Civilians Bear the Brunt of War in Sri Lanka April 28th, 2009
Conditions are grim in the tiny strip of coast in northern Sri Lanka where tens of thousands of civilians are trapped between the warring LTTE and Sri Lankan Army forces. Lack of food, water and medical supplies coupled with daily bombardment by heavy artillery have made this area a living hell.
UN sources have estimated that 6,432 civilians have been killed since January 20 of this year while another 13,946 have been wounded. This does not include all the bodies that are lying by the roadsides. We have received reports that today, numerous people were killed while 1,374 were injured and admitted to two hospitals. A health clinic was bombed killing people in the injured patient’s ward.
International calls to both sides to stop the fighting have fallen on deaf ears. The ICRC has been able to evacuate some 4,000 people in recent weeks, mostly severely wounded by Army bombing, but many more have been unable to get out, forcibly detained as a human shield by the LTTE. Civilians, as young as 12, have been forcibly conscripted by the LTTE in a desperate effort to fend off the military advance.
Click here to read more »
Oblates Work with Parishioners to Save Mortgages April 27th, 2009
John Lasseigne, OMI is a priest at Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in the Southern California community of Pacoima, where one in every nine homes is in some stage of foreclosure. He says the people in this community were targeted by predatory lenders and given loans they never should have qualified for.
Fr. Lasseigne and others at Mary Immaculate, has been working with One-LA, a community organizing effort in Los Angeles, to help parishioners re-finance problematic mortgages.
CNN recently did a story on this effort. Watch the video…
