Catholic priest gives thanksgiving speech at mosque in flood-hit Kerala
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,SEP 2: In a sermon of a different kind, a Catholic priest addressed Muslim brothers in a mosque to express his gratitude for their selfless service in feeding the flood victims who had taken shelter at his church.
By offering the Christian priest the same platform where a 'Maulavi' (Muslim cleric) addresses the believers, the mosque authorities have showcased a rare model of togetherness in the post-flood state.
Fr Sanu Puthussery, belonging to the Syro-Malabar Church, had visited the Juma Masjid at Vechoor in Kottayam district during Jum'ah (Friday prayers) on August 31 and delivered a thanksgiving speech at the Masjid prayer hall.
As the deadliest floods had lashed the state two weeks ago, over 580 persons had sought refuge at St Antony's Church at Achinakom where Fr Puthussery is serving as the priest.
Though the Church authorities had opened their hall for the hapless people, they found some shortage of food and water to feed them the next day.
"I straightaway went to the Masjid, appraised the Maulavi about our difficulty and requested his help. After the day's prayers, Muslim brothers came to the church with a large quantity of food and water as per his direction," Fr Puthussery told PTI.
"I cannot express my gratitude to them in words. That much help and support they had extended during the time of difficulties," he said.
They had continued to bring essential articles to the relief camp at the church.
Besides food and water, essential medicines were also brought by the youths attached to the Masjid, he said.
"I went to the Masjid to meet the Maulavi and other authorities and thank them personally. But they invited me to their prayer hall and offered me their platform to speak. It was a rare gesture of togetherness," the priest said.
It was a different experience for over 250 believers, who were at the Masjid to attend Friday prayers.
In his around 10-minute speech, the Catholic priest had said though the floods snatched away many valuables from people, it also washed away the walls of differences among them.
"Pope Francis has said build bridges, not walls. The devastating floods have now given us an opportunity to destroy the walls and build the bridges of togetherness," the priest added.
Courtesy: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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Sri Lanka repatriates remains of 84 Iranian sailors killed in US torpedo strike
Colombo (PTI): Sri Lanka has repatriated the remains of 84 Iranian sailors who were killed when their frigate was sunk by a US submarine, an official said.
Last week on Wednesday, Sri Lanka said it had recovered 84 bodies of Iranian sailors after the US submarine attack sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena off Galle on the island’s southern coast.
The ship was returning to Iran from Visakhapatnam, India, where it had participated in a naval fleet review exercise.
"Human remains were sent by the Iranian embassy on Friday - all 84", a foreign ministry spokesman said.
They were sent on a chartered Turkish airliner, which departed on Friday, reporters present at the Mattala international airport in the southern district of Hambantota said.
The Chief Magistrate, Sameera Dodangoda, gave the order on March 11 to the Director of the National Hospital at Karapitiya to hand over 84 bodies of the sailors from Iris Dena to the Embassy of Iran.
Following the magistrate's court order, the arrangements were finalised.
The bodies were kept at the Karapitiya hospital in Galle along with 32 survivors who were warded as a result of the US torpedo attack on the ship on March 4.
The Sri Lankan government had earlier said they will be keeping the bodies until the situation would improve so as to repatriate them.
They were being kept under makeshift refrigeration as the hospital’s morgue capacity was found inadequate.
The 32 survivors had been discharged on Sunday and sent to the nearby Sri Lankan airbase at Koggala, Galle.
