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February 3, 2006
To: Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
Institutes / Congregations related to St. Eugene
Institutes / Congregations in Sri Lanka and Haiti
Dear Friends and co-workers:
Greetings from Rome!
As we conclude today the OMI General Council’s Plenary Session, we write to
you this SPECIAL APPEAL for Prayer for Sri Lanka and Haiti.
In Sri Lanka, the country is again near the brink of a renewed war. Many
persons have already been killed and the lives of many others are in danger.
You are aware that our two Oblate provinces, together with other religious
institutes in the country live in close contact with peoples on both sides
of the conflict.
The positive news is the decision of the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE,
through the facilitation of Norway, to go back to the negotiating table
sometime in the middle of February in Geneva. The two parties will review
the implementation of the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement – a truce that has
stopped, even though with so much ambiguity, the two-decade civil war in the
country.
In Haiti, the country faces a crucial period of choosing new leaders that
will, hopefully, bring normalcy to the country after months of uncertainty
and violence. The February National Elections in Haiti may not be the
panacea to the country’s ills. Yet, a leadership with a popular mandate may
be a positive step towards ending so much strife and violence in the
country.
In the light of these two events in two countries where the Missionaries of
the Oblates of Mary Immaculate have a strong presence, we launch this
Special Appeal for Prayer for Sri Lanka and Haiti within the Congregation
during the month of February.
Through baptism and through our vows, we are a priestly people and prayer is
a most powerful way to mediate peace. Anytime during the next four weeks
would be most opportune for our prayerful intervention. Collective prayer
sessions with the use of symbols, novenas, meditation in silence…or any
other suitable form of prayer would be in order. We need to remind ourselves
that prayer is an integral component of evangelization.
We also invite our friends, partners and co-workers, both lay and religious,
to join us in this spiritual endeavour for PEACE in Sri Lanka and Haiti.
May Christ and Mary, our mother, be with us….
Fr. Wilhelm Steckling,
OMI
Superior General, and the General Council
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