Religious liberty organisations united under the Religious Liberty Partnership (RLP) have released a statement on the church in Sri Lanka, calling for official recognition of Sri Lanka's evangelical community as represented by the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL).
The group celebrates its 60th anniversary this year and is part of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), representing 600 million evangelicals worldwide. ‘This statement is significant as it is an expression of concern by the global Christian community on issues of rights, justice and equality of all citizens of Sri Lanka,’ says Godfrey Yogarajah, Executive Director of the WEA Religious Liberty Commission. ‘As a nation emerging from civil war and progressing towards peace, stability, good governance and economic development, Sri Lanka stands at an important juncture in her history and it is essential that all communities are treated equally and able to live in an environment that is conducive to the fullest and unhindered enjoyment of their fundamental freedoms.’Called the Colombo Statement, it calls on the worldwide church to pray ‘against the continued violent attacks on clergy and places of Christian worship,’ and that ‘all religious communities will enjoy the Constitutional guarantees on religious freedom.’
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