On 'Kotiya' Bishop Rayappu Joseph
Dr. Paul Newman
Bishop Rayappu Joseph is called the Oscar Romeiro of Mannar by the Tamils of Sri Lanka. He is known as 'Kotiya' or the Tiger Bishop by the Sinhalese.
A Doctorate in Canon Law from Rome, he was ordained as the second Bishop of Mannar in 1992. Since then he has become the voice of the voiceless Tamil civilians in the north, and the most hated person in the Sinhalese dominated south.
Under his leadership, Mannar diocese is running homes for war orphans, abandoned children and the elderly, health care centers, dispensaries, girls' hostels, vocational training centers, rehabilitation centers for refugees, centers for fishermen, and conducting human rights training programs for the clergy and civilians.
For the work he is doing in the war ravaged Tamil areas, people already feel that he might be in the reckoning for a Nobel Peace Prize soon.
Bishop Rayappu has fostered the spirit of humanism and human rights, as he says human values and Christian values are one and the same.
Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph, Catholic Bishop of Mannar
In this land where no one dares to talk, he stands tall as a person who is fearless, forthright, morally upright, and most importantly outspoken when it comes to highlighting the problems of his people as he considers them as his prime duty.
He believes that it is the Providence of God that he is the Bishop and takes up the cases of torture, disappearances, land grab, and the issues of women, especially war widows, orphans, and the crippled as a special mission entrusted to him.
He says, "Being a chosen shepherd of Christ I am accountable for the lost sheep".
Mannar is one place where one can see protests against human rights atrocities and they become exceptional as a good number of priests in their cassocks take part in them.
In September 2008, as the civil war was escalating, and Colombo ordered the foreign observers to leave the war zone, the Bishop ventured into Killinochi to assess the situation there.
He made a bold statement to the media later that the Tamils in the war ravaged zone had been reduced to the status of 'walking skeletons.'
He says today their condition has worsened as they have been completely silenced.
"They walk but without the inner life. The government has forced them to live with bitter memories. Those affected by the conflict are denied access to psycho social counseling, "he says. Read More
Dr. Paul Newman
Rt. Rev. Dr. Rayappu Joseph, Catholic Bishop of Mannar
