The leader of Sri Lanka's Catholics urged priests on Wednesday not to put up Christmas trees in their churches over the festive period, saying they had no religious significance.
Malcolm Ranjith, the archbishop of Colombo, was quoted in a statement as telling clergymen to "try to avoid putting up Christmas trees inside the churches".
"These do not belong to the sacred significance of Christmas but are more connected to social and family celebrations... They have also become symbols of Christmas in malls and public squares," the cardinal added.
Sri Lanka is a mainly Buddhist country but around 1.2 million of its overall population of 21 million people are Catholics.
December 25 is a national holiday in Sri Lanka and shops and streets are often lavishly decked out with Christmas decorations and lights in the build-up.
Senior Malaysian policeman jailed for 100 years for raping girl A high-ranking Malaysian policeman was Wednesday sentenced to 100 years in jail and 15 strokes of the cane for raping and sodomising a 13-year-old girl in a hotel.
|

Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.
Editor : M. Shamsur Rahman
Published by the Editor on behalf of Independent Publications Limited at Media Printers, 446/H, Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1215.
Editorial, News & Commercial Offices : Beximco Media Complex, 149-150 Tejgaon I/A, Dhaka-1208, Bangladesh. GPO Box No. 934, Dhaka-1000.
|