Beloved Bishop Rayappu Joseph passed away
Bishop Joseph gave credible, courageous, and spiritual leadership to the Catholic Church and people in the midst of life-threatening conditions. "Bishop Joseph appeared on behalf of the people about war crimes, land grabs, forced disappearances and violation of rights experienced by the Tamil community,” said Father Soosai during the book’s launch at the auditorium of the Family Health Bureau of Mannar. “He exposed this discrimination to the international community in order to get political solutions for the Tamil people,” he said. Photo: https://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=20787 [ 02 January 2007] Bishop Joseph as fearless when it came to standing up for the rights of the Tamils, especially during the decades long civil war which ended in 2009. During the conflict, the bishop was a vocal critic of the government and the military’s conduct, which resulted in him being threatened by government supporters and some politicians. Leading human rights defender, Ru...