"Respecting human rights" and "recovering the path to dialogue and talks" in Sri Lanka: it is the hope formulated today during the hearing which Benedict XVI conceded to the president of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who then met Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State. During the meeting, it is written in a note by the Press Room of the Holy See, "in the light of the currently existing situation in Sri Lanka, the need to respect human rights and to recover the dialogue and talks path was confirmed as the only way to put an end to the violence steeping the island in blood". As for the Catholic Church, in Sri Lanka, "it will intensify its delicate commitment with the aim of shaping consciences, with the sole ambition to encourage common goodness, reconciliation, and peace".
