Bishop of Batticaloa Rt. Rev. Dr. Joseph Ponniah presided over the feast mass and the blessing of St. Peter’s church at Vakarai on 01.09.2013. Parish Priest Rev. Fr. L. Jeyakanthan, Rev. Fr. Dias, the Vicar General and Rev. Fr. J. Moraes, the Vicar Forane Batticaloa deanery, some priests, nuns and brothers were present for this great feast together with the parishioners. President Mahinda Rajapaksa graced the occasion and unveiled the plaque.


Following the Example of St. Peter was main theme of the feast homily of Bishop Joseph. “St. Peter’s great love for Jesus made it possible for him to do everything that Jesus asked. The Lord asks the same of each of us. Like Peter, we can use our strengths to continue his work of bringing love and peace to others. We can pray that Jesus will help us to overcome our weaknesses so that we can serve him every day. Jesus can and will work through us, as he did with Simon Peter, the Rock of the Church.” said in his homily by the then parish priest of Vakarai and the present bishop of Batticaloa diocese.