Word: emilianuspillai
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...advance into the Tiger-controlled area in late 2007, and Madhu was about six miles (10 km) north of the line. Earlier that year, 10,000 people were still taking refuge in the church compound, believing the Virgin would protect them. But by February 2008, recalls the Rev. S. Emilianuspillai, then caretaker of the shrine, it was clear that the shrine itself was in danger - and part of the war. On April 3, 2008, fighting had isolated 17 people at the shrine, including four priests and three nuns. Emilianuspillai tells TIME that the Tigers, breaking an agreement not to enter...
...attacks on government forces. Later that same afternoon, the priests received orders from the bishop to remove the sacred relic and take it farther north, deeper into Tiger-held areas, rather than risk heading for the front. The journey that evening, to start at 6:30, was still fraught. Emilianuspillai recalls not just shelling but a heavy rain delaying departure and then, nearly a mile into the journey, a shell falling near the vehicle in front of the one bearing the statue. But, he says, "nothing, absolutely nothing, happened to the statue. We kept moving...
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