Source: Sri Lanka Newspaper
COLOMBO, SRI LANKA, June 5, 2001: In an attempt to meet the needs of 13.7 million Buddhists on the island, the government has advertised for monks. With only 39,000 monks, many of them aging, to serve the Buddhist congregation, an additional 1,000 candidates are needed in the Buddhist Clergy. However, only 671 aspirants responded, and the mass ordination has been postponed. These aspirants will however serve in temples until they are ordained at a later date. Traditionalists of the Buddhist clergy have objected to the way the Prime Minister has, “short-circuited the strict process of choosing aspirants.”