ECONOMYNEXT – The head of Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith left to the Vatican Friday morning with a 60-member delegation including families of the 2019 Easter attack victims on an invitation of Pope Francis.
Spokesman of the Archdiocese of Colombo Fr Cyril Gamini told EconomyNext on Friday that the Pope had conveyed to the Cardinal his solidarity with the community in Sri Lanka’s moment of crisis.
Pope Francis will bless the families of Easter Sunday victims at a mass at the St Peter’s basilica. He is also scheduled to hold discussions with the Sri Lankan delegation regarding the tragedy and the progress of investigations into it, said Fr Gamini.
April 21 marked the third anniversary of the Easter bombings that killed 269 and injured over 500. At a ceremony commemorating the event, the Cardinal suggested that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s ascendency to power was a plot backed by military intelligence officials.
Cardinal Ranjith and Sri Lanka’s opposition have been crying foul over what they claim is delayed justice for the victims and their families. The former has on several occasions alleged a politically motivated conspiracy.
“We are pushing the government through international communications and organisations like the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to carry out a proper investigation and unveil the truth,” said Fr Gamini.
Protestors at the Galle Face green in Colombo, who have been demanding the resignation of President Rajapaksa and his government over Sri Lanka’s worsening economic crisis, have also joined the chorus of voices demanding justice for the Easter victims.
The belief that the incumbent administration came to power on “the blood of the victims” is becoming increasingly entrenched, with or without evidence to support it, analysts say.