Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has called on the faithful to gather for truth and justice on Jan. 14
The Sri Lankan Catholic Church will hold a 1,000th-day commemoration of the Easter Sunday attack by demanding truth and justice for the victims.
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has requested priests, nuns and laymen to gather at the National Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka, Tewatta, at 10am on Jan. 14.
Bishop Anton Ranjith, auxiliary bishop of Colombo, said the national prayer of supplication will be held under the theme “Lord, let my cry come to you.”
“At this critical juncture where the entire country is experiencing a troublesome period of time, let us strengthen our faith and turn to the Mother of God for her intercession, protection and hope,” he said.
Father Srikantha Fernando, parish priest of Our Lady of Sorrows in Kadawala, has called on the faithful to arrange private vehicles to attend the commemoration.
“Let us all go there and pray like brothers and sisters, as one family … We must all stand together with Cardinal Ranjith to find the truth behind the attack,” he said on Jan. 9.
Officials and politicians are responsible for the attack. Those in power here are trying to cover this up
Bishop Raymond Wickramasinghe of Galle said the investigations must be transparent and bring results. People should not feel they are abandoned.
Speaking on Jan. 8 at an online seminar with Sri Lankans living in Europe, Cardinal Ranjith reiterated his suspicion about electoral considerations during the presidential polls leading to the Easter Sunday terrorist attack.
Referring to the findings of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry, he wondered if “the attack was allowed to gain the votes of the people by knowingly concealing information. Officials and politicians are responsible for the attack. Those in power here are trying to cover this up.”
It is increasingly clear that there was a bigger conspiracy behind the attack than the country’s rulers would admit, he said while warning that politicians had destroyed the rule of law in the country and no one was safe.
According to media reports, the inquiry spent 650 million rupees to investigate the bombings involving nine suicide bombers affiliated to local Islamist extremist group National Thowheed Jamath.
The attackers targeted three churches and three luxury hotels on April 21, 2019, killing at least 279 people including 37 foreign nationals and injuring at least 500.
Nationals of Japan, Switzerland, Spain, the UK, Denmark, Portugal, India, Turkey, Australia, the Netherlands, Bangladesh, the US and China were among the dead.