In the wake of Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles having said that he is willing to meet Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith to discuss the investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, the Catholic Church stated that the Archbishop’s decision not to meet any politician or participate in State functions will remain unchanged until the Catholic Church is satisfied with the related investigations.
Speaking to The Morning, Catholic Bishops’ Conference National Director of Communications Fr. Jude Chrishantha Fernando said: “The Archbishop previously decided not to meet any politician until the Government conducts investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks in a way that the church can be satisfied. There is no change in that decision. Even some Government politicians have asked him for appointments, but the Archbishop has said that he would only meet them if and when the Government serves justice to us.”
He also said that the Government is not fulfilling its duty towards the Catholic community by serving justice to the victims of the said terror attacks, and that the Archbishop has therefore decided not to attend any State functions either. He said that Archbishop Ranjith has taken that decision not to embarrass the Government or its programme, but to emphasise the need for the Government to carry out the related investigations in a transparent manner, and to prosecute all those who are responsible for the terror attacks.
Noting that his concern is to find out the culprits of the Easter Sunday attacks of 21 April 2019, instead of following only those who are alleged to have neglected their duties, Alles said that he is willing to meet the Archbishop and other bishops, and provide an explanation regarding the investigations into the terror attacks if an opportunity is given.
“The Government is trying its best to investigate the entire incident and find out the culprits. As far as I am concerned, the priority should be to find the culprits who carried out these terror attacks. Any negligence of duties by some official is just one side of this incident. If there has been any negligence of duties by someone, taking action for that is a different story, but we should first find out the culprits. If I am given an opportunity, I am ready to meet the Archbishop and other bishops at any time to explain these matters,” he said.
On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, three churches (the St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, the St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade, and the Zion Church in Batticaloa) and three luxury hotels in Colombo (the Cinnamon Grand Colombo, The Kingsbury, and the Shangri-La) were targeted in a series of co-ordinated suicide bombings. Later that day, another two bomb explosions took place at a house in Dematagoda and the Tropical Inn Lodge in Dehiwala. A total of 269 people were killed in the bombings, including about 45 foreign nationals, while at least 500 were injured.