Colombo Archbishop: Easter Sunday bombing is a conspiracy

"It is now becoming clear that some leaders wanted to use this Easter attack for political gain," said Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka on January 14, 2022.

Cardinal Ranjith spoke at a service organized at the National Basilica Shrine in Ragama - Thewatte, Sri Lanka, to mark the 1000 days of the brutal Easter Sunday terrorist attack on April 21, 2019.

Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka organized the special service, titled “National Prayer,” on January 14. The prayer event was attended by clergy, lay faithful, including the family members of the victims and victims of the terrorist attack.

The Archbishop of Colombo says that the “real bomb is now exploding.”

"Brethren, one by one, the lies of those who are trying to deceive our people are being exposed in the work of God so that by now, we can all see the signs that the people are winning. Those bombs have just exploded. Although the powers that be have tried to suppress the truth by claiming that it was a joint act of the extremists, the real bomb is now exploding,” the prelate said.

Cardinal Ranjith used the metaphor of a rubber ball trying to sink but come back to the surface.

“How many people tried to suppress that true story? But were they able to do that? The more it tries to sink, the more it comes to the surface like a rubber ball trying to sink,” the prelate noted.

Cardinal Ranjith stated that “It is clear that this attack was a conspiracy. It is now becoming clear that some leaders wanted to use the offensive to gain political advantage by blocking those who knew in advance about the activities of a group of extremists and allowed it on the one hand and prevented it on the other.”

The prelate said, “further investigations should be carried out to find out whether the intelligence was aimed at creating fear, uncertainty and unrest in the country in the run-up to the forthcoming presidential election. This shows that those who did nothing and prevented those who tried to do so had an ulterior motive and an idea."

With inputs from Father Hemantha Perera.