Sri Lankan Cardinal meets Pope Francis to raise international awareness, obtain justice for Easter Sunday victims

Sri Lankan Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith met Pope Francis at the Vatican on February 28 to raise international awareness and obtain justice for the Easter Sunday 2019 attacks victims. 

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the archbishop of Colombo, is visiting the Vatican to advocate for justice on behalf of the Easter Sunday attack victims.

Cardinal Ranjith had earlier warned that he would seek international assistance, including the Vatican, to pressure the Government to address grievances of victims of the attacks. 

A month ago, Sri Lankan Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith did not attend the national Independence Day celebrations on February 4 due "to lack of religious freedom."

Cardinal Ranjith's decision was based on the grenade incident at the All Saints Church in Borella on January 11 and the failure to do justice to the Easter attack, said Father Cyril Gamini Fernando, the editor of Colombo Catholic Press.

The decision is "because a bomb had been planted in the church and innocent people were being tortured," he said.

In January, a grenade was discovered at All Saints Church, three days before Catholics in Sri Lanka marked the 1,000th day since the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.

A caretaker of the church has been arrested in connection with the incident. Later a retired doctor was also arrested.

Cardinal Ranjith has been critical of the government over the investigations into the bombings, which he claims did not reveal the real conspiracy.

He has also hinted that the grenade incident at the church could be politically motivated. He said there was no attempt by the police to uncover the truth behind the incident.

With inputs from Father Hemantha Perera.