Admin l Thursday, April 25, 2019
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Ranjith has lamented the multiple bomb blasts in Colombo and Negombo on Easter Sunday, targeting three churches and three hotels, leaving at least 359 dead and over 500 injured.
Churches attacked were St. Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo, St. Sebastian’s Catholic Church in Negombo and Zion Church in Batticaolo.They were all attacked during morning mass.
He said he would have cancelled even the holy week, if information about the impending attacks was passed on to to him. “For me, the most important thing is human life. Human beings, they are our treasure,” he said.
Cardinal Ranjith who was speaking to Radio Canada condemned the attitude of government workers who got the information but refused to pass it on. He is calling for outright sack of officials who heard but refused to act or pass on the information.
“These kind of officials should be immediately removed from these positions. And human beings who have feeling for others and for the people must be inserted into these positions. I would have cancelled even the holy week itself,” Ranjith said.
Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena has told secuity chiefs, Hemasari Ferando, one of the country’s defense ministers and Inspector General of Police, Pujith Jayasundara to resign for mishandling intelligence reports.
“We lost so many valuable lives in both churches … a huge amount of people,” Cardinal Ranjith, said, adding “from the outside I saw a lot of devastation outside the church. When I saw so many bodies, I was completely moved and disturbed”, he said.
