The Catholic Church has received the remaining parts of the report submitted by the presidential commission which probed the Easter Sunday attacks, Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said today.
Cardinal Ranjith said the church had received it three weeks ago. “A team of lawyers are studying the report and we will come up with a statement on it once the study is completed,” he told a briefing.
He said the process of declaring Easter Sunday victims as martyrs will begin on Sunday April 21 2024 when the country commemorates the fifth anniversary of the mayhem.
“All names of those who perished in the explosions at the Katuwapitiya church, Kochchikade church and the Zion church will be handed over to Apostolate Nuncio ( Vatican Ambassador) during the commemoration programmes which are to be held on Sunday. The process of declaring these victims as martyrs will begin on that day,” he said.
“The victims will be initially declared as ‘heroes of faith’ which is the first step towards declaring someone as a martyr. These victims can be called martyrs as they went to church on that fateful day because of their faith,” he added explaining the catholic tradition.
A Prayerful procession has been organized on Saturday April 20 from Kochchikade church to Katuwapitiya church while two commemoration programmes have been organized at Katuwapitiya church and Kochchikade church on Sunday April 21 2024. Another procession has been organized from Maristella College Negombo to Katuwapitiya Church on Sunday afternoon.
Apostolate Nuncio, UN resident representative in Sri Lanka and religious leaders including Buddhist monks are expected to speak at the ceremony which will be held at the Kochchikade church.
“We only want to know as to who was behind the Easter Sunday attacks and we don’t intend to seek revenge from anyone. We would also like to ask the former President Maithripala Sirisena to reveal what he is aware of the attack,” the cardinal remarked.