Pope asks Sri Lanka to reveal Easter 2019 bombers over political conspiracy murmurs
- The pope urged authorities ‘out of love for justice’ and ‘love for your people’ to ‘make clear once and for all’ who was responsible for fatal attacks
- Malcolm Ranjith, head of Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church, has said bombs were part of a plot to help Rajapaksa win the November 2019 election
Pope Francis urged Sri Lankan authorities on Monday to reveal who was behind the country’s 2019 Easter bombings in an attack the island’s Catholics suspect was a plot to propel President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to power.
While meeting with a delegation of over 60 victims of the Easter Sunday attacks on three churches and three hotels that killed 279 people, Francis asked Rajapaksa’s administration to reveal the truth.
“Please, out of love for justice, out of love for your people, let it be made clear once and for all who were responsible for these events,” the pope said in an appeal to Colombo.
“This will bring peace to your conscience and to your country.”
Addressing some 3,500 Sri Lankans in Italy, including some of the victims, the pope also said he prayed that Sri Lanka will also be able to ride out the worst economic crisis in its history.
The island is gripped by severe shortages of food, fuel and medicines with its 22 million residents grappling with daily electricity blackouts and galloping inflation.
