Bishop: Anti-foreign influence law could silence Australian Catholics

The Black Nazarene is a centuries-old Filipino devotion. / Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 5, 2022 / 16:26 pm (CNA).
In 2015, Msgr. Jose Clemente Ignacio, the rector of the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, spoke with CNA about … […]

Colombo, Sri Lanka, Mar 10, 2020 / 11:10 am (CNA).- Cardinal Malcom Ranjith of Colombo has said he will lead public protests if the Sri Lankan government fails to produce a credible report on the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings. The cardinal said Saturday that questions about government inaction ahead of the attacks remain unanswered.

“I will not hesitate to hit the streets to safeguard the rights of our people,” Ranjith said March 7, according to the news site Outlook India. The cardinal had previously expressed support for an ongoing presidential enquiry into the attacks, which killed 259 people and injured more than 500.

Two Catholic churches, one evangelical Christian church, four hotels, and a housing complex were hit by a total of nine suicide bombers on Easter Sunday, 2019. The suicide bombers, who were all Sri Lankan citizens, belonged to an Islamist group known as the National Thowheeth Jama’ath.

In the aftermath of the attacks, Sri Lankan authorities were heavily criticized for failing to prevent the attacks. It has been reported that Indian intelligence services repeatedly warned Sri Lanka about the possibility of an attack occurring on Easter Sunday, including on the morning of the attacks. 

“Nobody took serious note,” said Ranjith in June. “This disaster could have been prevented because if I knew that there was an attack planned I would have closed the churches and told the people to go home.”

Last month, the cardinal issued a call for full public disclosure of what was known in advance of the attacks, and what action was taken.

“The people of this country have a right to know the truth about the Easter bomb attacks,” said Ranjith on Feb. 18. “We hope that our political leaders will work to fulfill that obligation.” 

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, the cardinal repeated his concerns and his impatience with the lack of progress with ongoing government investigations.

“I can sense that some of the things which need to come out are being hidden – who was responsible? Who aided them and kept contact with them?”

“There must be questioning from the highest to the very lowest level,” the cardinal said.

Speaking at a separate event on Sunday, Ranjith said that “investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks have revealed that current government-related ‘big people’ have also been involved, and no action has been taken against them.”

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who assumed office in November 2019, has worked with Ranjith on the investigation into the attacks, and asked him to appoint a representative to a special presidential commission examining the bombings.

Ranjith did not nominate a representative, and instead appeared before the commission himself on December 6 and 7 last year. 

Ranjith said at the time that he wished to represent the concerns of both the victims and the country’s Catholic community.

Referencing the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka, scheduled for April 25, Ranjith said on Sunday that he was not seeking a change of government, but justice for the victims of the attacks. “We will take to the streets with our people whether we have this election or not,” he said.

In addition to his calls for more transparency from government authorities, Ranjith has also announced services to mark the anniversary of the attack, with prayer services and holy hours at all churches in the archdiocese from April 17-21 to pray for the bombing victims and their families.

“It is the responsibility of the Archdiocese of Colombo to never forget all those who lost their lives in this tragic attack on that day,” the cardinal said last month. 

Two of the prayer services will be held at St. Anthony’s Shrine in Kotahena and St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo, the locations of the attacks. Those services will be held on April 20.

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Seoul, South Korea, Jul 6, 2018 / 12:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican’s top diplomat expressed hope Thursday that efforts to bring lasting, stable peace on the Korean peninsula will bear fruit.

“We don’t have any doubt that there will be many challenges and many difficulties ahead, but the determination that the Korean people have always shown in determining their future, I am sure with the prayers and support of Christians and other men and women in good faith around the world that many good things will be achieved in the coming months. We pray for that,” Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, said July 5 at the Joint Security Area on the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.

Archbishop Gallagher arrived in Seoul July 4 for a six-day trip to South Korea on an invitation from the country’s government. In addition to visiting the DMZ, he will meet with President Moon Jae-in and Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.

The Vatican official’s visit comes at the same time that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in North Korea to discuss Pyongyang’s denuclearization. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had met with US President Donald Trump last month, signing a joint statement making commitments “to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.”

Archbishop Gallagher, touring the Joint Security Area, said, “it is a very historic period, a period of hope and the Holy Father is supporting that movement.” The area is the one portion of the DMZ where North and South Korean soldiers stand face-to-face, and it is used for diplomatic meetings between the countries.

He prayed that “in the future, it will be a place for hope and reconciliation.”

Addressing North Korea, he said that “humanity has always got to move forward.”

“Whatever side of the border we may be on, whatever situation we find ourselves in, we have to try and work for advancing the development of society.”

He said he is “sure that there will be much good that will come in everything that is happening throughout the Korean Peninsula” and among their international partners.

Reflecting July 6 on his visit to the Joint Security Area, Archbishop Gallager said that the “very delicate situation” there “makes the efforts to promote denuclearization, unification and peace on the peninsula very, very pertinent indeed.”

“What is surprising is that the division of only six or seven decades turned what was previously one country into very different nations. I was freshly reminded that we have so much to do about that,” he added.

The archbishop called on Catholics to “mobilize every possible (opportunity) to make peace” between the Koreas.

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