More than 50,000 Catholics have requested the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka that the 171 victims of the 2019 Easter attack be recognized as martyrs.
On Easter Sunday of 21 April 2019, eight suicide bombers attacked two Catholic churches, an evangelical temple and three luxury hotels, killing 269 people and leaving more than 500 injured.
Of the victims, 171 were Catholic faithful who participated in the Masses of the churches of San Sebastian and San Antonio in the city of Colombo, the capital of the Asian country.
The Archdiocese of Colombo will now send an official request to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to proceed with the opening of the diocesan phase of the beatification cause.
The priest indicated this Monday that on Sunday “there was a great participation of the faithful in the celebrations: in the morning in all the churches there were commemoration masses, and a special ceremony was held in the church of San Antonio in Colombo, with the presence of Cardinal Ranjith”, as well as other religious leaders and civil authorities.
In Colombo thousands of people observed “a solemn two-minute moment of silence, which was also observed in churches across the country, to honour and remember those who lost their lives” on Easter 2019.
“It has been a moment of great spiritual intensity for the Catholic community of Sri Lanka: the memory of these ‘heroes of the faith’ is alive and is a source of inspiration for many. There is great devotion,” added the priest.
In the Mass that he presided at the temple of San Antonio, Cardinal Ranjith highlighted that the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka has been asking for justice for five years and demanding that an international and independent investigation be carried out into the 2019 attacks.