06/28/2019 Sri Lanka (International Christian Concern) – The head of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, expressed frustration about the Sri Lankan government at a recent event addressing the consequences of the Easter Sunday attacks which killed hundreds of Christians.

His frustration was directed towards the government whom he said did not take the necessary steps to prevent the attack. Furthermore, he said that the government is not being transparent about presenting the public with information on what truly happened.

“There was a serious lack of responsibility on the part of the government,” Cardinal Ranjith said at the event. “Now they have appointed all kinds of committees and commissions and there is bickering going on between the sides, you know, (about) who is responsible.”

“Everybody is trying to pass the blame on to the others. And there is an attempt to hide (the facts),” he added.

In this comment, he is specifically speaking of the government’s foreknowledge about the attack. He highlighted that the Indian Intelligence Services informed Sri Lanka about an impending attack on April 4th and again on the morning of the attack at 6:45 am. He insisted that he would have been willing to close the church if he was informed – thus preventing an attack. Considering that only 7 percent of people in Sri Lanka are Catholic, the loss of about 300 lives on one Sunday, is a complete tragedy to the Christian community in the nation.

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