The Council of Priests of the Roman Catholic Colombo Archdiocese has condemned the Twitter message circulated by Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera against Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith’s visit to Ven. Athuraliye Rathana Thera in Kandy.
Secretary of the Council of Priests Rev. Fr. Freely Muthukudarachchi said, in a press release “We, the members of the Council of Priests of the Archdiocese of Colombo categorically condemn the twitter message circulated by Minister Mangala Samaraweera on June 3, 2019 giving a distorted interpretation of His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith’s visit to Ven.Athuraliye Rathana Thera along with two other bishops and some Catholic clergy.“As known to all in our country, Ven.Athuraliye Rathana Thera was on a hunger strike on behalf of the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks demanding the expediting of the outcome of the investigations that are underway and the removal from office of two Governors of the Provinces and a minister of the Sri Lankan government who is alleged to have had close ties with those responsible for extremist terrorist activities in Sri Lanka. “We also state that as Catholics we will continue to support the peace efforts among religions, especially between Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers and other peoples as a long standing common heritage of the citizens of Sri Lanka and inform Minister Samaraweera and all others engaged in spreading erroneous and vengeful comment via social media of the same.“We strongly voice our opposition to Minister Mangala Samaraweera who has criticised the efforts of religious harmony advocated by His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith by his imprudent twitter message. “We highly commend the leadership given by His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attack on April 21,2019 by his appeal to remain calm and ensured religious harmony in the country, especially appealing not to harm the Muslim Community.
(Daily News)