20 August 2021 09:00 am Views - 185
By Yohan Perera
The Vatican is expected to make a statement on the Easter Sunday attacks soon, a prominent Catholic priest said yesterday.
Member of the special communication’s committee on the Easter Sunday attacks Fr. Cyril Gamini Fernando said a written statement from the Vatican was expected soon on the Easter Sunday attacks. This he said would be a response to the letter sent by Archbishop His Eminence Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith to the relevant council of the Vatican which dealt with injustices caused to the Catholics.
“We have already seen some response from the Vatican in the form of a new item on its official news website and we await a written statement soon,” Fr. Fernando said.
Referring to the protest planned to be held on Saturday August 21, Fr. Gamini said the silent protest was not aimed at toppling the government. “What we see here is an attitude problem. The present government does not seem to listen to anyone on anything. The situation is the same when it comes to the current pandemic situation as well. What we intend doing is to change this attitude,” he added.
“We request everyone to hoist a black flag on Saturday in their houses and vehicles. We also call upon the three- wheeler associations to get their members to have a black flag on their three wheelers. Also we appeal to the traders’ associations to get their members to close all shops on that day. In addition, bells will be rung in all Catholic churches in the morning at the time the bombs went off on that Easter Sunday, while there will be special prayer sessions in churches. We also request the Catholics to observe prayers from 7.00 pm to 8.00 pm,” he said.We request everyone to hoist a black flag on Saturday in their houses and vehicles.