176 children lost their parents in dastardly Easter Sunday attacks

One hundred and seventy-six children have lost either both or one of their parents in the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith told the foreign media during his recent visit to Rome.

Cardinal Ranjith who was interviewed by the US-based Catholic channel ‘EWTN’ said his Archdiocese would focus on helping the children who had been traumatised by the bombings.

“One hundred and seventy-six children have lost either both or one of their parents and more than 300 people have been injured in the bombings that took place on April 21. The church is focusing on these groups to help them recover and return to normalcy. The church will not concentrate on the renovation of damaged churches as the government has undertaken that assignment,” the Cardinal said.

Referring to the meeting he had with Pope Francis, the Cardinal said he briefed the former on what had happened and what the church was doing with regard to rebuilding the lives of those affected by the carnage. “I provided the Pope with DVDs on the Easter Sunday attacks,” the Cardinal said. (Yohan Perera)