Cardinal to boycott Independence Day celebrations

• cancels religious service usually held on Independence Day

By Yohan Perera   

Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith is to  boycott Independence Day celebrations today as a protest against the  shortcomings in the investigations carried out on the Borella Church  hand grenade case and the Easter Sunday bomb attack, member of Colombo Archdiocese communication unit Fr Cyril Gamini Fernando told journalists  yesterday.  

Fr. Fernando said the Cardinal has decided to cancel the  religious service he usually holds on Independence Day on the  national level. However, he said services will be held in churches on a  lower key.   

“We are disturbed as to why the caretaker of the church is  being continuously detained despite proof that he has nothing  to do with the All Saint’s Church grenade issue. “CCTV footage have made it clear that this person has nothing to do with the grenade  episode. We are indeed hurt because an innocent person is detained. All  the other suspects except for the caretaker of the church was released  recently,” Fr. Fernando said.