Catholic Bishops request for foreign intelligence reports on Easter Sunday Attack Investigation

• Says President had repeatedly reiterated that his dealings with the Catholic Church were with the Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka and not with the Cardinal

By Yohan Perera  

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference requested President Ranil Wickremesinghe in writing to hand over the reports of foreign intelligence units who claimed to have conducted investigations on the Easter Sunday attack. 

“Your Excellency further stated in the interview with Martin Gak of Deutsche Welle News that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the British Police, the Australian, the Indian, the Chinese and the Pakistani secret services have given reports concerning the attack. This fact has been brought to the attention of the general public as well as the Bishops’ Conference for the first time. In these circumstances, if you could share with us the copies of the said reports as well,” the letter which was signed by leading Catholic bishops said.   

Following is the full text of the letter which was sent to President by the Bishops’ Conference.
Our attention is drawn to the recent interview Your Excellency had with Mr. Martin Gak of Deutsche Welle News, wherein Your Excellency had repeatedly reiterated that your dealings with the Catholic Church were with the Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka and not with the Cardinal.   

It should be noted that the Cardinal being the Archbishop of Colombo is not “sui generis” (existing alone) but is an integral and most vital member of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Sri Lanka. Hence, any reference to the Cardinal by Your Excellency in a singular manner, undermines the collegiality of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference.   
The Catholic Bishops’ conference comprises the Bishops of the twelve Dioceses of Sri Lanka and three Auxiliary Bishops of Colombo.   

We thank your Excellency for handing over all the volumes of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry Report into the Easter Sunday bomb attacks to the Bishops’ Conference.   

In furtherance of same, Your Excellency further stated in the interview that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the British Police, the Australian, the Indian, the Chinese and the Pakistani secret service have given reports concerning the attack.   

This fact has been brought to the attention of the general public as well as the Bishops’ Conference for the first time. In these circumstances it would be appreciated if Your Excellency could share with us the copies of the said reports as well.   

The letter was signed by Bishop of Kurunegala Harrold Anthony Perera - the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference, Bishop Noel C Emmanuel - Bishop of Trincomalee and the Vice President of the Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith - the Archbishop of Colombo, Bishop J. D. Anthony Jayakody, Bishop Valance Mendis of Chillaw, Bishop Norbert Anradi - Bishop of Anuradhapura, Dr. Emmanuel Fernando - Bishop of Mannar, Dr. Raymond Wickramasinghe - Bishop of Galle, Dr. Justin Gnanaprakasan - Bishop of Jaffna, auxiliary bishops of Colombo Anton Ranjith and Maxwell Silva.   

The Bishops’ Conference earlier called for a fresh impartial probe on Easter Sunday attacks and the Channel 4 allegations with foreign observers.