Colombo:
The Catholic Church of Sri Lanka has decided to take steps to canonize all 273 people, including 11 Indians, who were killed in the Easter Sunday 2019 suicide bombings, on the occasion of its fifth anniversary.
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the Archbishop of Colombo, announced the move during a speech on Sunday.
“A person cannot be called holy until five years have passed since his sacrifice. Therefore, on April 21 this year, we will take steps to declare the victims of Easter Sunday as saints,” Ranjith said.
On April 21, 2019, nine suicide bombers from local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ), affiliated with ISIS, carried out a series of blasts that destroyed three churches and as many luxury hotels in Sri Lanka.
“Those who died in churches in April 2019 sacrificed their lives for what they believed in. They came to church because they believed in Christ,” Ranjith said.
For the past five years, Ranjith has been at loggerheads with the government seeking justice for the victims. He labeled all investigations as a sham and a political cover-up.
He has called for an international investigation into the attacks. The government says it has arrested hundreds of people and legal proceedings are progressing.
It was previously known that 270 people had died in the attacks.
Then-President Maithripala Sirisena and his top defense hierarchy were accused of inaction in preventing the attack despite the availability of previous intelligence from India.
Sirisena and the police were ordered by the court to pay compensation to the victims. Reportedly, only partial payments have been made so far.
Sirisena denies the accusation and blames the then defense establishment for the mistake that led to the coordinated attacks.
The Catholic Church has a long process leading to holiness.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)