The 167 Catholics killed in churches in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019, will be included in the List of “Witnesses of Faith”
Newsroom (05/05/2025 13:42, Gaudium Press) The 167 Catholics killed in churches in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019, will be included in the List of “Witnesses of Faith” of the 21st century compiled by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and presented during the Jubilee Year. This was announced in Colombo during a vigil in memory of the victims.
Referring to the official communication received from the Dicastery, the Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, explained that the choice “is intended to honor their sacrifice motivated by hatred for the faith.”
Hundreds of people, including Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, and Islamic religious leaders, attended a vigil in memory of the victims held in recent days at the Catholic church of St. Anthony, which was targeted in the attacks. Alongside the names of 167 Catholics who died in the attacks on St. Anthony’s Church in Colombo and St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo, who were chosen “because of their violent opposition to their faith motivated by ‘odium fidei,’” seven other victims of other faiths were also “remembered with respect,” recalled Father Jude Fernando, a priest in Colombo.
The witnesses to the faith were selected by the special Vatican commission tasked with compiling and updating the list for the Jubilee.
Over 260 people were killed in almost simultaneous attacks on Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019, at three tourist hotels and three churches, two Catholic and one Protestant. It is a wound in the country’s recent history that has not yet fully healed: the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka is calling for further investigations into the attacks to clarify the alleged involvement of state officials and agencies.
The new government of Anura Kumara Dissanayake, elected president of the country in the fall of 2024, has publicly reiterated its commitment to conducting a thorough investigation into the Easter attacks.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Agenzia Fides
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