UK church leader to visit India, Sri Lanka

LONDON: Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, will encourage Indian leaders to implement Article 25 of the Constitution that guarantees freedom of religion during his 10-day visit to the country.

Welby, 63, will travel to Kottayam, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Medak, Jabalpur, Kolkata and Amritsar from August 31 to September 10. He will also visit Sri Lanka and express solidarity with Christians targeted in the Easter bombings in which more than 250 people were killed.

Welby will visit the Golden Temple and Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, where he will offer a “very full statement,” said Richard Sudworth, the archbishop’s advisor of Inter-religious affairs.

“You can expect a fulsome and very transparent account of what happened with the moral implications of a Christian leader. It is something we regard with real seriousness as a moment of recognising some of the sins of our history on order to move forward with goodwill and mutual flourishing.”