ST. ANTHONY'S CHURCH KOCHCHIKADE

Venerated by St. John Paul II himself in 1995 when he arrived in Sri Lanka to beatify Ven. Joseph Vaz; Kochchikade

St. Anthony’s Church is one of the most prominent places of worship in Sri Lanka.

It is also one of the oldest churches in Sri Lanka with its consecration dating back to the 1st of June 1834 in the time of the British colonial period. Not just Catholics but even Buddhists consider this an important place of worship and people from all around the country come here to celebrate the Mass and get the Blessings of St. Anthony. Hundreds of worshippers from all over the country had assembled on the 21st of April to celebrate the Easter Sunday mass. It is too horrible to even imagine what happened afterwards.

Needless to say, even here there are many families, especially children, that are in need of assistance. Children who have lost their parents, and parents their children, there were even several Buddhist worshippers who had been at the church on this fateful day. Brother and sister Medha

Thathsarini aged 23 and Imash Thiwanka aged 19, who were the only offspring of

S.N. Sirimanne and his wife, W. Shriyani perished in the bombing. Although they were Buddhists, they had gone to the church on Easter Sunday to fulfill a vow.

There have been many others who fell victim to the bombing at Kochchikade and their families are in dire need of assistance (Financial or other). The list of those who need assistance is being continually updated as more information comes in.

These are the accounts which have been given by the Archdiocese of Colombo for donors to donate money for the victims. (Refer Archdiocese of Colombo official website for further details)

Some of these funds will be directed towards:

● Supporting Children who have lost both parents.

● School Scholarships for Children whose breadwinner of the family has been killed. ● Counselling and support through “Seth Sarana” and “Caritas” team of the Church, with the support of qualified psychologists. ● Supporting the communities in the affected parishes.

● You can also check with the Grama Sevaka in the area for more details of the affected.

You can also check out verified Gofundme Campaigns that you can donate to as well. These funds are not only for the Kochchikade victims but for all the families and communities that were affected by the church bombings.