No Sunday masses today in Catholic churches; Christian churches go ahead

Catholic churches will not have holy masses today in view of the security situation. Instead, there will be a live telecast of the holy mass celebrated by Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith at the Archbishop's House from 8 a.m.

The Cardinal had previously advised the clergy only to refrain from conducting holy masses in the Colombo Archdiocese, but subsequently the Bishops' Conference decided that that masses throughout the country should not be held, Archbishop's House Spokesman Fr. Edmund Thilakaratne said

He said the decision was changed based on "information received", but did not elaborate.

However, the Cardinal, in a communication circulated

among the churches and Catholic institutions, said they had information from a "reliable foreign source" that attackers were planning to target a famous church and a Catholic Apostolic institution.

Some Christian churches, however, said Sunday services would be held as scheduled and security measures would be taken for the safety of the congregation.