Sri Lanka closes churches after attacks
Sri Lanka’s Catholics celebrated Mass in their homes via a televised broadcast yesterday as churches shut over fears of more militant attacks.
A week after the Easter suicide bombings killed more than 250 people, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, archbishop of Colombo, delivered a homily before members of the clergy and the country’s leaders in a small chapel at his Colombo residence.
“This is a time our hearts are tested by the great destruction that took place,” Cardinal Ranjith said. “This is a time questions such as, does God truly love us, does he have compassion toward us, can arise in human hearts.”
In the eastern district of Ampara, where explosions left 15 people dead following a police raid on Friday, soldiers guarded St Mary Magdalen’s Church.