Christ is near to us all, Cardinal Pell tells Italians at Easter

Colombo, Sri Lanka, Mar 10, 2020 / 11:10 am (CNA).- Cardinal Malcom Ranjith of Colombo has said he will lead public protests if the Sri Lankan government fails to produce a credible report on the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings. The cardinal said Saturday that questions about government inaction ahead of the attacks remain unanswered.

“I will not hesitate to hit the streets to safeguard the rights of our people,” Ranjith said March 7, according to the news site Outlook India. The cardinal had previously expressed support for an ongoing presidential enquiry into the attacks, which killed 259 people and injured more than 500.

Two Catholic churches, one evangelical Christian church, four hotels, and a housing complex were hit by a total of nine suicide bombers on Easter Sunday, 2019. The suicide bombers, who were all Sri Lankan citizens, belonged to an Islamist group known as the National Thowheeth Jama’ath.

In the aftermath of the attacks, Sri Lankan authorities were heavily criticized for failing to prevent the attacks. It has been reported that Indian intelligence services repeatedly warned Sri Lanka about the possibility of an attack occurring on Easter Sunday, including on the morning of the attacks. 

“Nobody took serious note,” said Ranjith in June. “This disaster could have been prevented because if I knew that there was an attack planned I would have closed the churches and told the people to go home.”

Last month, the cardinal issued a call for full public disclosure of what was known in advance of the attacks, and what action was taken.

“The people of this country have a right to know the truth about the Easter bomb attacks,” said Ranjith on Feb. 18. “We hope that our political leaders will work to fulfill that obligation.” 

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, the cardinal repeated his concerns and his impatience with the lack of progress with ongoing government investigations.

“I can sense that some of the things which need to come out are being hidden – who was responsible? Who aided them and kept contact with them?”

“There must be questioning from the highest to the very lowest level,” the cardinal said.

Speaking at a separate event on Sunday, Ranjith said that “investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks have revealed that current government-related ‘big people’ have also been involved, and no action has been taken against them.”

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who assumed office in November 2019, has worked with Ranjith on the investigation into the attacks, and asked him to appoint a representative to a special presidential commission examining the bombings.

Ranjith did not nominate a representative, and instead appeared before the commission himself on December 6 and 7 last year. 

Ranjith said at the time that he wished to represent the concerns of both the victims and the country’s Catholic community.

Referencing the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Sri Lanka, scheduled for April 25, Ranjith said on Sunday that he was not seeking a change of government, but justice for the victims of the attacks. “We will take to the streets with our people whether we have this election or not,” he said.

In addition to his calls for more transparency from government authorities, Ranjith has also announced services to mark the anniversary of the attack, with prayer services and holy hours at all churches in the archdiocese from April 17-21 to pray for the bombing victims and their families.

“It is the responsibility of the Archdiocese of Colombo to never forget all those who lost their lives in this tragic attack on that day,” the cardinal said last month. 

Two of the prayer services will be held at St. Anthony’s Shrine in Kotahena and St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo, the locations of the attacks. Those services will be held on April 20.

[…]

Shangqiu, China, Jun 14, 2017 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Local authorities in China’s Henan province reportedly destroyed a Christian church building last month, beating parishioners who tried to stop the demolition and detaining 40, the group … […]

Tokyo, Japan, Nov 25, 2019 / 09:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis met Monday with Emperor Naruhito of Japan. It was the first meeting of the two less than two weeks since Naruhito completed the rituals that made him the newest emperor in the world’s oldest continuous hereditary throne.

Pope Francis is on his first visit to Japan, a country he’s desired to experience since he was in seminary. The trip lasts from Nov. 23-26.

The relationship between the Holy See and Imperial Household has been a strange one, but the papacy has a surprising amount in common with the Japanese imperial throne. And Pope Francis and Emperor Naruhito share similar stories about their rise to positions of leadership.

On Monday, the pontiff and the emperor reportedly greeted each other in Spanish, Pope Francis’s native language.

The meeting lasted approximately 30 minutes, after which Pope Francis moved on to St. Mary’s Cathedral in Tokyo to speak to Japanese youths.

Naruhito broke with Japanese imperial protocol by personally escorting the pope to his car after their conversation. The emperor is generally expected to stay inside his palace.

That decision speaks to the personal relationship between the two rulers, who have been openly supportive of each other in the past.

Earlier in the year, Pope Francis sent a letter of congratulations to Naruhito, wishing him luck in his governance.

The pope also sent a Vatican representative to the ceremony and celebratory banquet of the Emperor’s ascension to the throne last month.

Much as Pope Francis became the pontiff after the unexpected resignation of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, Naruhito rose to the Chrysanthemum Throne after the sudden resignation of Emperor Emeritus Akihito, his father.

Pope Francis was the first pope to follow a resignation since 1417, and Emperor Naruhito was the first to become emperor through similar means since 1817.
Emperor Emeritus Akihito’s resignation was the first since the establishment of the 1947 Japanese Constitution, and surprised the nation.

Both resignations brought some criticism from traditionalists.

Although the Emperor is the highest priest of the Shinto religion, the Imperial Family has in the past had Catholic members.

The Emperor’s own mother, Michiko, was raised in a Catholic family and attended Catholic schools in her youth. She has not openly practiced Catholicism since before she married Emperor Emeritus Akihito.

Additionally, the late Prince Asaka converted to Roman Catholicism in 1951, after the close of the Second World War, and practiced the faith until his death in 1951.

[…]