The Catholic Church has welcomed the court verdict against those convicted in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, but says the judgment should not be considered the end of efforts to uncover the full circumstances behind the bombings.

Speaking to reporters, Director of Mass Communications for the Archdiocese of Colombo, Rev. Fr. Jude Krishantha Fernando, said the Church was satisfied that a verdict had been delivered after victims and their families had waited for years for justice. 

He said the judgment would also send a strong message against religious extremism, stressing that religion should never be distorted to justify violence.

However, Fr. Krishantha said those convicted represented only one part of the case and called for investigations to continue into whether others were involved in facilitating the attacks or allowing them to take place.

He alleged that intelligence and security officials had sufficient information to prevent the attacks but failed to act, and called for investigators to establish whether there was any wider involvement or motive behind that failure. 

Previous official inquiries have examined the handling of advanced intelligence, while the Supreme Court has also ruled on fundamental rights petitions concerning failures by senior officials. 

Fr. Krishantha also called for further legal action, where supported by evidence, against individuals identified in previous investigations and commission recommendations, saying the Church would consider the justice process complete only after all those responsible for the attacks and any related failures were properly investigated.

The Church has consistently called for investigations to identify whether there were additional individuals behind the attacks and for those responsible to be prosecuted. (Newswire)

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National Catholic Mass Communications Director Fr. Jude Krishantha Fernando has refuted recent claims by Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles involving the Catholic Church of Sri Lanka.

Minister Alles had earlier claimed that the Archbishop of Colombo had requested a favour from Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon after Reverend Father Cyril Gamini Fernando of the Catholic Church was apprehended over an accident. 

Responding to the claims, Fr. Jude Krishantha Fernando said the mentioned incident is completely false and the Archbishop did not make any such request.

Addressing the media today (Dec 22), Fr. Jude Krishantha Fernando revealed that the Archbishop had only become aware of the arrest on the following day of the incident, by which time Reverend Father Cyril Gamini Fernando had been released. 

Fr. Jude Krishantha Fernando also denied claims by the minister that Reverend Father Cyril Gamini Fernando had thanked Acting IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon following his release.

Urging Minister Tiran Alles to refrain from making such false claims, Fr. Jude Krishantha Fernando further requested the minister to prove his statement. (NewsWire)

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