Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith participated in the Second extraordinary consistory convened by His Holiness Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on 26 and 27 June 2026.

The special advisory gathering, held at the Pope’s invitation, brought together 178 cardinals from across the world to discuss pressing issues facing the Church and the global community.

Proceedings began with a Holy Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, followed by four sessions at the Paul VI Audience Hall.

Discussions focused on the current state of the Church, the promotion of world peace, the process of synodality, and the Pope’s new encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, drawing on his long pastoral and spiritual experience, shared his insights and contributed meaningfully to the deliberations.

The consistory concluded with a Holy Mass on 29 June at St. Peter’s Basilica, marking the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, celebrated under the leadership of the Holy Father. (Newswire)

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Israel said Thursday that it “deeply regrets” a deadly strike on Gaza’s only Catholic church, which killed three people.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which has jurisdiction for Latin-rite Catholics in Gaza, said the Holy Family Church was struck by Israel on Thursday morning. The church has become a shelter for the enclave’s tiny Christian community amid the 20-month war.

The office of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “Israel deeply regrets that a stray ammunition hit Gaza’s Holy Family Church. Every innocent life lost is a tragedy.”

“Israel is investigating the incident and remains committed to protecting civilians and holy sites,” the office added in a statement.

In a Vatican telegram on Thursday, a church official said Pope Leo XIV is “deeply saddened” by the strike.

Calling the hit a “military attack,” the Vatican’s Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said: “In commending the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of Almighty God, the Holy Father prays for the consolation of those who grieve and for the recovery of the injured.”

Netanyahu’s office said he was “grateful to Pope Leo for his words of comfort.”

The prime minister also told US President Donald Trump in a phone call that the church incident was a “mistake,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told a briefing Thursday. Asked about Trump’s view on the strike, Leavitt described it as “not a positive reaction.”

The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged it hit the church “mistakenly.”

“An initial inquiry into reports regarding injured individuals in the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, suggests that fragments from a shell fired during operational activity in the area hit the church mistakenly,” the IDF said in a statement on Thursday.

“The cause of the incident is under review.”

Church ‘directly’ hit

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, told Vatican News that the church was hit “directly” by a tank Thursday morning.

The parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli, was injured in the attack, the patriarchate said, alongside a number of others. Romanelli is an Argentine who has ministered in Gaza for close to 30 years.

It named the three killed as Saad Issa Kostandi Salameh, Foumia Issa Latif Ayyad and Najwa Abu Dawood. Several others were also injured.

Images verified by CNN showed the church was damaged in the attack, but the crucifix on top of the church’s roof appeared intact.

The church has come under attack once before amid Israel’s war in Gaza. In December 2023, an Israeli military sniper shot and killed two women who were sheltering inside, according to the patriarchate.

The church is known internationally for its close connection with the late Pope Francis, who would call the parish almost daily as the war raged on.

Only around 1,000 Christians are thought to have lived in Gaza before the October 7 attacks, which is overwhelmingly a Muslim territory.

Meanwhile ceasefire talks to end the war in Gaza, which Palestinian officials say has killed over 58,000 people, are continuing. (CNN)

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The Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, has met the newly appointed leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV.

The Archdiocese of Colombo shared pictures on social media of Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith and Pope Leo XIV (Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost from the US) engaging in cordial discussions. 

Sri Lanka’s Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, was among those nominated to succeed the late Pope Francis.

He participated in the papal conclave, the assembly of cardinals in the Vatican Palace in the Vatican City to elect a new pope. (Newswire)

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Black smoke rose from the chimney over the Sistine Chapel at 11:50 on Thursday morning, signalling the second ballot of the first full day of the conclave – and the third ballot overall – was inconclusive. 

As the cardinals break for lunch, the people in the square continue to look up at the chimney in anticipation. Voting is expected to resume at around 16:00. 

Around 15,000 people had gathered in St Peter’s Square to await the announcement. (Vatican News)

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Pope calls anti-LGBT laws a “sin” 

Pope Francis and the leaders of Anglican churches have denounced the criminalisation of homosexuality, in a historic joint press conference. 

Speaking to reporters yesterday, 5 February 2023, after visiting South Sudan, the Pope said such laws were a sin and “an injustice”.

LGBT people are children of God

The Pope added people with “homosexual tendencies” are children of God and should be welcomed by their churches.

His comments were backed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the global Anglican Church and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland.

The two leaders of the Anglican Churches travelled with the Pope to South Sudan where they jointly called for peace in the war-torn country.

It is the first time the leaders of the three traditions have come together for such a journey in 500 years.

Expressing his own support, the Moderator of the Church of Scotland referred to the Bible, saying: “There is nowhere in the four Gospels that I see anything other than Jesus expressing love to whoever he meets, and as Christians that is the only expression that we can give to any human being in any circumstance”.

Pope supports civil union laws for same-sex couples

During the news conference, Pope Francis repeated his view that although the Catholic Church cannot have a sacramental religious marriage of same-sex couples inside Churches he supported civil union laws that provided equal protection for same-sex couples.

The Pope stressed that laws banning homosexuality were “a problem that cannot be ignored”.

He suggested that 50 countries criminalise LGBT people “in one way or another”, and about 10 have laws carrying the death penalty. Currently, 66 UN member states criminalise consensual same-sex relations.

Current status in Sri Lanka

Sections 365 and 365A of Sri Lanka’s Penal Code are also used to persecute and prosecute LGBT people, despite neither law referring to “homosexuality”. 

Several activists, lawyers and Members of Parliament have called to repeal or amend Sri Lanka’s Penal Code to end the continued persecution of LGBT people.

Last year SLPP MP Premnath Dolawatte submitted a Private Member’s Bill amending the Penal Code but the Justice Ministry has been silent on these efforts. 

Sri Lanka Justice Minister once ruled in favour of an article calling to rape lesbian women

Justice Minister, Wijeyadasa Rajapaksha, during his time as head of the Press Council, ruled that “lesbianism” equals sadism and did not think there was anything wrong in calling convicted sexual offenders to “cure” lesbians of their “illness” by raping them.  

In 2017, the Justice Minister called homosexuality a “mental illness”. The World Health Organisation and the Sri Lanka College of Psychiatrists have both confirmed that being LGBT is not a mental illness.

Condemning LGBT people a sin – Pope

“This is not right. Persons with homosexual tendencies are children of God,” said the Pope.

“God loves them. God accompanies them… condemning a person like this is a sin.” (NewsWire)

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