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Father Suranga Warnakulasuriya said prayers alone in his church Sunday, as Catholic services were suspended across Sri Lanka for the second straight week since the Easter suicide attacks. With the army staging raids across the country and authorities maintainSri Lanka Catholics say lonely prayers as churches close for second week
Father Suranga Warnakulasuriya said prayers alone in his church Sunday, as Catholic services were suspended across Sri Lanka for the second straight week since the Easter suicide attacks. With the army staging raids across the country and authorities maintaining high levels of security, the country's 1.25 million Christians are still on edge after jihadist bombers killed 257 people. Warnakulasuriya has been saying mass in an empty church in Negombo, just north of the capital, every day since the slaughter at three hotels and three churches, one not far from his. «Sometimes we feel lonely by not being able to celebrate the mass together,» admitted the fresh-faced 32-year-old who only became a priest in 2015. With churches closed, the country's Catholics had to make do Sunday with a second televised mass by the Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith. A few people went to St Anthony's Shrine in Colombo to say prayers in front of a barrier set up in front of the church where dozens died on April 21. But the faithful are frustrated. Door to door prayers «It's not enough because we cannot receive the eucharist through television, that's the important thing,» said Shehani... Read more
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