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| Sri Lanka |
| Sri Lanka's Catholics hold first Sunday mass after Easter attacks |
| 2019-05-13 |
| [DAWN] Thousands of Catholics attended mass in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo on Sunday amid tight security to prevent a repeat of Easter kabooms that killed 258 people. Soldiers armed with automatic assault rifles guarded St. Theresa's church at Colombo's Thimbirigasyaya residential quarter, while members of the congregation were searched for explosives. The sprawling church car park was empty as the authorities did not allow any vehicles into the compound as part of high-level security. The government has blamed local jihadists for the deadly April 21 bombings, which targeted three Christian churches and three luxury hotels. Regular services were cancelled across all churches soon after the deadly suicide kabooms, but the archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith announced on Thursday that mass would be held in his diocese from Sunday. |
| Posted by:Fred |