Matters India Reporter
Mumbai, April 21, 2019: Cardinal Oswald Gracias, head of the Catholic Church in India, on April 21 expressed anguish over the bomb blasts in Sri Lanka.
He rang his counterpart in Sri Lanka, Cardinal Ranjith Malcolm, to commiserate and said the Church in India “deeply saddened and pained” by the Easter Sunday attacks.
“We offer our prayerful solidarity with the families of the victims and the survivors of the church bombings. On this great feast of hope of the Resurrection, our brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka are devastated by this senseless violence. We pray to the Risen Jesus for peace,” added Cardinal Gracias, who is also the archbishop of Bombay and one of the advisers to Pope Francis.
At least 207 people were killed and more than 450 wounded when eight explosions hit churches and hotels in and around the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo.
Sri Lanka declared curfew after the eighth blast was reported in Colombo. A while earlier, the seventh blast killed two people in the capital city. Six nearly serial blasts had rocked the island nation early morning.
A Mumbai-based NGO named Christian Reform United People Association also condemned the blasts in Sri Lanka, “The terror attacks on Christians in churches and other places in Sri Lanka which killed and injured numerous innocent people and worshippers on Easter Sunday is highly condemned.”
Secretary Cyril Dara said, “We pray for the families who lost their loved ones. We appeal to the authorities to act strictly against terrorism and give necessary protection to churches.”