Sri Lanka's catholic church to canonise victims of 2019 Easter blasts as saints

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the Archbishop of Colombo, announced on Sunday that Sri Lanka's Catholic Church is moving towards declaring all 273 people, including 11 Indians, who lost their lives in the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bombings, as saints.

The decision comes on the fifth anniversary of the tragic incident.

"A person can be named a saint only after the completion of 5 years since one's sacrifice. Therefore, we will move towards declaring Easter Sunday victims as saints on April 21 this year," said Cardinal Ranjith during a mass.

The Easter Sunday attacks, which occurred on April 21, 2019, involved nine suicide bombers affiliated with the local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ), linked to ISIS. The coordinated bombings targeted three churches and three luxury hotels in Sri Lanka.

Ranjith emphasised the significance of the victims' beliefs, stating, "Those who died in churches in April 2019 sacrificed their lives for what they believed in. They came to church because they believed in Christ."

Over the past five years, Cardinal Ranjith has been critical of the government's handling of the investigations into the attacks, considering them inadequate. He has consistently called for an international investigation into the incident. The government has reported numerous arrests, and legal proceedings are said to be ongoing.

Former President Maithripala Sirisena and top defence officials faced accusations of inaction despite having prior intelligence from India. The court ordered Sirisena and police officials to compensate the victims, with only partial payments made thus far. Sirisena denies responsibility, attributing the lapse to the defence establishment at the time.

The canonisation process in the Catholic Church involves a meticulous evaluation leading to sainthood.