S. Lankan Church urges nation not to politicize Pope’s visit

S. Lankan Church urges nation not to politicize Pope’s visit

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, president of
the Catholic Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka (CBCSL).

The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka has urged the nation not to politicize the visit of Pope Francis in January ‎amid reports that President Mahinda Rajapakse may hold a snap election early next year.  Cardinal ‎Malcom Ranjith, the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka, CBCSL, called on the ‎government not to use the Pope’s presence in the country January 13-15 as a "political tool".  His ‎remarks came amid intense media speculation that Rajapakse, who removed the two-term limit on the ‎presidency after his 2010 re-election, was preparing a poll early next year. 

"We have told the president ‎that it is not appropriate for a Pope to visit a country that is in the middle of an election campaign," the ‎cardinal told reporters in Colombo.  "The visit should not be used as a political tool by the government, ‎or the opposition, or anybody else for that matter."  Sri Lanka is mainly a Buddhist country, but it has a ‎‎7.5 percent Christian population whose block vote could be decisive in the event of a close presidential ‎election.  The Cardinal said the position of the Catholic bishops is that the papal visit must be free of ‎politics.  

Sri Lanka is the first leg of Pope Francis’ Asia trip, after which he heads to the Philippines Jan. ‎‎15 to 19.    The details of the Sri Lankan visit is not declared, but he is likely to travel to the island's ‎former war zone in the north.   Sri Lanka ended 37-years of ethnic bloodshed after wiping out the ‎leadership of the rebels in a no-holds-barred 2009 military campaign that has also triggered allegations ‎of war crimes.‎  (Source: UCAN)