Anglican head visits Sri
Lanka, mourns Easter Sunday victims
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| Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury (L) paying tribute to the victims of the Easter Sunday terrorist attack at St.Sebastian's catholic Church in Negombo, Sri Lanka (AFP) |
Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury is on a three-day
visit to Sri Lanka to show his solidarity with the Christians and people of the
country, following Easter Sunday's terrorist attacks.
By Robin Gomes
The spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion
began a three-day visit to Sri Lanka on Thursday, paying homage to the memory
of the victims of the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks.
Soon after his arrival, English Archbishop Justin Welby of
Canterbury visited St. Sebastian's Church in the seaside town of Negombo,
the Associated Press reported.
Three churches and four hotels were targeted in a series of
coordinated attacks by 7 suicide bombers on April 21, which killed 263
people. Most of the casualties were from St. Sebastian’s Church, where
more than 100 died. The other churches hit were St. Anthony’s Shrine in
Colombo and the Evangelical Zion Church in the eastern coastal city of
Batticaloa.
Followers of Christ
"When they come to kill us do they ask if we are
Anglicans, Pentecostals, Presbyterians or Catholics? They ask only if we are
Christians," Archbishop Welby said in his speech, quoting Pope Francis.
"So when on Easter morning I heard of the terrible events in this
church and other places in Sri Lanka, we knew that our sisters and brothers
have been killed and wounded and we observed silence and prayed for you,"
he told the congregation.
Christ covered in our blood
Archbishop Welby who was welcomed by Cardinal Malcolm
Ranjith, the Archbishop of Colombo, knelt and bowed down on a spot of the
glass-covered tiled floor where the suicide bomber set off the explosives at
the Easter Sunday Mass. The pockmarked area is preserved as a memorial.
"When I see this statue, this image of Christ covered
with the blood of the martyrs,… I see the true Christ," the Anglican
archbishop said pointing to a blood-splattered statue of the Risen Christ kept
in a glass case. "Not the Christ who is distant and clean but the
Christ who is covered in his own and our blood," he said and thanked Sri
Lankan Christians for their restraint after the carnage.
Pain and hope
"To come before you, I am almost without words; for I
can only say thank you to the Christians of Sri Lanka," Archbishop
Welby said. "We know that the Christ who on the cross said 'Father
forgive' knows your anger, your pain, your sorrow and we know that through His
resurrection even that anger and sorrow and pain will be transformed in purity
to hope," he said.
He also laid white roses near a plaque with the names of
those killed.
Among the appointments of Archbishop Welby during the August
29-31 visit are meetings with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and President
Maithripala Sirisena, and a service in the Anglican cathedral in Colombo.
With some 85 million members in more than 105 countries, the
Anglican Communion is one of the largest Christian Churches. (Source: AP)
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