• Responds to meetings held with several key Prez race nominees at which issues of edu., fishers, Easter justice discussed    

Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church will not be endorsing a Presidential candidate despite meeting several key nominees in the 2024 Presidential race.

“We will not be endorsing anyone,” Spokesperson for the Archbishop of Colombo, Cyril Gamini Fernando told The Daily Morning yesterday (20). “That is for the people to decide. We are only having discussions with several nominees regarding issues that concern Catholics.”

Presidential candidates such as the Samagi Jana Balawegaya’s (SJB) Sajith Premadasa, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna’s Namal Rajapaksa and the National People’s Power’s Anura Kumara Dissanayake have already met with the Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith for discussions. 

Fernando said that despite not supporting any candidate, discussions relating to matters concerning Catholics as well as measures for justice relating to the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks would be held. “We only meet with them to discuss matters such as education, which even though it is not solely a Catholic issue, we are involved in,” Fernando said in response to a query on the topics that were discussed. “We also spoke about the issues relating to fishermen, of whom there is a large Catholic community.”

Last year (in 2023), Archbishop Ranjith denied allegations made by SJB and Opposition Leader Premadasa on his alleged support to former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The Archbishop claimed that the news of him supporting Gotabaya Rajapaksa was a fabrication by certain persons holding ministerial posts.

In April of this year, the Catholic Church received the remaining parts of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry report which probed the Easter Sunday bombings. However, Fernando refused to divulge any information regarding the Church’s decision on the report at present.