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CV NEWS FEED // Catholics in the Archdiocese of Colombo in Sri Lanka are petitioning the Vatican to officially declare the martyrdom of 171 local Catholics killed in a terrorist attack on Easter Sunday in 2019.
The Catholics killed in the attack were the victims of an ISIS suicide mission that bombed two Catholic churches, a Protestant church, and three hotels. Agenzia Fides reported that the bombing killed a total of 269 people and injured more than 500.
The Catholics who were killed in the attack were attending Mass at the time of their deaths, leading local Sri Lankan Catholics to petition for their beatification and an official recognition of their martyrdom.
“The collection of signatures and sensitization of the faithful has been ongoing since the beginning of Lent,” Fr. Jude Chrysantha Fernando, head of the Office for Communications of the Archdiocese of Colombo, told Agenzia Fides. “People are aware of the gift of faith of these innocent people who were murdered in the church while celebrating the Resurrection of Christ.”
Agenzia Fides reported that Catholics in dioceses across Sri Lanka held a memorial service on April 21 for those who died in the attack. The commemoration included Eucharistic celebrations, ringing of bells, processions, and two minutes of silence.
Following the service, the initiative to recognize those killed in the attack as martyrs was presented to the Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Albert Malcolm Ranjith. The initiative received more than 50,000 signatures.
“There is great devotion,” Fr. Fernando said, according to Agenzia Fides. “The gift of these martyrs is an encouragement for everyone in the difficulties of the present, marked by the dramatic effects of the economic crisis, but also by the lack of justice.”
Agenzia Fides reported that the Archdiocese will now forward the request to the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints, hoping to begin the diocesan phase of the beatification process.
