Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith 
Numerous religious leaders gathered in Sri Lanka to mark the second anniversary of the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bombings and to pray for an end to religious extremism.
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the archbishop of Colombo, spoke at St Anthony’s Shrine, along with Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim leaders. The service included prayers and two minutes of silence in remembrance of the dead.
Cardinal Ranjith challenged the country’s Muslim communities to reject extremism and help Catholics identify those behind the 2019 bombings, which killed 269 people at two Catholic churches, a protestant church, and three hotels.
“[B]e brave enough to reject extremism. You fully understand that there is no connection with religion and teachings to murder,” he said, according to the Associated Press.
“We are surprised that even after two years, answers to the questions of who and why and what of these attacks have not been found by the relevant authorities.”
