A call to boycott the state Christmas program

The Coalition of Catholic Lay Organizations of Sri Lanka requests the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka (CBCSL) to boycott the State Christmas celebration this year due to the ongoing suppression of justice for the government to do justice to the Easter Sunday attack. 

Thilina Alahakon, the convener of the Coalition of Catholic Lay Organizations, disclosed this at the press conference held at Maradana Centre for Society and Religion (CSR) on December 12th.

“Along with us, 20 other Catholic lay organizations are making this request to the Bishops’ Conference. Recently, we submitted our request to boycott the State Christmas Festival in writing to the President of the Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka, Bishop Harold Anthony the Bishop of Kurunegala.” Said Thilina Alahakon.

He also said that not only the Catholic community but also the Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim communities are waiting for proper justice to be done for the Easter Sunday attack. Like the majority of the Catholic faithful, a small number of those communities also suffered the loss of life and injuries in these attacks, and therefore as a country, this is a national issue.” he said.

“The bombing on Easter Sunday was not done justice, it means that the bomb that hit the Catholic church that day, could hit a Buddhist temple, a mosque, or a Hindu temple tomorrow. Accordingly, this small country and the people of the country are facing a big danger. Conspiratorial politicians are destroying the lives of innocent people.” said the Convener in the press.

Thilina Alahakon said that the Bishops have made it clear in their written request that participation in this state Christmas celebration by Catholic Bishops which will organize by a government that has done great crime is an insult to the victims of Easter and the Catholic community and it will send a wrong signal to the people of this country.

“Also we have suggested to the Bishops to use it as an opportunity to express the sorrow and displeasure of the Catholic community.” he said.

He also said that they expect that entire Catholic community including Priests, Nuns will join with this request they made by the Bishops’ Conference.

If the current government really respects the Catholic people and expects their support, in the letter sent to the bishops, it is stated that formal and swift steps should be taken to provide justice to the martyred brothers and sisters who died in the Easter Sunday bomb attack 03 years and 07 months ago, the Catholic lay organizations unitedly point out that the best opportunity to pressure the government for that is to boycott the state Christmas celebration to be held this year.

In the letter sent to the bishops, the Coalition of Lay Catholic Organizations states that at such occasions, the Catholic community should be quick to express their objection and present the relevant demands directly.

The immediate implementation of all the recommendations of the Easter Commission report, the resumption of impartial formal investigations related to the many controversial matters that have emerged regarding the attack, the speeding up of proceedings as 03 years and 07 months have passed, the appointment of an impartial investigation team to file the necessary information, the presidential commission released It is informed to the Bishops that they should fulfill 09 essential demands such as providing a permanent monthly stipend to the victims who are still alive, physically and mentally ill, etc.

This year’s state Christmas celebration is planned to be celebrated in the Diocese of Chilaw, but when the request to boycott the participation of the Bishops in the state Christmas celebrations was handed over to Bishop Harold Anthony, he responded positively to it and stated that he will inform the Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka in this regard.” said Dexter Fernando, president of the Coalition of Catholic Lay Organizations at the press conference.