Sri Lankan priest says the country is ‘far away from peace’

Fr Malaka Leonard told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN): “We Sri Lankans suffered enough from 30 years of war against terrorists.

“We thought that Sri Lanka was becoming a peaceful environment. But with these blasts, all our hope has gone.

“We are far away from peace.”

Fr Leonard’s friends were killed in the bombing of St Sebastian’s Catholic Church, Katuwapitiya.

More than 250 people, including 47 children, were killed when seven Islamist suicide bombers blew themselves up, targeting worshippers in three churches and in three luxury hotels.

Lamenting on the deaths of children, Fr Leonard said: “Children are innocent.

“They are unable to understand what is happening. Most of the children are in fear.

“Schools are closed for a few days.”

He added that peace must be restored in the country.

“There is no road to peace, peace is the road,” he said.

“The way of peace is the path of love. Let us take every possible step to avoid violence and live peacefully.”

Highlighting the growing persecution Christians face around the world, Dr Thomas Heine-Geldern, executive president of ACN (International), said: “The atrocities in Sri Lanka mark the bloody climax of a trend that has endured for some years now – the persecution of Christians knows no bounds.

“It knows no let-up, especially on the holiest days of the Christian…