Reverend Edmund Tillakaratne, spokesman for the Colombo diocese, said on Thursday that Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith had cancelled all Sunday services in the diocese based on the latest security reports.
Muslims were told to stay home for Friday prayers last week and all of Sri Lanka’s Catholic churches were closed.
Instead of the usual Sunday Mass, Cardinal Ranjith delivered a homily before clergy and national leaders at his residence that was broadcast on television.
But Sri Lanka’s Muslim leaders are encouraging people to return to mosques for Friday prayers, according to N M Ameen, president of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka.
Mr Ameen said the group had asked the government for extra security.
The April 21 bombings at churches and luxury hotels killed more than 250 people and officials have warned that suspects linked to the bombings are still at large.
Cardinal Ranjith has criticised the government’s apparent failure to share near-specific intelligence on the Easter plot and on some of the suspects involved.
A Cabinet minister said on Tuesday that intelligence warnings had indicated that government ministers could be targeted by the same group, which pledged its loyalty to Islamic State militants.
Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi postponed a trip to Sri Lanka this week because of security concerns, a senior foreign ministry official said.
The US embassy…
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