Black Sunday in Sri Lanka for demand justice for victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks

Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith urged Catholics to pray, asking God to drive masterminds of the Easter Sunday bombings into the clutches of the law  as the Sri Lankan Church has declared March 7 "Black Sunday" (Today)  to demand justice for victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks.

Cardinal Ranjith said that Catholics had been asked to arrive in churches, dressed in black, to mark Black Sunday, in memory of those killed during the Easter Sunday attacks. A special prayer has been prepared to be recited at all churches seeking the truth behind the attacks. The Vatican too had been informed about the Black Sunday event through the Sri Lankan mission there, the prelate said.

Catholic leaders are unhappy with the report of the presidential commission of inquiry, which failed to identify the real culprits behind the attacks.

A group of suicide bombers affiliated to local Islamist group National Thowheed Jamath targeted three churches and three luxury hotels, killing at least 279 people, on Easter Sunday in 2019.

Two days after the attacks, Islamic State claimed responsibility, but the commission said they have not found a direct link between the group and local attackers.

The commission, which heard from 440 witnesses, said the attorney-general should consider instituting criminal proceedings against former president Maithripala Sirisena and his intelligence chiefs for failing to prevent the bombings.

The event was declared by the Sri Lankan Roman Catholic Church officials earlier this week to demand justice for the victims of the 2019 Easter for the victims of the Easter Sunday carnage.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo has asked for a copy of the special presidential report, which was was handed to the parliament speaker on Feb. 23. The Cardinal said the Church had received part of the presidential commission report on the carnage but many questions remained about its findings.

President Rajapaksa appointed a six-member cabinet committee on Feb. 19 to study the final commission report in depth. The Church has questioned whether the cabinet committee had been appointed to cover up certain matters mentioned in the report.

Eran Wickramaratne, a Christian lawmaker, said the final report makes no mention of the masterminds behind the attacks.

"Who really aided and who was behind these attacks? The most important points are not in the report of the commission. It is odd that Pulasthini Rajendran, wife of one of the suicide bombers, Achchi Mohammadu Mohammadu Hastun, was not summoned by the commission as a suspect," said Wickramaratne.

The Church has complained several times about the perceived lack of progress in the investigation. The Easter attacks helped Rajapaksa win the presidential election later in 2019 on a platform of national security.

Cardinal Ranjith has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by scientist Amara Ranaweera, who said that the cardinal’s appeal to his Catholic devotees to be calm and be peaceful and not even raise their hands to their fellow Muslim brothers is something praiseworthy.