Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church urged authorities to pursue alleged political links to the 2019 Easter bombings after a court convicted 15 defendants.
Father Jude Chrysantha Fernando, director of the Communications and Media Office of the Archdiocese of Colombo, said the verdict moved the country closer to establishing responsibility for the attacks but left questions over who may have facilitated them.
“This is a first step toward achieving full truth and justice, but the road ahead is still long,” Fernando told Vatican’s Fides News Agency.
Sri Lanka’s High Court convicted 15 of 24 defendants over the April 21, 2019, attacks, when suicide bombers struck three churches and three luxury hotels, killing 279 people, including 45 foreigners.
The 15 defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 200 to 260 years. The court also ordered the confiscation of their assets and other property. Nine defendants were acquitted for lack of sufficient evidence.
Fernando, who was present in court for the reading of the verdict, described the decision as part of a continuing process of healing for the country and the victims’ families.
“It is a wound that is slowly healing. The healing process is underway,” he said.
The priest said the verdict showed that Sri Lanka was “moving in the direction of truth and justice, since those who carried out the massacre and some of its co-organizers have been identified.”
But he said another part of the case remained unresolved — determining “which individuals facilitated the massacre to gain political advantage and seize power.”
Authorities are conducting a separate investigation into alleged links between elements of the state apparatus and those responsible for the attacks, according to Fides.
Fernando said the verdict had given some measure of justice to families who lost relatives in the bombings.
“Some of them were outside the court, and in some way they have obtained justice because they learned that those who killed their children or relatives will be punished,” he said.
The priest said the families had received compensation from the state and assistance from the Catholic Church. Some people who lost their spouses in the attacks have since remarried and rebuilt their lives.
“It is a sign that life goes on. We must never lose hope, which comes to us from God,” Fernando said.
Churches and communities in Colombo held commemorations to honor and remember those killed in the Easter attacks.
Among the victims were 167 Catholics killed while attending Easter Mass at St. Anthony’s Church in Colombo and St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo.
They were included in the Catalogue of “Witnesses of Faith” of the 21st century, compiled by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and presented during the 2025 Jubilee Year.
