Colombo: Pope Francis will hold two separate public mass, one in the national capital Colombo and another in the northwestern region of Mannar, during his maiden visit to Sri Lanka in January next year. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said the Pope will arrive here on on January 13.
He will then travel to the city in an open motorcade. President Mahinda Rajapaksa would call on the Pope in the same evening, he said. Pope Francis will hold a mass in the Galle Face promenade opposite the President’s office next day before heading off to the sacred Madu church in Mannar in the north, Cardinal added.
Cardinal Ranjith said he was hoping that Pope’s visit will not be affected by the holding of a possible snap presidential election in the island. President Rajapaksa is speculated to call for an election in his bid to win a third term in the first quarter of 2015. “It is a decision for the government to make. We hope that the visit will not be disturbed by an election campaign and politicians of both the government and opposition would not use it as a political tool,” the Cardinal said. Papal visits to countries do not happen during election times as per the Vatican general rule. The last papal visit to the Buddhist majority Sri Lanka was in 1995 when Pope John Paul II visited the emerald island in January that year. (PTI)
