Frankfurt, Dec 24: Sightseeing visits were barred at Germany’s landmark Cologne cathedral and Christmas Eve worshippers faced security checks to get into midnight Mass on Sunday as police responded to indications of a potential attack. However, a top security official urged people not to shy away from holiday celebrations out of fear.
Churchgoers attended multiple services at the cathedral despite the ban on visits purely for sightseeing, a day after police descended on the cathedral and searched it with sniffer dogs.
In Austria, police in Vienna also said they were stepping up security around churches and Christmas markets, apparently responding to the same intelligence about a potential threat. They did not give further information but the dpa news agency reported without citing a source that the threat was from an Islamic extremist group.
Police in Cologne said they were taking precautions over Christmas even though the information they had was for an attack on New Year’s Eve.
“Even if the reference was to New Year’s Eve, there are a lot of people in the area around the cathedral, today is Christmas Eve midnight Mass, it is one of the most visited cathedrals, the main train station is nearby,” said police spokesman Wolfgang Baldes, standing in front of the cathedral.
Sri Lanka boosts security near churches
Sri Lankan police will provide extra security to churches and other places of worship on Sunday and Monday in view of Christmas, said a spokesman on Sunday. Speaking to reporters, police media spokesman Nihal Thalduwa said the priests can contact police headquarters for assistance on any security matters, Xinhua News Agency reported. He said the army has also been deployed near churches for extra security.
According to Thalduwa, security has been beefed up near religious establishments since the Easter Sunday terror attacks in 2019, adding that there is no reason for anyone to be afraid of going to churches for Christmas.
Over 260 were killed in the 2019 blasts which targeted three churches and three luxury hotels in the island country. (Agencies)