The derogatory comments made by former Parliamentarian Harin Fernando against the Archbishop of Colombo His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith are “totally unfounded and uncalled for”, the Archdiocese of Colombo has said.
In a special announcement issued on Monday (22), the Auxiliary Bishops of Colombo together with the Catholic clergy of the Archdiocese of Colombo expressed their “grave concern” on the matter.
They said the former parliamentarian’s comments were made for cheap political gain.
Signed by Auxiliary Bishops of Colombo Rt. Rev. Dr. Maxwell Silva and Rt. Rev. Dr. J.D. Anthony Jayakody, Procurator General of Archbishop’s House Very Rev. Fr. Jude Samantha Kumara Fernando and several other Catholic priests, the statement has expressly condemned the misconstrued criticism of the Cardinal, “especially when Mr. Harin Fernando himself openly confessed that his father warned him of the impending disaster, prior to the incident and prevented him from going to church.”
The former Parliamentarian recently made a controversial statement which claimed that Sajith Premadasa was deprived of the Catholic votes during the Presidential Election 2019 because of the Cardinal.
The Archdiocese of Colombo says this statement is entirely a fabrication of Harin Fernando’s imagination.
“Lest one forget, it was His Eminence who gave leadership to a country wrecked in political turmoil and it was solely due to his efforts that clashes between the different communities were prevented in the aftermath of the tragic Easter Sunday bomb blasts.”
