Fears for Pope Francis’ security in Sri Lanka have surfaced after the Vatican ignored calls to postpone the trip because it coincides with presidential elections. The Pope leaves for the country on Monday, four days after snap elections called two years early, in an attempt by the increasingly unpopular President Mahinda Rajapaksa to win a third six-year term.
Election periods in the Asian country are often marked by violence and it is feared that the extra attention from the Pope’s visit could provide an added incentive for a terrorist attack. Papal visits are not usually scheduled within six months of elections in any country and many Catholic leaders have urged the Pope to reschedule his visit.
Sri Lanka saw the end of a 20-year civil war in 2009 with the government forces defeating the terrorist Tamil Tiger (LTTE) insurgency but accused of gross human rights abuses.
Mr Rajapaksa has already been accused of exploiting the Pope’s visit for electoral gain after he put pictures of himself and his wife meeting the Pope on ballot boxes.
Fr Leo Perera, director of the lay apostolate in the Archdiocese of Colombo, said the President had “gone back” on his assurances that the two events would not be too close to each other. Fr Perera wrote to the country's bishops ahead of their December meeting, warning that Francis' presence during the election period could "sully the image of the papacy".
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