Sri Lanka: Church leaders fear political exploitation of January papal visit

December 04, 2014

Some Christian leaders in Sri Lanka are asking Pope Francis to postpone his scheduled visit to their country in January, fearful that the Pope’s presence will be exploited to promote the re-election campaign of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Representatives of the Christian Solidarity Movement wrote to the Vatican, saying that the papal visit would likely be “spoiled” by the national elections that have been called for January. The message said that politicians would use the papal visit as a “tool.” In fact, they said, photo-shopped images of Pope Francis have already appeared on political posters, implying the Pontiff’s endorsement of candidates. Hector Welgampola, a Catholic journalist, agreed that the papal visit would be used “for political propaganda.” In October, when the government announced a surprise election to be held in January, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo questioned whether the papal visit already scheduled for that month should be postponed. Ordinarily the Vatican is careful not to schedule papal travel so that Pontiff's visits do not occur close to national elections, in order to avoid potential political complications.

Supporters of President Rajapaksa, who is seeking an unprecedented 3rd term, have circulated campaign posters that show the president meeting with Pope Francis; the posters bear the caption: “Blessings of the Holy Father.” The organizing committee for the papal visit lodged a protest in November. “We earnestly request respective authorities and persons to remove those political posters and cut-outs immediately and urge all the political groups to refrain from using either the Holy Father or his visit to Sri Lanka for the political campaign of the presidential election,” the organizers wrote.

 

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Further information:

• Sri Lankan Catholics Urge Pope Francis to Put Off Visit (New York Times)
• Christian Association calls on Pope Francis to postpone Sri Lanka trip (AsiaNews)
• Church leaders protest Sri Lankan political exploitation of Pope's scheduled visit in January (CWN, 11/26)