Pope Francis will hold a public mass at Galle Face on January 14, 2015 at 8.30am and visit Madhu Church at 2.00pm during his Sri Lanka visit, the Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith said.
The Cardinal confirmed this at a press conference held in Colombo today (12).
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith had announced last month that Pope Francis would visit the historical Madhu Shrine during his stay in Sri Lanka in January next year.
With a history of over 400 years, the Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu in the district of Mannar is considered the holiest Catholic shrine in Sri Lanka. Madhu is a place of worship for both the Sinhalese and the Tamils and has been considered a symbol of unity between the two communities.
The Pope will arrive in Sri Lanka on the 13th of January and celebrate mass at the Galle Face Green on the 14th morning before heading to Mannar. The Pope is also scheduled to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Francis I is the third Pope to visit Sri Lanka. Pope Paul VI visited the country in December 1970 while Saint John Paul II visited the country in January 1995.
Visit should not be used as a ‘political tool’
He also urged the Sri Lankan government not to politicise the visit in January amid reports of a snap election early next year.
Cardinal Malcom Ranjith called on the government not to use Pope Francis’ visit as a “political tool”.
His remarks come amid intense media speculation that President Rajapakse, who removed the two-term limit on the presidency after his 2010 re-election, was preparing a poll early next year.
“We have told the president that it is not appropriate for a pope to visit a country that is in the middle of an election campaign,” the cardinal told reporters in Colombo.
“The visit should not be used as a political tool by the government, or the opposition, or anybody else for that matter.”
Asked if it would be acceptable if a snap election is concluded before the papal visit, Cardinal Ranjith said: “The government has to decide on those things.... It must be a visit free of politics. That is the position of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference.”
The 77-year-old pope is due to spend three days in Sri Lanka before heading to the Philippines -- Asia’s largest Catholic country.
The archbishop says Pope Francis may make a 17th century priest Sri Lanka’s first Roman Catholic saint during a papal visit next year.
The archbishop told reporters that he hopes the final approval for the miracle that will clear the way for the sainthood of Blessed Joseph Vaz will be completed in time for an open Mass at Colombo’s Galle Face Green during which the canonization can be completed.
