AP: COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A Buddhist group accused of instigating recent attacks on Muslims in Sri Lanka says Pope Francis must apologize to Buddhists for atrocities allegedly committed by Christian colonial rulers of the South Asian island nation when he visits next year.
“The Portuguese, Dutch and the British are all the same to us,” he said referring to the countries that had established colonies in Sri Lanka one after another from 1505 to 1948. Roman Catholicism was established in Sri Lanka by the Portuguese, while the Dutch and the British established their own Christian denominations.
“Previous Popes had made public apologies to certain countries because they destroyed, they killed. We had a similar situation, most of the Buddhist temples were destroyed by them (they) killed Buddhist monks. We would like to see that public apology from him,” said Gnanasara, whose comments were made Monday but embargoed until Tuesday.
There was no immediate comment from the Catholic church.
The monks leading Bodu Bala Sena have amassed a significant following in recent years, drawing thousands of followers.
At rallies they have encouraged violence against minorities and called on Sri Lankans to preserve the purity of the Buddhist majority.
Categories: Behaviour, Bible, Catholic Church, Europe and Australia