Father Prabath Thamel, who is chaplain of the Sri Lankan community in the Ile-de-France region, will celebrate mass on April 28 for the victims of the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka that caused 359 deaths. He is convinced that the tragic event is the work of an external group since interreligious relations are generally peaceful in Sri Lanka, as he explains in this interview with La Croix.

La Croix: How did you react to the attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday April 21?

Father Prabath Thamel: Around 5.30 in the morning, a distraught family came to see me, saying that something had happened back home. This was followed by several phone calls from Sri Lanka.

We were all deeply shocked and saddened. We do not understand why we Christians have become the target of these attacks.

Did these attacks come as a surprise given the situation of Christians in Sri Lanka?

Back home, there are four main religious groups: Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians.

We are a religious minority and we have very good relations with the other four groups. Our priests have excellent relationships with the heads of other religious groups and members of the faithful also have with other communities.

This is why we think that the attacks must be the work of a radicalized group coming from outside the country and which must have taken place after several months of preparation for the killings.

You are going to celebrate a Sinhalese language Mass in homage to the victims. What message do you hope to send?

We have received messages of solidarity from around the world since the attack and it is very moving.

I am a Sinhalese priest at St Charles de Monceau church and many French parishioners as well as a number of Muslims shared their condolences with the Sinhalese community and myself.

This Sunday, we will celebrate mass in homage to the victims and at least two Buddhist monks and an imam will take part.

In Paris, our community has very good links with the members of other religious communities and it seems to me that it is important to demonstrate this solidarity so as not to propagate eventual misunderstandings about tensions between us.

By Hadrien Genieys

Published on the La Croix International website.