Catholic Church Denies Seeking Appointments of Top Security Officials

The Catholic Church has denied claims that Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith requested the appointments of Ravi Seneviratne as Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security and Shani Abeysekara as Director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

The clarification was made by Rev. Fr. Cyril Gamini Fernando, Media Spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Colombo, during a media briefing held today (June 17). He was responding to questions regarding remarks made in Parliament by Minister Bimal Rathnayake.

Rev. Fr. Fernando stated that neither Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith nor the Catholic Church had ever sought or recommended the appointments of the two officials.

Commenting on reports that former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had filed a petition seeking a court order to prevent his arrest, Rev. Fr. Fernando said such action was within Rajapaksa’s legal rights and that the public should await the court’s decision on the matter.

He further alleged that false and defamatory information was being circulated in an attempt to hinder ongoing investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks. He urged the public not to be misled by unverified content shared on social media and to rely on credible sources of information.