(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –The Archbishop of Canterbury Rev.Justin Welby, spiritual head of the world Anglican church, yesterday emphasised the need for Christian unity when he arrived at St. Sebastian Church, Katuwapitiya where more than 100 people died in the Easter Sunday suicide attacks.
The Archbishop made these remarks when he visited the church soon after his arrival on a three day official visit to the country. He was received by at the church by Roman Catholic Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith.
Archbishop Welby bowed his head and prayed at the site of the explosion – a glass covered tiled floor where the suicide bomber set off his bomb during the Easter Mass. The Revd. Welby then paid tribute to the victims of the Easter Sunday bomb.
The Archbishop of Canterbury was earlier given a grand welcome at the Bandaranaike International Airport by a group of Government leaders led by Ministers Arjuna Ranatunge and John Amaratunge.
He is scheduled to visit the Temple of the Tooth Relic and to call on the Chief Prelates of the Malwatte and Asgiriya chapters today.