COLOMBO, April 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara 
Dissanayake paid tribute to Pope Francis on Monday, saying the late pontiff 
left a legacy of "compassion, justice and interfaith harmony".

Dissanayake, who leads the Buddhist-majority South Asian nation of 22 million 
people, said that the pope's "unwavering commitment to peace, compassion and 
humanity has left an indelible mark on the world".

Earlier in the day, at a ceremony to mark the sixth anniversary of Sri 
Lanka's Easter Sunday bombings, the Vatican formally declared 167 Catholics 
who died in the attacks to be "Witnesses of the Faith", clearing a possible 
path to sainthood.

A total of 279 people were killed in the bombings targeting three churches 
and three hotels in Sri Lanka on April 21, 2019. A homegrown jihadist group 
claimed responsibility.