Vatican declares 167 victims of IS-inspired bombings in Sri Lanka witnesses of faith

Vatican names 167 Sri Lankan bombing victims as witnesses of faith, including those of other religions.

Sri Lanka's Catholic church says the Vatican has named 167 of its faithful killed in Islamic State-inspired suicide bombings six years ago as witnesses of faith.

Hundreds, including Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic religious figures, attended a vigil on Monday (April 21, 2025) in memory of the victims at the church of St. Anthony, targeted in the attacks.

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Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, told the attendees Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints in the Vatican, has included the names of 167 Catholics who died in the bombings in the churches of St. Anthony in Colombo and St. Sebastian in Negombo “in the catalogue of the witnesses of the faith in its order book, considering the context of their heroism.”

He said they were chosen “due to violent opposition to their faith motivated by odium fidei,' the hate of the faith.” Cardinal Ranjith also said seven victims of other faiths were “respectfully remembered.” Witnesses of faith are those who sacrificed their lives for their belief.

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Pope Francis formalised in 2023 a new category of recognition by the church of people who lost their lives while professing the Catholic faith and created a special Vatican commission to catalogue their cases.