Pope's Sri Lanka visit will go ahead as planned

Schedule unchanged despite calls for the trip to be postponed

Pope Francis presents gifts to members of a delegation from Sri Lanka during a private audience
at the Vatican Oct. 3. He will visit the country Jan. 13-15. (Photo: Paul Haring / CNS)

Pope Francis's visit to Sri Lanka Jan. 13-15 will come on the heels of a presidential election. Some Catholic priests and organizations have asked the pontiff to change his schedule so as not to get mixed up in politics, but the trip is going ahead as planned.

"There is no change in the schedule of papal visit events," Fr. Cyril Gamini Fernando, national director of Catholic social communications in Sri Lanka, told NCR.

He said leading candidates have assured Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo and Catholic bishops in the south Asian country that "there would be no trouble" after the Jan. 8 polls and that "a peaceful atmosphere would prevail for the visit of the Holy Father."

Apparently, some candidates have even used edited photos of Pope Francis in their campaign posters.