Sirisena drops bombshell: Cardinal accused of mismanaging Rs.500million Easter Sunday attack aid

Well, well, well the self-righteous Cardinal has some answering to do. This follows a bombshell made by former President Maithripala Sirisena accusing the Cardinal of mismanaging Easter Sunday attack aid to the tune of Rs.500million. It is well & fine to claim that God does not want the right hand to know what the left hand has done, but when such a colossal amount of money has been sent by Catholic organizations, international entities, philanthropists, the Cardinal & Father Cyril Mathew owe the public some answers. Aren’t these two the one’s eternally going round the world demanding accountability & transparency. Well, let’s see it coming from the Cardinal, first!

The President also reiterated that while President, the State had given compensation to all victims of the Easter Sunday attack & 400 cases were filed.

Given that President Sirisena has challenged the Cardinal to provide detailed account of the distribution of the aid received, the ball is now in the Cardinals court to do so. It is advised that the Cardinal takes a break from throwing those conspiracy theories & give a breakdown of how this Rs.500million aid was spent.

Naturally, President Sirisena has a grievance as he continues to face legal action based on cases filed influenced by Cardinal as claimed by President Sirisena, as a result of the Easter Attack. However, when funds have flowed to help the victims, it is now time for the Cardinal to face the tune himself on accountability.

Sri Lanka: Sirisena Accuses Cardinal of Mismanaging Easter Attack Aid

https://www.hirunews.lk/english/373366/easter-sunday-attack-cardinal-refutes-former-president-sirisenas-allegations

Cardinal has responded to say he has all the documents. If so, let this be made public.

The Church claims Rs.460million was distributed to these victims.

We hope the injured victims & the families of the deceased can confirm how much they have received by the Cardinal/Church in addition to the compensation paid to them by the State.

Cardinal has taken offence that President Sirisena has made such an open statement. The Church jumping to the rescue of the Cardinal through Rev Jude Krishantha, as usual has taken salvation in “politics” and claimed that Sirisena is “politically bankrupt” and seeking to cover-up his shortcomings.

It was Sirisena who claimed the Church received Rs.500m – not the Cardinal/Church.

It is after this figure was made public that the Cardinal & Church has come out in self-defense mode.

If Sirisena had not made public this amount or the fact that the money was not properly utilized for the victims, no one would know!

Did the Cardinal & Church have to wait 5 years for Sirisena to throw a bombshell to claim they had all the documents of payments made?

While Cardinal is claiming he has the documents of all payments made – Father Krishantha is claiming the Bible had said “when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right had is doing” … that it is for that reason secrecy is maintained when distributing the funds. Then why take offense over Sirisena’s statement.

Why doesn’t the Church & Cardinal simply say we choose not to disclose how the Rs.500m was spent instead of trying to water down the lack of transparency & accountability.

If the Cardinal/Church does not make public these payments, it shows the lack of transparency & accountability of both the Cardinal & the Church. It would also be good for the victims to check whether they received their proportionate share of the Rs.500million sent to be given to them!

Shenali D Waduge