The Archbishop of Canterbury Most Revd. Justin Welby, the spiritual head of the Anglican Church, will arrive in Sri Lanka on Thursday (29) on a three-day visit as a mark of solidarity with Sri Lanka.
Addressing the media yesterday at the Bishop’s Office, the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Ceylon (Anglican) and Bishop of the Diocese of Colombo Rt. Revd. Dhiloraj Ranjith Canagasabey said that that during his visit to Sri Lanka, the Archbishop of Canterbury is expected to convey solidarity with Sri Lanka in the wake of the Easter Sunday bombings in April.
The Archbishop will be accompanied by his wife Caroline, the Archbishop’s Adviser on Anglican Communion Affairs Rt Revd Anthony Poggo and his Chief of Staff David Porter.
“The Archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual head of the worldwide Anglican Communion which has about 85 million members spread over more than 105 countries.” he said.
The Provincial Secretary of the Church of Ceylon, Arun Gamalathge said that on the first day of his solidarity visit to Sri Lanka, the Archbishop of Canterbury is scheduled to visit St Sebastian Church in Karuwapitiya accompanied by His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith and meet the families of Easter Sunday attack victims.
In the afternoon he will meet Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe at Temple Trees and later he will meet Opposition Leader Mahinda Rajapaksa.
After that he will attend a special meeting which will be held at the Colombo Diocesan premises with the participation of interfaith leaders and heads of all churches and later he will participate in a special service at the Anglican Cathedral of Christ the Living Saviour, Colombo.
After the service, he will move to the BMICH for dinner and he will meet President Maithripala Sirisena.
On August 30, the Archbishop will travel to the Diocesan Council premises and plant a tree to signify his visit to Sri Lanka. Then he will visit the Temple of the Tooth Relic in Kandy and will meet the Chief Prelates of the Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters of the Siyam Nikaya and the Diyawadana Nilame. Later he will attend a special service at the Anglican Cathedral of Christ the King, Kurunegala.
He will then return to Colombo and will join a private dinner at the Bishop’s House in Colombo. British High Commissioner will host a Breakfast on August 31 and after the breakfast; The Archbishop of Canterbury and his delegation will leave for the Bandaranaike International Airport and depart from Sri Lanka.
The Bishop of Kurunegala Rt.Rev. Keerthisiri Fernando also addressed the media.
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