{"id":297778,"date":"2019-04-22T12:46:11","date_gmt":"2019-04-22T16:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=297778"},"modified":"2019-04-22T13:08:47","modified_gmt":"2019-04-22T17:08:47","slug":"young-martyr-11-year-old-was-murdered-while-standing-in-line-for-communion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2019\/04\/young-martyr-11-year-old-was-murdered-while-standing-in-line-for-communion\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Martyr: 11-Year-Old Murdered While Standing in Line for Communion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/iframe><\/p>\nThe horror of this story just continues to mount \u2014 made more grievous because it could have been prevented.<\/p>\nFrom <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/04\/22\/world\/asia\/sri-lanka-victims-bombing-attacks.html?action=click&module=Top+Stories&pgtype=Homepage&fbclid=IwAR3hZDR3zYTkCW-B3oQHBRP-kw_o-74Ynl4m3nhACvCHbBktNQPMLZ_opCQ\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">The New York Times:<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote>\nThe little room could hold no more grief.<\/p>\nAll day Monday, through the steamy heat, mourners quietly stepped inside and paused in front of a sealed coffin containing what was left of Sneha Savindi Fernando.<\/p>\nSneha was standing in line for communion at Easter Mass on Sunday when she was blown apart. She was 11.<\/p>\n\u201cWhy did you leave me?\u201d her grandmother cried, sitting in front of the coffin and rubbing its sides, the anguish tight in her hands. \u201cThere are so many bad people in the world. Why kill the innocents?\u201d<\/p>\nIt was a question all of Sri Lanka was asking.<\/p>\nThe day after suicide bombers carried out coordinated attacks on\u00a0<a class=\"css-1g7m0tk decorated-link\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2019\/04\/21\/world\/asia\/sri-lanka-bombing-maps.html?module=inline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">half a dozen hotels and churches<\/a>\u00a0across this island nation, Sri Lanka remained in shock. The death toll continued to climb, with the authorities\u00a0<a class=\"css-1g7m0tk decorated-link\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/04\/22\/world\/asia\/sri-lanka-bombing-explosion.html?module=inline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">saying the attacks had killed at least 290 people<\/a>.<\/p>\nSri Lankan officials said on Monday that the bombings had been carried out by a local Islamist group called\u00a0<a class=\"css-1g7m0tk decorated-link\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/04\/22\/world\/asia\/ntj-sri-lanka-national-thowheeth-jamaath.html?module=inline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">National Thowheeth Jama\u2019ath<\/a>, possibly with help from an international network. Twenty-four suspects have been arrested, though the government has not identified them.<\/p>\nIn a letter 10 days before the attacks, a top police official warned the security services that Thowheeth Jama\u2019ath was planning suicide attacks against churches. No action was taken against the group, though it was unclear why not.<\/p>\nPrime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Sunday that neither he nor his cabinet ministers had been informed of the warning, highlighting the power struggle between him and President Maithripala Sirisena, who is also the defense minister. Late last year, the feud led, for a time, to\u00a0<a class=\"css-1g7m0tk decorated-link\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/12\/14\/world\/asia\/sri-lanka-rajapaksa.html?module=inline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">two officials claiming to be the rightful prime minister<\/a>.<\/p>\nRauff Hakeem, the justice minister, called the government\u2019s lack of action before the bombings a \u201ccolossal failure on the part of the intelligence services.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/04\/22\/world\/asia\/sri-lanka-victims-bombing-attacks.html?action=click&module=Top+Stories&pgtype=Homepage&fbclid=IwAR3hZDR3zYTkCW-B3oQHBRP-kw_o-74Ynl4m3nhACvCHbBktNQPMLZ_opCQ\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Read more.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The horror of this story just continues to mount \u2014 made more grievous because it could have been prevented. From The New York Times:\u00a0 The little room could hold no more grief. All day Monday, through the steamy heat, mourners quietly stepped inside and paused in front of a sealed coffin containing what was left […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":297784,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[12442],"class_list":["post-297778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ripped-from-the-headlines","tag-sri-lanka"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Young Martyr: 11-Year-Old Murdered While Standing in Line for Communion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4qzrlAaA9MM The horror of this story just continues to mount \u2014 made more grievous because it could have been prevented.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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