Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has written a letter to Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena appealing for extra security for Catholic institutions.

It follows concerns that churches may face more attacks after the Easter Sunday suicide bombings of three churches and three hotels that killed 259 people and injured more than 500.

A senior Catholic priest said the easing of security at religious places was not a positive move and that the local Church had received information about impending threats.

He said Cardinal Ranjith had informed the president in writing that Catholic temples, shrines and public places are in danger of being attacked.

YasithaDevaka, a Catholic teacher from Kadana, said government officials had blamed each other for the loss. It was finally revealed that intelligence agencies had provided definite warnings of the April 21 attacks but no proper action was taken to prevent them. “The cardinal has warned of another attack on Catholic churches and has asked for tight security,” said Devaka.