Catholic Church urges government not to use pope's visit for campaign purposes

The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka has advised the government not to use the forthcoming visit of their leader, Pope Francis, as campaign material for its re-election bid.

A local newspaper Ravaya, over the weekend published a photograph of a campaign poster that had superimposed photos of the president and the pope to depict them smiling at one other with the caption: "Blessings of the Holy Father; You are our president, victory for you."

Several other local media platforms have reported posters depicting the pontiff blessing the President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is seeking an unprecedented third term in a poll on Thursday, January 8, just days before the pope is due to visit Sri Lanka.

The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka have however urged the Government to desist from using the Pope’s visit for political gains. "It has been brought to our notice that the political posters and cut-outs with the picture of the Holy Father have appeared in some places in the country. We earnestly request respective authorities and persons to remove those political posters and cut-outs immediately and urge all the political groups to refrain from using either the Holy Father or His visit to Sri Lanka for the political campaign of the presidential election,” a statement from the committee of the Sri Lankan Catholic Church reads.

The pope will spend two days in Sri Lanka from Monday, January 12 before moving on to the Philippines, Asia's largest Catholic country. Catholics are a tiny minority in the mostly Buddhist Sri Lanka.

Campaign posters are not officially allowed under Sri Lanka's election laws, but political parties frequently use them even if they cannot admit to it. According to a report, the Election Commissioner, Mahinda Deshapriya, has requested the police to remove such posters.