Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1454280
7 NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 23 FEBRUARY 2022 Srilankan a precedent for post- election Papal visit JAMES DEBONO THERE is a precedent for a papal visit in the immediate aftermath of a general election albeit one in a predominately Buddhist coun- try where only 6 percent are Catholics. The visit took place in January 2015 five days after a divisive Presidential election and fears the results could have end- ed in violence. The Vatican had announced Pope Francis' visit to the island nation on June 11, 2014 to can- onize the country's first saint, Joseph Vaz, a 17th-century priest and missionary. Prob- lems arose with the pope's visit when the presidential election was announced by incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa in late November. At first Catholic leaders urged the pope to postpone his visit after posters showed Presi- dent Mahinda Rajapaksa with his wife meeting Francis at the Vatican in October. One ban- ner stated "With His Holiness' blessings — you will be our president." But following assurances that the visit would not be politi- cized, the visit took place fol- lowing an election in which Rajapaksa was surprisingly de- feated and replaced by former ally turned rival Maithripala Sirisena. During his nine-year ten- ure Rajapaksa amassed power backed by a subservient judici- ary, influential family members and support within the armed forces, and was not expect- ed to easily relinquish power even if he was defeated. But the church remained confi- dent that the elections would pass off peacefully, and as the results started to flow in, Ra- japaksa conceded defeat and stepped down. Pope Francis had also visit- ed Mozambique in September 2019, just weeks before elec- tions to choose a new president after being invited by Mozam- bique's president, Filipe Nyusi, in September 2018. President Nyusi said that the Pope's visit would help to strengthen peace talks with the opposition par- ty RENAMO, which stopped military hostilities with the government in 2017 as part of a process, which is still fraught with tensions. Back in 1981 Pope John Paul II had postponed his visit to Spain until after the country's elections to avoid interfering in political campaigning, the Vat- ican announced today. The visit was postponed to just three days after the elec- tion. The timing of the trip became controversial when Prime Minister Leopoldo Cal- vo Sotelo, the head of the Un- ion of the Democratic Center, announced that Parliament would be dissolved. The opposition Socialists, who accused Calvo Sotelo of timing the elections so his po- litical alliance could exploit the papal visit for electoral gains. Pope Francis visit to Sri Lanka in 2015 provides a precedent for a papal visit just days after an election, albeit in a country where Catholics are a minority 90 new COVID-19 cases were registered on Tuesday, figures published by the Health Ministry show. One death occurred in the last 24-hours, a 46-year-old woman, bringing the total number of deaths to 599. Active cases stand at 763 after 91 recoveries were regis- tered. There are currently 50 coronavirus patients being cared for at Mater Dei Hospital, of which three are in the ITU. Until yesterday, 1,238,187 vaccine doses were adminis- tered, of which 341,054 were booster doses. COVID-19 One death and 90 new cases registered Pope Francis stands on his vehicle as devotees gather on the road after he arrived at the Colombo airport in January 2015