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VATICAN CITY— Pope Francis on Wednesday urged authorities in Sri Lanka, which has been shaken by unrest over the nation’s worst financial disaster, to “hearken to the hopes of the individuals” and respect human rights and civil liberties.
Protesters have focused the household of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, blaming them for a meltdown within the Indian Ocean nation that has introduced huge shortages of key objects of meals, gas and drugs.
READ: Explainer: How Sri Lanka spiralled into disaster
Troopers are actually patrolling the streets of Colombo, the industrial capital, with orders to shoot at anybody who damages public property or endangers lives.
Talking on the finish of a common viewers in St. Peter’s Sq., Francis famous that it was largely younger individuals who had been protesting towards the nation’s social and financial issues and known as for calm on all sides.
“I attraction to all those that have duty to hearken to the hopes of the individuals, guaranteeing full respect for human proper and civil liberties,” he mentioned.
Sri Lanka, which Francis visited in 2015, is majority Buddhist however has a small Christian neighborhood amounting to round 7% of the whole inhabitants. A lot of the Christians in Sri Lanka are Catholics.
—Reporting by Philip PullellaEditing by Gareth Jones
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