The Bishop of Mannar Rayappu Joseph has been denied access to visit Tamil political prisoners over Easter, as customary in the Catholic Church, the Uthayan reported.
Bishop Rayappu Joseph who was accompanied by the Bishop of Anuradhapura to visit the Tamil detainees in Anuradhapura prison, received permission for the visit from the ministry responsible for prisons.
However the bishops were informed that a senior official in the Ministry of Defence has revoked the permission and access was particularly denied to the Bishop of Mannar.
"On this holy day, which promotes peace and teaches humanity, this incident has saddened us. When travelling towards genuine reconciliation obstacles as these incidents do have an impact. Personnel involved must clarify the reason for denying access to us," said Bishop Rayappu Joseph.