The Catholic Church has reiterated calls for Sri Lankan authorities to remove presidential election posters which feature the image of Pope Francis with incumbent Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa, ahead of a visit by the Pope next month.
The Church’s statement comes after the director for the media and information center for the Pope’s visit urged Sri Lankan parties last week to refrain from using the pope’s image to further their election campaigns.
See more from AFP here.
Reuters reported that Ravaya, a Sinhala language paper had earlier superimposed a photo of Pope Francis with Mahinda Rajapaksa together with the caption "Blessings of the Holy Father; You are our president, victory for you."
See our earlier post:
Sri Lankan parties urged to refrain from using pope in political campaigns (23 November 2014)