Church has decided not to participate in government-sponsored events: Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith

ManyThe head of Sri Lanka's Roman Catholic church declared Saturday he will boycott state functions to protest against police allegations of child trafficking involving the Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity.
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said the church has decided not to participate in government-sponsored events in December to show their anger over a police raid on a children's home run by the charity.
He said the police raid on the children's home run by the order founded by the late Mother Teresa and the arrest last week of one of the nuns had been carried out without any proof.
"Our response to this is to stay away from any state functions or state-organised event in the month of December," the cardinal told reporters in Colombo. "They (police) are now trying to fabricate a story."
He denied police allegations that the charity was selling babies of teenage unwed mothers.
The head of the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) took part in the raid last week and police told a local magistrate they suspected the charity of being involved in child trafficking.
NCPA chief Anoma Dissanayake was not immediately available for comment, but police have told the courts that they want more time to investigate the charity.