Pope Francis Urges Sri Lanka: Pursue Truth to Heal the Wounds of War

It was the first time that the leader of the Roman Catholic Church visited a predominantly Hindu nation after two decades.

At the start of his week-long tour of Asia, Pope Francis told Catholic believers in Sri Lanka to pursue the truth if they want to end a quarter-century of injustice caused by a civil war.

"The process of healing also needs to include the pursuit of truth. All members of society must work together; all must have a voice," Pope Francis said.

"All must be free to express their concerns, their needs, their aspirations and their fears," he added in a speech delivered upon his arrival at Colombo's international airport on Tuesday.

The Pope called on Sri Lankans to uncover the truth about the civil war, which ended with the army's crushing defeat of Tamil rebels.

A United Nations estimate placed the death toll in the war at 100,000 before it ended in 2009.

A week after Sri Lankan voters booted out of power a wartime leader, the Pontiff denounced the evil conflict that tore the heart of Sri Lanka in a prayer that he said at the Church of Our Lady of Madhu.

"May all people here find inspiration and strength to build a future of reconciliation, justice and peace for all the children of this beloved land," the Pope said slowly in English.

In his visit, Francis also gave Sri Lanka its first saint, 17th century missionary Joseph Vaz, who he described as a model of reconciliation after the war.

He said Vaz was an example of religious tolerance relevant to Sri Lanka today as it recovers from the war between mainly Buddhist Sinhalese and Hindu Tamils.

Vaz was born in India's Goa, which was a Portuguese colony in 1651. After hearing about the persecution of Catholics by the Dutch, he traveled south by dressing as a beggar before working for years under the protection of a Buddhist king.

By the time of his death, the Church says he had almost single-handedly re-established Catholicism in Sri Lanka.

Catholics make up about 7 percent of Sri Lanka's 20 million population, while 10 times as many people follow Buddhism. About 10 percent of the population follow Islam, Reuters reported.

The Muslims face rising attacks from Buddhist extremists under the government of former President Mahinda Rajapaka, who lost office last week.