Pope Francis began his second trip to Asia on Tuesday, delivering a speech at Sri Lanka's international airport in Colombo.
Pope Francis encouraged the "pursuit of truth" in Sri Lanka, saying it could be reached by "cultivating those virtues which foster reconciliation, solidarity, and peace." At a later meeting of religious leaders, Pope Francis said that "what is needed now is healing and unity, not further division and conflict."
The papal visit comes at a noteworthy time for Sri Lanka — last week, former president Mahinda Rajapaksa was defeated in the country's elections. Rajapaksa ended Sri Lanka's civil war with the Tamil Tigers in 2009, and the country is still dealing with the civil war's aftermath. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's new president, Maithripala Sirisena, has promised "an end to repression of religious minorities," BBC News reports.
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Francis' visit is the first papal trip to Sri Lanka since the end of the war in 2009. On Wednesday, Francis will canonize the 17th-century missionary Joseph Vaz as Sri Lanka's first saint. He will then travel to the Philippines. --Meghan DeMaria
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