COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Pope Francis brought calls for reconciliation and justice to Sri Lanka on Tuesday as he began a weeklong Asian tour, saying the island nation can’t fully heal from a quarter-century of brutal civil war without pursuing the truth about abuses that were committed.
The 78-year-old pope arrived in Colombo after an overnight flight from Rome and spent nearly two hours under a scorching sun greeting well-wishers along the 18-mile route into town.
The effects were immediate: A weary Francis skipped a lunchtime meeting with Sri Lanka’s bishops to rest before completing the rest of his grueling day.
Francis is the first pope to visit Sri Lanka since the government crushed a 25-year civil war by ethnic Tamil rebels demanding independence because of perceived discrimination by governments dominated by the Sinhalese majority.
UN estimates say up to 100,000 people were killed during the war, which ended in 2009; other reports suggest the toll could be much higher.
Sri Lanka’s new president, Maithripala Sirisena, has promised to launch a domestic inquiry into wartime abuses.