Churches and governments throughout South Asia and Southeast Asia are becoming increasingly concerned with the continued threats from Isis-inspired groups and persons, given the growing number of church bombings.

The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka urged the government on Monday to crack down on Islamic extremists with more vigor "as if on war footing" in the aftermath of the Easter bombings.

Sri Lanka's president has asked for the resignations of the defense secretary and national police chief, a dramatic internal shake-up after security forces shrugged off intelligence reports warning of possible attacks before Easter bombings that killed over 350 people, the president's office said Wednesday.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe claimed he and other top government officials were not told about a possible threat and told local media “we must look into why adequate precautions were not taken.”

Since the end of the nation's 26-year civil war, in which the Tamil Tigers, a rebel group from the ethnic Tamil minority, sought independence from ethnic Sinhala Buddhist majority Sri Lanka, the country has seen sporadic ethnic and religious violence, but the scale of Sunday's bloodshed recalled the worst days of the war,

The Jesuit program’s emphasis on nutrition, health and education components is a trifecta of basic social needs that its sponsors say are essential for the nation’s future development.