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CARDINAL AND POLITICS
View(s):While reading last week’s Sunday Times newspaper (28th July 2019), I was shocked to read the title “The Cardinal’s New Creed: Politics” by the columnist “Don Manu” (DM). With the word ‘go’ it was an outright attack on the Archbishop of Colombo, His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith for what he preached at the re-consecration of St.Sebastian’s Church, Katuwapitiya, Negombo, after the Easter Sunday terrorist attack that claimed hundreds of innocent human lives and maimed many others for life. According to DM, the Cardinal changed his religious pulpit into a political podium. Although I am a Catholic priest, I have no intention whatsoever to be the mouth-piece or a defender of the Cardinal simply because he is the Cardinal Archbishop of Colombo! Rather, this response is written as a Sri Lankan citizen who is interested in seeing justice being done for those victims of last Easter Sunday. It’s main aim is to challenge DM’s irrational outburst against the Cardinal whom the present writer sees as the only voice who refuses to be silenced in a milieu where deliberate efforts are being made to forget and ignore the terrible atrocity of Easter Sunday. It intends to simply highlight that DM is absolutely off the track on many counts in his aggressive remarks last Sunday. I wish to highlight only a couple of them.
A Distorted Notion of Christian Forgiveness
DM (whoever he/she be that hides behind that pseudo name!) seemed to have been highly disturbed by the Cardinal’s words, so much so, he/she begins his usual Sunday column with the vituperative words:
Last Sunday at the re-consecration of the blood splattered statue of Jesus Christ at the reconstructed Easter Sunday bomb damaged Katuwapitiya’s St Sebastian’s Church in Negombo, the Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, turned his religious pulpit into a political podium; and transformed what could otherwise have been a Godly homily into an unholy political sermon.The Cardinal’s eminent thoughts were less on religion and more on politics, less on forgiveness as his divine creed begs him to exercise and more on casting blame, less on the miracle of God and the mysterious ways of Providence and more on the well known follies and failures of mammon.And the relatives of those who died in that tragic Easter Sunday carnage who may have come to find spiritual guidance from the Cardinal and come to terms with their unbearable grief, found themselves giving ear to a party political broadcast instead. Rather than assuage their heartbreak with biblical wisdom and love their neighbour, whatever their sin — even as Jesus did on the cross when he expressed love and forgave all who were crucifying him — the Cardinal roused their ire and propelled them to vent their feelings on their fellowmen, whatever their political colour.
Surely, the four gospels (which give the life story of Jesus of Nazareth from four very diverse but complimentary angles) highlight forgiveness and reconciliation as a major theme in the ministry of Jesus here on earth. However, the same Jesus was the one who equally highlighted the importance of justice and righteousness. If Jesus kept quiet in the face of terrible social and religious injustices of that society in which he lived, he would have never been killed so brutally at the young age of thirty three! If he confined himself only to a ministry of forgive and forget (as DM wishes the Cardinal to be) and minded his own business (as DM wishes Church leaders to be!), he would have never antagonized the religious and civil leaders who murdered him on a cross. It was precisely because Jesus dared to tread into the socio-religious realm in condemning the wrongs and injustices of his day that he paid so dearly with his life. in other words, followers of Jesus while they promote forgiveness and reconciliation, cannot simply be deaf and dumb in the face of crying injustices in the societies where they live. Let DM be reminded that all compartmentalizing of religion, politics, society,…etc. into water-tight compartments are mere speculative exercises. In real life each of those realms mingle with one another, and that is why religion cannot be simply confined to the sacristy as DM would have loved to. After all, Christianity is to do with real life lived here on earth, in view of the next life to come. Such life encompasses all spheres of human existence including socio-political, not only spiritual or religious.
As the leader of the Catholic community in the Archdiocese of Colombo, the Cardinal was only voicing out his frustration and utter disgust at the lethargic way the culprits of Easter Carnage had been let loose by the present rulers. And he is not the only Sri Lankan who feels that way today! Although more than three months have passed, to-date no person accused of those dastardly horrible acts has been properly probed into. There has been no just or due process followed. Instead, a farce has been enacted in the form of Committees which consist exclusively of government ministers and members of parliament to probe into their own colleagues/henchmen. Justice has been openly violated if not ridiculed. A case in point is the Muslim Minister from the North who had been accused from various quarters on various issues that are allegedly and directly linked to the Easter Carnage. Instead of probing him fairly and squarely, he is absolved (by his own political colleagues/supporters!) of all accusations and even re-installed as a minister! The Prime Minister has even gone to the extent of openly declaring him innocent of any such accusation. Is this the way justice is executed in this land by those who came to office on a ‘yahapalana’ or righteous governing platform? In the face of such glaring atrocities, does DM want the Catholic leaders to be quiet rather than demanding justice for their people? Can such demands be reduced to mere politics as DM does? Are such demands outside the realm of religion? Certainly not!
Is it a ‘crime’ to be cordial with MR?
Reading the entire article, one gets the impression that DM apparently feels that His Eminence should not have touched international affairs in his sermon because they are “complex”, and also Sri Lankan politics because they are “shabby”! Instead, DM opines that the Cardinal’s role ought tohave been simply limited to console those victims of Easter Carnage with soothing words and then, exhort his flock to just forgive whoever the culprits of this heinous crime may had been. Consequently, DM with his/her own unique lop-sided logic concludes that whoever dares to talk about such “complex” and “shabby” matters is simply a supporter of the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa (MR), and so, the Cardinal is effortlessly branded as an MR supporter with a visual image (from the past) wherein the former MR and the Cardinal are in conversation. When the Cardinal said that a government which cannot bring the culprits to justice should go home, DM gleefully interprets it as a clear-cut wish of the Cardinal to bring the former President back to power. But the Cardinal in his sermon at that re-consecrating mass never even once mentioned MR’s name. On the contrary, he openly and dutifully praised Sajith Premadasa the UNP minister of the present government and an openly declared presidential hopeful at the next elections, for the assistance he rendered as the Minister of Housing and Construction, in re-building the Churches damaged by the bomb blasts. Highly prejudicial opinions of DM seem to have overtaken glaring facts of Cardinal’s sermon!
Moreover, just because the Cardinal happens to be the head of the Catholics of the Archdiocese of Colombo, it does not mean that he should not have any relationship with any political leader, including MR. Are religious leaders forbidden to have personal friendships with political leaders? Furthermore, is it such an abominable crime to have a relationship with MR which DM apparently perceives as an unpardonable crime? Of course, if they use (abuse) their religious positions to promote or demote political leaders, well, that is something seriously wrong. And in Sri Lanka there are many religious leaders who do so, but DM seems to be conveniently glossing over them, and taking his single aim at the Cardinal. As a matter of fact, the Christian leaders are among those few who do not ever get onto a political stage or promote a single political party publicly in our country. Moreover, while many ethnic and religious minorities have their own sectarian political parties in Sri Lanka, the Christians do not have any such political clout which many of us Christians hail as something positive towards building an undivided nation. However, when one reads columns as that of DM one wonders whether it would have not been better for Christians too, to have had their own political party. That would have surely made our present rulers count Christians and their voices as they seem to be doing with regard to other religious minorities especially in the aftermath of the Easter tragedy! In that case, by now justice would have been done with regard to the Easter carnage simply to court the Catholic vote as it is happening right now with regard to the Muslim vote.
Even if it is true that the Cardinal is a close friend of MR (which in fact is not demonstrable), does it disqualify him from demanding justice for what happened last Easter Sunday? As a matter of fact, as things stand now, it is only the Cardinal who appears to be the lonely prophetic voice in the wilderness, demanding justice be done with regard to the Easter carnage when almost all the political voices are silent about it. As I pen down these thoughts, there is a statement made by Cardinal Ranjith at a Press Conference in which he categorically stated: “We don’t want compensation. We seek justice. Tell us the truth as to what happened and who caused the tragedy”. Ever since last Easter Sunday, this has been the single cry of the Archbishop of Colombo, namely, to do justice. It is also the cry of the nation (not only of Christians) at this particular juncture of our history. In no way can such a cry be branded as getting involved in politics. After all, active partisan politics and calling for justice (political involvement) are two very diverse acts though they are divided by a very subtle line, often drawn on the sand. But let’s not confuse issues of justice and active politics, for God’s sake!
Rev. Fr. Vimal Tirimanna, CSsR
Kandy