17th May 1998

The new merely replaces the old

We are compelled to issue this communication to refute some of the statements made in an article in The Sunday Times of10th May 1998.

First the new Ordinance now before Parliament merely seeks to replace the old Ordinance No. 6 of 1885 and the various amendments which were enacted at the time the British Government ruled this country. This Ordinance gave the Diocesan Council the power to frame its regulations which were binding on the Church and its members.

Sections 2 and 12 of the said Ordinance are quoted thereunder :

Section 2 -

From and after the time when this Ordinance shall come into operation, it shall be lawful for the Bishop, Clergy and Laity, being members of the Church of England in the Diocese of Colombo, to hold synods, assemblies or conventions at such places, in such manner and for such purposes in connection with their ecclesiastical affairs as to them shall seem fit and to make and enforce regulations in connection therewith, which shall be binding upon such persons as have either directly or indirectly assented thereto:

Provided that nothing herein contained shall authorize the imposition of any rate or tax upon any person or persons, whomsoever, whether belonging to the said Church or not, nor the infliction of any temporal punishment, fine or penalty upon any person other than his suspension or removal from an office or privilege in or under the control of the said synod, assembly, or convention, or the making of any rule or regulation contrary to the law of Ceylon.

Section 12

It shall be lawful for the synod, assembly, or convention held under the authority of this Ordinance, by any statute, ordinance or resolution to be passed for such purpose, to make regulations for enabling the majority of the members of the congregation of any church, present and voting at a meeting to be held and convened in manner by the said regulations provided, to declare by resolution their desire that such church and all immovable property belonging or appertaining to such church shall absolutely vest in the Incorporated Trustees of the Church of England in Ceylon.

This ordinance was the law that was in force for the Church of England in Ceylon until 1930. However in this year it was decided to form a new Province of the Church of England, and the Church of India, Burma, Pakistan and Ceylon was formed. There was a General Council of members of all the churches who framed a constitution on ecclesiastic issues based on the doctrines of the Church of England. This constitution governed the four churches with a Metropolitan Bishop elected as the head. In fact our own Bishop Lakdasa De Mel was the last of the Metropolitans.

At a meeting of the General Council held in 1970 they decided to form their own individual churches with all other non conformist Churches and be governed by the Constitution of 1930 framed by the four churches and to be operative in so far as the provisions were relevant to the churches in the various churches concerned. The Church of Ceylon could not form its own church on account of the Court injunctions to the union of the various churches and the decision of the Court under the 1972 Constitution of Sri Lanka by a majority of 2 Judges against one who decided that the Church Ordinance to unite was against the 1972 Constitution of the country then in force in Sri Lanka. The result was that the United Church of Sri Lanka failed to be established and the Church had to launch out on its own. The ordinance now before Parliament has no relevance to the Bill regarding Church Union which is referred to in your journal.

The Bill now before Parliament will not be detrimental to any other religion and the fears of the various persons have no foundation because the issues concerned are the same as that contained in the 1930 Constitution. There were no objections at all at that time. The fact that the new Bill purports to permit the church to form its own Constitution is purely an enabling provision to conform to the Constitution of the Church of South India, North India, Pakistan, Burma and now Bangladesh. The fact that the new bill provides for 32 persons to draft the constitution is a reiteration of the power given in the 1930 Constitution and adopted by the Churches. The power to form a Constitution relates purely to ecclesiastical issues.

The members in the Anglican Church who have also joined in the protest are completely under a misapprehension. The Bishop has always held properties in his name without objection and the reasons for their objection now is to say the least mischievous. Indeed the 1885 Ordinance not only permitted the Bishop to hold properties as a Corporate Sole but also that Ordinance provided for the body known as the Incorporated Trustees to hold properties in Trust - i.e., properties donated by persons and properties left to the Church under the Wills of people.

Sydney Perera's accusation that the Bill failed to get the required two thirds majority in the House of Clergy and the House of Laity in the two Diocesan Councils is to say the least incorrect. The correct voting figures are as follows:

Diocese of Colombo

Clergy   Laity

Voted for        61        95
Against           10        20
Abstained         1          1

Diocese of Kurunegala

Clergy   Laity

Voted for         26      36
Against            01      01
Abstained        01      05

Mr. Sydney Perera owes the Church and its members a public apology for his false statement.

No one's above the law

In a recent edition of a national newspaper, I read an article headlined: "Laws to punish corrupt in previous regime." Well, this is not surprising considering that the PA Government came into power on the Anti-Corruption, Anti-Terror slogan.

We have been hearing of all the terrible things that the previous regime had been perpetrating, and we do not deny the need to bring the guilty ones to book, the sooner the better.

However, one little point irks me. Laws, to my mind, should be formulated to bring all corrupt officials to book not only those of the previous regime but also those in the present regime. Otherwise, those in the present regime will get the feeling that they are above the law. I am not casting aspersions on any member of the present regime; I am sure they are all honourable men and women.

And who knows, some of these honourable men will have a free hand to do what they please, safe until there is a change in power and a commission has been appointed to go into their activities. Let us not take the blindfold off the face of "Madam Justice".

The corals are dying!

A week ago I went snorkeling in the stretch of beautiful sea off the famous Unawatuna beach with two of my friends. We were all sad minus the joy and fun we had the previous time. The reason was quite obvious: the corals we saw last time were dying!

It was a real sorry scene. Corals under the sea which had resembled another world full of colour, joy and life to us the last time, were rapidly fading into oblivion. Instead of the spectrum of colours we saw everywhere earlier, there were big and multiple patches of dying corals easily identified by their fading colour and the apparent lifelessness. Some had even become totally pearly white, which looked exactly like the specimens known as Gal Mal that some collectors have in their precious living rooms.

Good news travels fast!

The "Airbus Industrie Asia-Pacific Update" is a monthly newsletter focusing on the latest orders placed for Airbus products.

We now know that the controversial Air Lanka/Emirates partial privatisation deal was not finalised until March 30, 1998. Yet, the Airbus Industrie orders Update newsletter published the very next day (31 March) lists six (06) Airbus A330-200 airliners on order for Air Lanka.

Your readers may draw their own conclusion as to the timing of this announcement.

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