CHURCH LEADERSHIP AND EASTER DAY CARNAGE
By A Genuine Catholic
Time is ticking to choose our next President and memories are still hauntingly fresh as to how we chose our last President Gotabhaya Rajapakse. This is despite that we Sri Lankans tend to forget experiences very soon. Even Velupillai Prabakaran made capital out of it. I am a Church going Catholic but I wish to call spade. His Eminence Malcom Cardinal Ranjith has issued a statement for Catholics to vote wisely not naming any candidate by name, but few weeks earlier he indirectly called upon his flock to favour the candidates from the SJB and JBB for pledging to punish the Easter Day massacre perpetrators.
The Colombo Diocese founded in 1845 was considered the flagship of the Church in Sri Lanka and Archbishop the leader. Thomas Cardinal Cooray was the first Sri Lankan Archbishop of the Diocese installed in 1947 ending his term in 1976. The Church leadership of the Archbishops of the past prior to Cardinal Ranjith becoming Archbishop in 2009 was very circumspect in its liaison with political leadership of the country maintaining a healthy balance and distance. They provided leadership at the most difficult and challenging periods under the Bandaranaikes and later the ethnic war. They respected the saying if you sleep with dogs you will get up with fleas and that politicians are a unique breed who will sacrifice just and the best causes to achieve own selfish ends. So much so the Catholic Church earned immense respect for its firm and dignified stand on politicians and politics. Archbishops Thomas Cardinal Cooray, Nicholas Marcus Fernando and Oswald Gomis are still revered and respected for what they were in most astutely and religiously guiding and serving their flock.
It is a majority opinion that Archbishop Malcom Cardinal Ranjith has gone beyond the line of his eminent predecessors. Aspersions were galore on the Church leadership mainly that of Cardinal Ranjith on his pattern of behavior before and after the last Presidential Election held on 16th November 2019. He seriously flawed by almost fanatically calling on his flock to vote for Gotabhaya. Then much later he finds that he had been double crossed for a massive price of hundreds of his flock being massacred and maimed for life whilst at prayer in Church.
His Eminence castigated and pinned the entire blame on Yahapalana Government for the Easter Day massacre identifying more with Ranil and the UNP. Resultantly Ranil and UNP were reduced to zero in the Catholic coastal belt. Sadly it did not occur to His Eminence’s narrow perception the liability and failures of President Sirisena as the Head of State and Head of Security at that time and the possibility of a political conspiracy that profusely helped Gotabhaya. And interestingly because Sirisena and Gotabhaya were on the same side. Was his haste to ensure Gotabhaya victory a colossal negligence for his failure to patiently and logically fathom the truth.
The close relationship that existed between the Cardinal and Rajapakses was a well known fact hence cannot be denied. It was a reflection of His Eminence the Cardinal’s undeniable inner political liking. We are made to believe that the Rajapakses and the Cardinal are now foes and that he is after their blood for the Easter massacre. But we saw the Cardinal himself marrying Mahinda’s son in Church dispensing with all the guidelines for the solemnizing of church marriage. So much so doubts were formed around Cardinal’s displayed collision course with the Rajapakses as a part of a drama. And more recently we saw how cordially he entertained Namal the Candidate to the Palace.
His Eminence Malcom Cardinal Ranjit’s flirtation in the political playing field did end with serious repercussions. He outdid the dominant Buddhist Clergy joining hands with President Sirisena in street demonstrations of protests against the drug menace although noble in principle was pitting the Church against powerful and dangerous drug barons. The Church was having its’ own programme in Schools against the menace run by Rev.Fr.Benedict. Alexander Pope wrote “Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread.” Sirisena however showed no iota of goodwill to the Cardinal failing at least to hint the Cardinal about the possible threat to Churches.
His Eminence acted like an enraged woman with incessant calls for investigation to reveal the mastermind of the Easter attacks which angered President Gotabhaya who in his royal anger went on a warpath against the Catholic Church. He targeted the base and foundation of religious activity in the Archdiocese which is mainly in the Negombo belt. His Muturajawela Gazette was a salvo against the Church. Churches with its land and the Catholic households in the area clearly becoming the main targets. State Media began witch hunting the Clergy. Gota then appointed Gnanasara Thero as Chairman of the Task Force for the implementation of his concept One Country One Law. Gnanasara Thero stance against the Catholic Church was well known. He visited Madhu area involving himself in a land ownership matter against the Madhu Church. He bared his stance on admissions to schools of religious base. Wholly an attempt to admit non-Catholics in numbers to Catholic schools to upset the balance in a new Constitution to be drafted. If admissions are to be on a proportionate or pro rata basis Catholic children seeking religious atmosphere would suffer with a Buddhist majority occupying Catholic schools. And Gota on purpose failed to nominate any Catholic to the Committee to represent Catholic interests. Then came the Bopitiya Church fiasco with some Naval Officers of the Welisara Camp warning the Parish Priest of a Bomb threat and to be vary of persons in Cassocks, the threat to be subsequently withdrawn by the Defense Secretary himself stating it as mistake. Then we had the
Borella Church bomb incident fizzling out to be a hoax after some innocent and respected Catholics being remanded on false charges.
The Cardinal clearly seems to be wholly obsessed with the punishment of the fiends behind the Easter Day massacre and not with other large matters related to the welfare and the status quo of the Church. It becomes important that his perceived support to Marxist colouring need to be more and deeply considered in view of the traumatic experiences the Church underwent during the Bandaranaike era especially under Marxist backed Sirimavo government. Cardinal’s haste could again be waste and is bothering the flock. It is no trivial matter of what others are thinking as to how one person’s behavior as the leader could affect the Catholic Church as a whole in the context of Christians being a minority in the country.
