A Catholic on "Christians Awake!"

by Lucien Rajakarunanayake

As a Catholic I was deeply shocked to read the statement by the Archbishop of Colombo, Most Rev. Dr. Oswald Gomis, which was used in a newspaper advertisement by the Society for Love and Understanding, organised by Desamanya Lalith Kotelawala.

The advertisement has the headline "Christians Awake!" making it seem a call to arms by Christians.

The Catholic Bishops Conference in their recent statement on the Presidential Election states: "The Catholic Church calls upon all its members to consider the issues facing the Christian community with the solutions proposed in the manifestos of the two major candidates when exercising their franchise". However, the Archbishop of Colombo has gone further and made a very thinly veiled indication that the Catholics and Christians of Sri Lanka should vote against Mahinda Rajapakse, in this Presidential Election.

His Lordship states: "The peace process initiated two years ago, and agreement on the part of the two leading political groups that the problem could and has to be solved, only through a dignified political solution has given us a respite and hope of a lasting peace. However, it is regrettable that some radical and extremist elements are rejecting this path and paving the way for war. (My emphasis). This would no doubt cause further havoc in the country and increase the suffering of our people who are already economically and otherwise burdened."

The reference to radical and extremist elements that reject the path to a political solution and paving the way for war is nothing but an echo of what is stated on all UNP platforms. If there are such elements it is the duty of the Archbishop of Colombo to identify such groups, and state clearly in what political grouping they are.

The Archbishops call for Christians to Awake comes shortly after Lalith Kotelawala's Society for Love and Understanding published another advertisement calling on Mahinda Rajapakse to state that he is against war, and identifying several of his partners in the present political alliance as being pro-war. The link between what Lalith Kotelawala says and what the Archbishop says is therefore clearly established.

If the Archbishop of Colombo had bothered to read the manifesto of Mahinda Rajapakse- "Mahinda Chintana", as recommended by the Catholic Bishops Conference, he would not have found any reference of the rejection of a political solution or any reference to a resumption of war.

It is a consensus document, which calls for a negotiated peace, endorsed even by those who are readily labelled as radicals and pro-war extremists. If he had listened to the first official political TV broadcast by Mahinda Rajapakse as a candidate in this election, the Archbishop would have heard him state clearly state that he was against war and was in favour of a negotiated solution, to bring about a dignified peace. It is unfortunate that the His Lordship Oswald Gomis has ignored these in making his statement, advertised by the Society for Love and Understanding.

With regard to the other issue of religious conversion raised by the Archbishop, the "Mahinda Chintana" states that it his expectation to respect the individuality of all communities and religions; not to harass anyone through the use of force, and establish a new society where the freedom of the individual and the freedoms of society are safeguarded.

The Prime Minister's Message to all Christians, which has already been distributed among the public (a copy of which was sent to the "Catholic Messenger" and was also read out on his behalf at the recent meeting with representatives of the Prime Minister and leaders of the Catholic hierarchy held at SEDEC) states: "In keeping with the Right to Freedom of Conscience, Association and Worship that are guaranteed in our Constitution, it is my firm conviction that issues concerning the change of one's religious beliefs through genuine conviction should be the right of the individual".

This should help ease the mind of the Archbishop regarding religious conversion, vis-...-vis Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and his policies.

As for the Peace Process initiated two years ago, it is necessary to remind his Lordship that the negotiations were called off by the LTTE and not the Government of that time. The present government too has expressed its willingness to resume negotiations, which the LTTE refuses. Both the Government and the LTTE have agreed to the need to amend the Ceasefire Agreement, due to its many shortcomings that are now universally accepted.

As for the war itself, although we do not see open battle with the use of large forces on both sides, what the CFA has in fact achieved is to give the LTTE the capability to carry on the war, based on its own strategies, in its selected area of activity and at its own chosen time. How else can one explain the killing of so many personnel of the military intelligence services, Tamils who are supportive of political parties opposed to the LTTE, and the Foreign Minister of this country, as well as the continued recruitment of children for war by the LTTE.

Are the Sri Lankan people, Christians and others, to forget or ignore all this during the current Presidential Election Campaign (as the UNP does), for fear of being labelled nationalist, radical or extremist? Where is the condemnation of this by the "Society for Love and Understanding"? Does this not lend itself to a demand that all Sri Lankans be Awake to the dangers of separatist terrorism ?

It is strange that while His Lordship refers to certain radical groups and extremists (earlier identified by another advertisement by the Society for Love and Understanding), he makes no reference whatsoever to the LTTE, an organisation that has been named an international terrorist organisation, and the role it could well play in this Presidential Election, as it did in the General Election of April 2004. It appears that the Catholic Church, for some strange reason does not consider the LTTE as being even a radical or extremist organisation, apart from it being one of terrorists.

It is necessary to mention here that statements made supportive of the LTTE's separatist goal and its means of achieving it, particularly by the Catholic Bishops of Jaffna and Mannar, have already created considerable and justified suspicion among the Sinhalese that the Catholic Church is supportive of the LTTE and its aims and activities.

In such a volatile situation, to call upon Christians to Awaken at this current critical juncture of our politics, could well lead to creating divisions between Sinhalese, dividing them into camps of the Christians and Buddhists.

We certainly do not need to have any such divisions over religion adding to the crisis we have over language and ethnicity.

This is certainly not the time to use the language of Crusaders, even in headlines to advertisements. It is most probable that His Lordship Bishop Oswald Gomis was not aware that this incendiary headline would be used for his statement. But, regrettably he has now been associated with such incendiary verbiage by default.

One would trust that the Catholics and other Christians would not be misled by the mischievous campaign being carried out by the "Society for Love and Understanding" profiling Desamanya Lalith Kotelawala, which is fast turning out to be a "Society for Religious Hatred and Mistrust".

It is best that the Catholics and all Christians judge the merits of the two main candidates on what is stated in their manifestos, as recommended by the Catholic Bishops Conference, as well as their record in politics, and also the special Message to Christians by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse.