Madhu Church debate - Prasad Gunewardene

* Government * Madhu Church * Dr. Jayalath J * State Media * Catholic Messenger:

Said the Lord: Praise the Truth!

Different views from two Catholics, on the article published in this page on September 20, 2008 titled Bishop of Mannar, Devil and the Deep Blue Sea- appeared in the Catholic Messenger issue of October 5, 2008.

The Daily News article of September 20 referred to the liberation of the Madhu Church by the troops, the deafening silence maintained by the Bishop of Mannar, Dr. Rayapappu Joseph, and the subsequent praise and commendation that came from the Vatican Cardinal, His Eminence, Francis Arinze, at a meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa. The article was written by me to pursue the truth, as taught in the Gospel, to express a Catholic point of view, being a devout Catholic by faith.

View Point

The Catholic Messenger last Sunday has entertained two responses to my article from one Rita Perera and Parliamentarian, Dr. Jayalath Jayawardene. In this ‘View Point’ fray of today, there are three Catholics with different view points. Dr. Jayawardene has jumped out of track again. He is a friend and a man from my clan. To me, that is no criteria to prevent to pursue and peruse the truth, as a devout Catholic.

Though we hail from the same clan, my plan in the clan towards pursuing the truth as a Catholic could be quite different to the trend of Dr. Jayawardene, who seems to have conveniently forgotten the manner, in which he was once humiliated and manhandled in Jaffna by the LTTE. I will come to Dr. Jayawardene’s view point on the State media later.

Rita Perera, of course looks a stranger to me, as a reader of the Catholic Messenger. I do not know whether she is a paid employee of that tabloid, or, is the purported spokesperson for the Bishop of Mannar, as the fact remains that the Bishop of Mannar has chosen to maintain a deafening silence on the two articles I have written on the Madhu Church, in August and September this year.

I shall first deal with the view point of Rita Perera. She claims that I had criticized the Bishop of Mannar being a Catholic, to fault with the Bishop, for not joining in the “pacans of praise” on the restoration of the Madhu Shrine, by the Security Forces, to its former glory. And, the‘Caption is under a much publicized photograph of an impressive array of Vatican and other local Catholic dignitaries, Government officials and of course, our affable, smiling President’, to repeat it in her own words.

Liberation

Let me begin with her reference to an affable smiling President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Well, the liberation of the Madhu Church is a matter for joy for any President to smile, when he meets with the highest authorities of the Catholic Headquarters in Vatican.

The President, during his audience with Pope Benedict xvi at the Vatican last year, expressed much concern over the fate of Madhu Church, which was infiltrated by the LTTE. At that discussion, the President never had a smile on his face, while stressing the need to transform the area into a Zone of Peace. It was the same look on his face, when the President held extensive discussions on the issue with the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarsico Bertone.

Subsequently, on his return, he met the Catholic Bishops’ headed by Arch Bishop Rt. Rev. Oswald Gomis, at which the Bishop of Mannar too was present, to brief them on his talks at the Vatican. Up to that moment, it was not a smiling matter for President Rajapaksa and, Perera is free to ask the Bishop of Mannar, whether the President discussed such a serious issue, like the threat that was posed on the Madhu Church, sporting a smile or otherwise.

Response

I am compelled to make this response as, Perera has only given thought and consideration to describe and define the smile of President Rajapaksa, and not of the Vatican Cardinal and others in that photograph published with many smiles of that joyous moment. It is my view, the President’s smile has been described by Rita Perera with a prejudiced mind.

As a journalist with 35 years of experience, I am of the opinion that such a view should not have been entertained in that oldest tabloid of repute in the country. Bishop Malcolm Ranjith, a much respected Catholic Bishop, too adorned a glorious smile on his face, but Perera had failed to attract that heavenly smile of the Bishop for description.

Perera in her response, then sheds tears on the internally displaced and, accuses me of not having an inkle on that desperate situation. She added that the Government’s decision to order the UN Agencies and NGOs out of the war area had deprived a source of relief to the displaced.

All decisions by any Government are discussed and arrived only at Cabinet level, in consultation with the relevant authorities. In the decision to urge the UN and other relief agencies to vacate the war areas, the Government stated, it was done to ensure the safety and security of those working at such relief institutions.

She further claims that the internally displaced are ‘now caught in a no man’s land’ for no fault of them, but for the reason they happen to be Tamils. I would like to remind Perera, that Wanni is a predominantly Tamil area, recognized by the State and the majority. Therefore, it is obvious that the people held by the LTTE or living in Wanni are Tamils. If such a situation prevailed in the East, it is the Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese who would be internally displaced, looking for relief.

She further comments that among the displaced are probably large numbers of the Bishop of Mannar’s flock. This seems to be an interesting comment. Where on earth do Bishops’ own flocks of people? The Church has only devotees and, they are not the personal property of any Priest or Bishop. The Bishop of Mannar certainly does not have an ‘Army’ of people for himself !

Humiliate

Why should Perera humiliate her most revered Bishop, for whom she appears as the ‘Defence Counsel’ to challenge the views expressed by me as a Catholic in my article? If Perera’s contention about a flock of the Bishop is correct, how could the law enforcement authorities differentiate between the LTTE ‘Army’ and the ‘Flock’ of the Bishop, as Perera herself admits, that the only link of the displaced flock of the Bishop and the LTTE is the Tamil race.

The conclusion of Rita Perera’s view is more interesting. She concludes-” Hence to expect him (the Bishop of Mannar) to join in the ‘hosannas’ to the Government for their cosmetic gesture of restoring the hallowed Shrine of Our Lady and her revered Statue to its’ rightful place, is na‹ve indeed for anyone, whether they hold a Catholic point of view or not!

Sacrosanct

Human life is more sacrosanct, surely, than the most sacred bricks and mortar!’-. I, indeed, feel it is most appropriate to respond to this view by quoting the Holy Bible. Perera seems to back the position of the Bishop of Mannar that, it was the plight of the people that was the concern of the Bishop and, no matter if the Madhu Church was razed to the ground, as the Catholic Church could build a new one.

First, I would like to refresh her memory or drag her memory back to the first Pope of the Catholic Church and the importance of Vatican. I do hope, Perera baptized with a Saint’s name, is aware that the Bishop of Rome was the legitimate successor to St. Peter, the visible Head of the Church. And, that Head known as ‘Pope’, a word that derived from the Greek word ‘Papas’, meant Father. Jesus Christ told Peter, the first Head of the Church,- “And, so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church”.

For the information and the religious education of Perera, it was that Church on the Rock which expanded to all corners of the world.

Undermine

She, by her statement that life is more sacrosanct than sacred bricks, undermines the statement of Christ, and fails to understand that the Shrine of Madhu is a holy place that followed the Church on the Rock, in the rapid belief and expansion of the word of Christ.

Rita Perera also should read the editorial in the ‘Catholic Messenger’ of September 28, 2008 titled- “Do Catholics worship Statues and Images?”- in which, the Editor of that tabloid strongly defends why Catholics do so, though Christians of ‘other’ denominations laughed at such a practice.

Churches are built by sacred bricks and statues are made of clay, for the worship of Catholics. Human beings rarely last a century. But Churches, if protected and preserved last over a century, like the Madhu Shrine for the Catholics to be proud of that sacred place of worship.

Sacred bricks

In the way Perera believes, if the sacred bricks are of no value, she could let the Madhu Shrine be razed to the ground by terrorists and build a new one , as stated by the Bishop of Mannar. But, that shall not have that historical sacred feeling and the glory of the Catholic faith.

Now, I shall divert the attention of Perera to John, Chapter 2, versus 13-16, of the New Testament titled- ‘Cleansing of the Temple’-. It reads- “Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

He found in the Temple area those who sold oxen, sheep and doves, as well as money changers seated there.

He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money -changers and overturned their tables. And to those who sold doves he said,’ Take these out of here, and stop making my Father’s house a market place’

Church

What did Jesus mean by ‘My Father’s House’? Isn’t that the Church of God that Jesus wanted to preserve and protect? Similarly, the word of Jesus Christ was followed over the years and many churches were preserved and protected, for the posterity of the devotees of the Catholic faith.

Isn’t the Madhu Church one of them, rare in this region? Should we allow it to be used or destroyed by the Satanic LTTE forces? Though the Bishop of Mannar would not mind the total destruction of the Madhu Church, will the Catholics endorse it?

And, is it right for a responsible religious dignitary in charge of that hallowed Shrine to make such a statement to the media in August (Sunday Observer), almost on the eve of the Madhu Festival? I leave it the Catholic community to determine bonafides and mala fides of all views, in the perception of the Faith and the Doctrine of Jesus Christ.

Demand

Now, let me take on the views of Dr.Jayalath Jayawardene, who, in his statement to the ‘Catholic Messenger’ has demanded the Government State Media to apologise to the Vatican, with regard to a statement, carried both in the State and Private print media, on the meeting President Mahinda Rajapaksa had with the Vatican Cardinal Francis Arinze and other Catholic dignitaries.

Dr. Jayawardene quotes the official website of the Government on September 17, 2008 which gave details of that meeting, and subsequently carried in the print media. He, then refers to a statement issued by the Apostolic Nunciature in Sri Lanka dated 20 September 2008, that contradicts the Government website statement with regard to the contents of the meeting between the President and the Vatican Cardinal.

Dr. Jayawardene then demands that the State media should tender an open apology to the Vatican for the misleading news, as described by him with no journalistic experience.

In the present day, Dr. Jayawardene has less or no recognition within his UNP. Therefore, it seems he has chosen the path of religion to gain recognition. I would like to remind the good Doctor of Medicine, that the Apostolic Nunciature in Sri Lanka waited for three long days, to issue a statement, contradicting the position of the Government website.

Would it not be advisable, if the Nunciature issued a statement on the same day about the outcome of that important meeting or, sought the Government’s concurrence to issue a joint statement?

The Nunciature went blurred for two days following the Government statement that appeared in both private and State media. Why did it fail to contradict it spontaneously? Such a delay only gave reason to suspicion to a fair thinking mind. Why should the State media apologise to the Vatican? For what reason? Why only the State media?

Ignorance

The same was carried in the Private print media. Is Dr. Jayawardene displaying ignorance or trying to vilify the State media? And, who is Dr. Jayawardene to make such a demand? Did the Catholic Church request such a proposal from Dr. Jayawardene?

To me, like the Catholic Church and the Bishop of Mannar, Dr. Jayalath Jayawardene, a devout Catholic and a regular pilgrim at the Madhu Annual Feast, is yet to hail the liberation of the Madhu Church from the grip of the LTTE terrorists.

For Dr. Jayawardene, I believe there are political reasons barring him to praise and hail the truth regarding the liberation of the Madhu Shrine, though he is a devout Catholic. I, as a devout Catholic, have only to tell Rita Perera and Dr. Jayawardene that.... Said the Lord, “Praise the Truth”.