Cardinal (Malcolm)Ranjith is not Cardinal (Jamie) Sin
By IM Innocent VIII
“In the Philippines it was a Cardinal Jamie Sin who stood up to the evil dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Which member of the Catholic clergy, priest, bishop or Cardinal denounced the evil Prabakaran? Dixit the Indian envoy made it clear that the Catholic Church supported the LTTE (‘Assignment Colombo’ p 228). Was there a denial? By the church, a bishop or a cardinal?”
It is a privilege for SL for one of its own to become a Cardinal of the mighty Catholic Church even if he goes to the LLRC after the Bishop of Colombo (representing the much smaller Anglican Church) does so. No one should question his reasons for making a late entry. The important thing is engagement in national affairs.
Cardinal Ranjith made submissions to the LLRC in a round about way on November fourth as reported on November 5th Guy Fawkes Day. But this wasn’t even a damp squib and the LLRC is still batting. Yet many thought these were confessions and took umbrage as reported in the press. The ambiguity must be dispelled. No one must be misled. This isn’t about‘white flag’ surrender either. But wasn’t there an ‘if’ and ‘but’ threat or was it a hope of another ‘round’?
Cardinal Ranjith said that there must be ‘trust between communities as it is essential to banish suspicion. There must be an attempt to prevent distrust and hate based on religion and race. Christians value honesty and co existence. The oppressed feelings of the Tamil community led to forces seeking the creation of a separate state. This was a gradual development and not spontaneous. There must be religious solace in distress and children should be given grounding in religion and culture as necessary’. He also said ‘any solution should give pride of place to peace and co existence based on mutual respect and understanding based on religious teaching. Children should be taught 3 languages and it ‘should be compulsory for university education too’. He continued that the ‘Sinhalese did not know Tamil or English at all. The Catholic Church always stood to create unity amongst Sinhalese and Tamils. But it is vital that mutual suspicion is banished. The church never ‘approved rebellion’ or the LTTE bid to divide the country. At no time should anyone extend support to terrorism or attempt to divide country. Solutions should be based on ethnic harmony. Development process should be aimed at integrating without dividing people on religious or ethnic basis’ and ‘to foster national unity and a united country. Religious unity is a good move. People should work together. Religious leaders and institutions should be free of politicisation’.
What exactly was the Cardinal trying to convey? That the Catholic Church stands accused or is suspected of attempting to cause dissension in and disintegration of the county, supporting rebellion, terrorism and the division of the country? Surely not? Who was not aware of everything the Cardinal actually said, which is what should matter. Was he then preaching to the nation or the LLRC or asking them for advice? A lot of unanswered questions surely. What should the people do forgive but not forget?
Going slightly off course the Cardinal also threw in the ‘Betting Special Provision ‘bill saying it ‘encourages gambling’. Well done. The people liked that. The church however took a big gamble when its priests in the North supported the LTTE. Yes it must never encourage gambling which is ruinous as it is addictive.
Cardinal Ranjith went head first into the guileless, potent if not the other under prepared agenda of the church by tossing in the need for ‘traditional’ lands to be restored to the Tamils. That was a dead duck from the start. Messrs SL Gunesekara, Nanda Godage and Tissa Devendra have since read out the last will and testament of the bereaved which clearly states that all land in SL traditionally and by law belongs to all the people of this country. As if the good Cardinal, without a brief, did not know.
Did the Cardinal not go to the LLRC because the respected Bishop of Colombo Duleep de Chickera batted first to ‘straighten’ things out? But then the Anglican Church does not have to go around saying that they were throughout against all the things that the Cardinal says the Catholic Church is against now only after the death of Prabakaran and 30 years of bloody terror. The Anglican Church unwaveringly and unequivocally stood for the unity of the state and for the Armed Forces against the LTTE terror and supported all the affected through out. Today in the North and East the people are flocking to its doors and many of them are not Christians. The perception may be that the Catholic Church sadly appeared to have supported Hitler, sorry Prabakaran up to the fall of the Fourth Reich, sorry Eelam.
Was the Cardinal trying to put the clock back? Has the nation forgotten how the church never openly condemned the LTTE who were world most bestial terrorists? Did the Catholic Church ever condemn child recruitment which is a war crime? Its priests attended LTTE rallies in battalion strength. Priests of Mannar and Jaffna were always suspect of collaboration. Is that why he wants suspicion to be banished?
Why in favour of reconciliation does he not speak a word about the Muslims who suffered just as horribly as the others and were uprooted from their homes? Surely the Cardinal is not going to justify what the LTTE did or ignore what happened to the Muslims pretending like it did, the atrocities of the Nazis during WW2 ?
Who is against religious harmony? Why does the Cardinal have to stress that the Tamils and Sinhalese should be united as though the wheel was never invented? What about the Muslims? What was he trying to hide? Why did he leave out child recruitment then and now? What are the ghosts he is trying to lock in? The suspicion he now wants banished was instead sown widely and wildly by the church during the conflict. Has it been confirmed by his submissions/confessions? The harvest cannot be reaped by others.
Why can’t he speak frankly about Buddhism which was the obvious hidden agenda and the urge to come before the LLRC? Is his church trying to fool all the people all the time? Is this harmonious?
LTTE and Hitler Jugend child recruitment a war crime
The Cardinal has not commented on LTTE child recruitment that grew exponentially in the North and East, free from even a token objection by the church from the 1990s to date. True he may have seen that there was a possible explosive connection to Pope Benedict XVI, the former Joseph Ratzinger of Bavaria. Unfortunately for the Germans, Bavarians preferred drinking beer to war fighting unlike the Prussians. There were obvious consequences when they went into battle. Yet young Joseph the future Pope was an Anti Aircraft gunner and infantry soldier of the feared, fanatic and ferocious Hitler Jugend or Hitler Youth from 1943 to 1945 that gave snappy Hitler salutes and sang nasty Nazi hymns. He survived by surrendering to the advancing Americans and became a prisoner of war for a while.
On graduation the Jugend served in the equally feared 12 SS Waffen SS Panzer Divisions whose members were tried for a host of war crimes and whose Commander later was Meyer a mere 33 year old fanatic. Those boys were normally between 16 & 18 years of age, some were as young as 12. The similarities with the LTTE were striking. Wasn’t Prabakaran like Hitler and the child brigades as fanatical and loathsome as the Hitler Jugend? It is said in mitigation that people were forced to join both groups. The brave did not but did Joseph at least protest? Never. But once they joined they behaved like devils.
If the Cardinal makes no mention of the LTTE baby brigades, it is to be expected but it is not acceptable. Not if he wants to talk about reconciliation. What has he got to say to the parents of the dead of the Baby Brigades and the little girl suicide bombers who had a last dinner with VP? Anything? Did his priests call them ‘our boys’ and ‘girls’ and then bid them good night after dinner? Are the parents consolable? How will learning a second or third language help the children who survived?
What about Bishop Oswald Gomis’ support for Golden Key and ‘LTTE are freedom fighters’ Kotelawela at the elections of 2005? Was this not a priest dabbling in politics? The turn about came only when the election results were out just like this confession 1.5 years after the conflict ended.
Or will all this be denied; like Father Fredrico Lombardi the Vatican spokesman did when the questioned about young Joseph R being in the Hitler Youth saying “The Pope was never in the Hitler Jugend, never, never, never”.
Is the world not aware that the Catholic Church has been accused of child abuse of thousands if not millions of children globally? Why has the Vatican debarred the abused protest marchers while in SL Cardinal Ranjith is promoting reconciliation?
The Catholic Church has given tacit support to the excesses of the most evil and horrible dictators from Hitler, Mussolini, Spain’s Franco, Argentina’s Galtieri and Chile’s Pinochet. While talking of religious amity the Cardinal may remember how Vietnam in the 1970s was sundered by the Catholic Church brutally supported by the USA and the terrible cost of that alliance? Is there a now a confession about SL? It appeared that the same two forces (CC and USA) were in tandem here too? Like in South Korea.
Why should the Cardinal protect any particular race from anything? Did the Catholic Church protest the genocide of the Jews in their millions during WW2? Did the church do anything to dissuade the LTTE from their endeavour of decimating the Sinhalese if not the Buddhists?
In the Philippines it was a Cardinal Jamie Sin who stood up to the evil dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Which member of the Catholic clergy, priest, bishop or Cardinal denounced the evil Prabakaran? Dixit the Indian envoy made it clear that the Catholic Church supported the LTTE (‘Assignment Colombo’ p 228). Was there a denial? By the church, a bishop or a cardinal?
Of course back handed confessions to the LLRC are better than nothing. The Catholic Church is in need of reconciliation and healing within its own dark confines as a first step to making itself relevant and credible in SL now, where the majority of the lay Catholics supported the state steadfastly. Will Cardinal Ranjith let us know his stand if not the Pope’s on the church’s support for the LTTE, abuse of children, abortions, child soldiers, untaxed wealth and myriads matters that must not be swept under the carpet if reconciliation is an aim. Let him explain not submit or confess. Otherwise it will be a Cardinal Jumbo Sin.