19 October 2019 12:00 am Views - 499
A regular writer to the press, my church friend Ilika Malkanthi de Silva Karunaratne, has gone on record in a recent article on the subject of religious leaders and their involvement in affairs of the nation. She argues that it would be better if these leaders spend their time on matters pertaining to their faith community.
I must gently disagree with this proposition. In support of my stance, I point to the examples of two of our Bishops, one from Kurunegala and the other from Colombo, both of whom I have worked with very closely.
From the time I entered Peradeniya University until his untimely and sad death, Bishop Lakshman Wickremasinghe of Kurunegala balanced his work as the Chaplain at Peradeniya and later the Bishop of Kurunegala, with his concern for affairs of the nation.
He encouraged others in the same manner. When our Chaplain was on leave in a Kurunegala Parish learning Sinhala, I was elected uncontested as the Vice President of Mars Hall, as a member of Peradeniya’s LSSP. Fr. Lakshman sent a letter congratulating me and saying he was glad that while not neglecting my studies and other interests at Peradeniya, I was also involved in student politics.
In this brief piece, I hope I have satisfactorily responded to Ilika and others who think like her, that religious leaders must not involve themselves in national affairs. The key, as I have pointed out, is to maintain a balance between involvement in these two institutions
When he moved from Peradeniya to Kurunegala, he maintained his balance between his pastoral care and interest in the nation. He carried out the latter while keeping in touch with two MPs, both Christians and from the same party, to prayerfully influence their lives as politicians.
In his final charge at the council in Kurunegala, he stated: “I am one of those who, along with others, tried to solve our national problem and failed.” This charge I have always referred to as the ‘Bishop Lakshman Wickremasinghe Manifesto.’
The other person I would like to cite as an example is Bishop Duleep de Chickera of Colombo. I first met him when he was a student at our National Ecumenical Theological Seminary at Pilimathalawa and I was on the Visiting Staff. From Pilimathalawa, Duleep de Chickera moved to the School by the Sea at Mt.Lavinia.
At Mt.Lavinia, under God, he touched the lives of many students who are now members of the Sacred Ordained Ministry of our church. He also touched the lives of other students who entered other vocations in our country, including politics. From Mt.Lavinia, he moved to Polwatte and other parishes where he continued to uphold the balance between church and State.
Finally, he became our Bishop. It was during this period that I got to know him very well. Every year we used to visit Jaffnawith others from Colombo. In Jaffna, while doing his pastoral visits, he visited several others from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds with the help of our clergy. These visits helped him to understand the thinking of our Jaffna-based clergy and laity so that he, in his own way, could influence the State of our nation.
All his interventions as regards the affairs of the church and the nation are recorded in his book titled ‘Water is for all’ which was released in June this year.
In this brief piece, I hope I have satisfactorily responded to Ilika and others who think like her, that religious leaders must not involve themselves in national affairs. The key, as I have pointed out, is to maintain a balance between involvement in these two institutions.
Sydney Knight