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Shed differences, victory or defeat, unite to welcome the Pope: Cardinal Ranjith
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has urged everyone to come together, devoid of Party differences and irrespective of whoever emerges victorious at the January 8 Presidential election, to welcome the Holy Father next month.
At a news conference last week, the Cardinal said, “Just moments prior to the Papal address following the Holy Father’s appointment to office, I invited him to visit Sri Lanka. This he accepted. It is only after he accepted this invitation that the polls were called.”
He added, “We must prepare to welcome the Holy Father at a time like this, especially, as he chose to visit our small island.
“The winner and the loser must both come together to welcome the Holy Father”, the Cardinal said.
While addressing the question as to whether the Catholic Church of Sri Lanka is geared to face a possible security threat to the Papal visit, in the aftermath of the Presidential polls, the Cardinal added that, if the prevailing circumstances present a violent environment, just prior to the papal visit, then the Catholic Church will take the ‘necessary steps’.
He said, “If there is a possible threat of violence or, if the existing circumstances at the time, point to a violent environment for the Papal visit, then we will have to take the necessary steps.”
Commenting on the possible threat of violence, following the number of incidents reported in the past few weeks alone, the Cardinal added that faith has to be placed on human goodness at a time like this.
“We have to believe in human goodness, whatever the passions are; these passions will be aroused always. But it is the human goodness that should rise above that, especially in the aftermath of the election. So we expect the candidates to behave like civilised human beings, both before and after the election,” the Cardinal said.
Meanwhile, the Cardinal told the Sunday Times that incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa had assured the Church that if he faces defeat at the polls, he will leave office and not wait a minute longer.
“I cannot be a prophet and predict whether the Pope will visit or not. But both candidates met with us and assured us that they will not leave room for any violence,” the cardinal added.
The cardinal also stated that it was not easy to organise a Papal visit to a country, and because of that reason, the Church can’t ask the Holy Father not to come.
“The assurance of the Holy Father’s visit was given to us long before a date was set for the elections. Because of that, we went on to organise the visit. After having asked the Holy Father to come and then asking him not to come is not appropriate. Therefore, we have tried to control the situation as much as possible by talking to the two candidates,” his eminence said.
Saying that all religious leaders have to beat themselves for not being able to give Sri Lankans a sense of civilised behaviour, the Cardinal said, “Even the leaders have to act like gentlemen. If they are defeated, they have to accept defeat. We believe our people can rise up to this challenge.”
Meanwhile, preparations for the Papal visit are in the process of being finalised, Rev Fr Priyantha Silva, the priest in charge of preparations told the Sunday Times.
“The stage at Galle Face Green, where the Holy Father will conduct Holy Mass on January 13, will be completed soon. We are also in the process of finalising the security plans for the Papal visit,” he said.
A senior police officer said, “The people are highly encouraged to use public transport during the visit. The police will also open a ‘Special Operations Room’ where the public will be able to make their general inquiries regarding security plans and so on.”