Is Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith Worthy Of His Cassock? Unhinging Of A Religious Leader

“It is possible that mankind is on the threshold of a golden age; but, if so, it will be necessary first to slay the dragon that guards the door, and this dragon is religion.” ~ Bertrand Russell

Cartoon by Shanika Somatilake

APRIL 13, 2021

It took only one sermon for Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the presumed leader of the Roman Catholic fraternity in Sri Lanka, to let loose his anger. In his uncontrolled anger, instead of laying emphasis on berating the very perpetrators of the said crime, Malcolm Ranjith chose to go after former President Maithripala Sirisena. Having been privy to the contents of the Presidential Commission Report on the horrendous atrocities committed by a yet-unknown group of criminals who unleashed unspeakable mayhem on a variety of selected locations on Easter Sunday, 2019, the Cardinal opted to become the judge, the jury and the executioner of a different player. A totally corrupt field of social dynamics, politics, has now been further desecrated by the Roman Catholic Church of Ceylon. What was once dominated by the Buddhist clergy, to a very indiscriminate degree, Sri Lanka’s politics has been cruelly and unexpectedly invaded by another religious denomination that has been hitherto dominated by the Buddhist order of clergy. It is indeed an unfortunate occurrence.

One can understand, even sympathize, if the Reverend Cardinal constrained himself to the known facts and the real culprits in this regard. He had no business talking so disparagingly of the former President. Scoring some cheap political points is very unbecoming of an officer of the Order, not to forget that he is the leader of that Order. Shame on you Malcolm Ranjit!

In this context, it is noteworthy that this writer has been extremely critical and even mercilessly candid when some Buddhist Monks including the notorious Galagoda Atte Gnanasara were parading the streets with hackneyed political slogans during the previous Rajapaksa regime. Religion, especially organized religion, has been the curse of this country, second only to the unbeatable politicians. Their indulgences have far exceeded their expected moral and ethical standards; the comforts they seek, luxuries they enjoy and patronage they pursue are not the ones that a parent would ask his or her child to follow. The Catholic Church has been spared of this indignity thanks mainly to some exemplary lives led by some of the predecessors of Malcolm Ranjit. But what one has to understand is that all these Monks and Priests, Pusaris and Imams, the clerical order of all religions, are ordinary human beings. Beneath their robes, cassocks, turbans and other paraphernalia live some of the most corrupt and corrupting human beings.                  

The power and attention that is attached to their positions and status so ordained by each religion grant them, so they assume, some irrevocable license to chase their own indulgences. However, unlike other religions, the Catholic Church is one religious order that maintains a rigid and quite an inflexible hierarchical order leading all the way up to the Vatican and its Vicar, the Pope. It is not my aim to make a comparative study of all religious orders, but suffice it to state that this rigidity and inflexibility in the Catholic order has had its advantages as well as some terrible disadvantages. Any softening of discipline on the part of the priests can be traced to the origins of the order and at no cost can the leader of that order be absolved.

If what Galagoda Atte Gnanasara did was wrong, so was what Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith did on Easter Sunday, 2021. While not retracting one word of criticism hurled at Gnanasara, the writer hastens to mention that what the Cardinal opted to do on Sunday, April 11, 2021 is inexcusable. He could have easily delivered his sermon, blaming those who planned, plotted and executed the attacks on his churches. Going after former President Sirisena was uncalled for. He has forgotten that there is another order in the country to punish Sirisena if in fact he was guilty of any crime connected with Easter attacks in 2021. That order is our judiciary. It is the hope and expectation of each and every citizen of Sri Lanka that an appropriate legal and judicial action would follow provided the findings of the Presidential Commission are found to be agreeable and worthy of further scrutiny. It is certainly not up to Malcolm Ranjit, whether he is the Cardinal resident in Sri Lanka or the very Pope pontificating from within the Vatican.

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