by Charles.S.Perera

The Catholic Church ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ never stood for patriotism in any country? It is only a papal presence, bereft of attachment to the country where the Church is located.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Above allƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the Catholic Church is not a progressive institution.

On the 24 October, 2010 Young Asia Television interviewed Ms.Sanja Sarnavka of B.a.B.e, Human Rights House, Croatia, who was a representative from Croatia to the International WomenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Rights Activists Asia Pacific and Women and Media CollectiveƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Conference held in Colombo.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  She said that for 40 years the Catholic ChurchƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  had been kept away by the Communist Regimes in a country which isƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  about 90 percent Catholic. But she said the Catholic Church is active onceƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  again,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  and that it is already too much.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  In Croatia the Catholic Church even looks down upon women taking to politics and the Catholic Priests goƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  toƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the Church to tell the people to whom they should vote.

We had the same scenarioƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  enacted by the Catholic Action in the 1950s, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and now with Malcolm Ranjith back on the scene with the cassockƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  of a Cardinal things seem to be getting worse than it was with Catholic Action.

The Catholic Church had always looked after its own ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ interest from the very early days.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The Popes waged wars to impose its ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-holyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ rule. These wars were called ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-holy warsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ in which thousands of non believers were killed.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

It did not matterƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  to the Popes how many are killed or who were killed as long as they continued with their Crusades,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- In a.d. 622, Catholics fought and were defeated in a crusade against the Persians and the Jews. Some 60,000 Catholics were killed and 35,000 enslaved. The fall of Jerusalem left the Catholic world shocked and mourning.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The Crusades were a series of Roman Catholic ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-holyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ wars to wrest control of the Holy Land from Muslims. They produced some of the bloodiest battles in history. Did you ever wonder how the Catholics reconcile that ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-holyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ slaughter with the Bible, which states, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Thou shalt not killƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚? Or how they can read the Sermon on the Mount and still lead the religious world in spilling rivers of blood?

They are called the Christian Crusades. That label itself is a deception. They were primarily Catholic crusades. Other Christian religions have their problems, but letƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s not blame them for what the Catholics didƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬‚and will do. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

The Catholic Church will not change. During the World War II the roleƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  of the Catholic Church was extremely hypocritical.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It never spoke against the holocaust, but kept silent to safeguard the Church from HitlerƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s wrath.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Pope Pius XII’s (1876-1958) actions during the Holocaust remain controversial. For much of the war, he maintained a public front of indifference and remained silent while German atrocities were committed. He refused pleas for help on the grounds of neutrality, while making statements condemning injustices in general. Privately, he sheltered a small number of Jews and spoke to a few select officials, encouraging them to help the JewsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.

Some Popes even lead armies to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- righteousƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ wars:ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Pope Urban II unleashed a savage Catholic army and started these later Crusades. This ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-righteousƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ army marched 3,000 miles to conquer the Holy Land.

Here is an excerpt from the book Crusades, by Terry Jones and Alan Ereira, which became a bbc television series: ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-By summoning an army under the banner of the cross, the pope was extending the churchƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s mantle over all Christendom. This was the idea at the very heart of the revolutionary papacy; in place of separate local churches at the center of discrete communities, there was to be one overarching church, ruled by one overarching pope.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

It is here that the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon should appoint a Panel to investigate the killing of perhapsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  millionsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  of innocent people inƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-holy CrusadesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ of the Catholic Popes for no other reason than not believing in their God.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

For the Cardinal Malcolm R,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Prabhakaran was the thalaivar -the Sun God, who killed the innocents in his ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- holy warƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  to capture his ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- holy landƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ from the Government of Sri Lanka to establish hisƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  homeland. The God is faceless, he can appear any where in any form, perhaps for the Catholic ChurchƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  in Sri Lanka terrorist Prabhakaran was the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-faceless GodƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Otherwise we cannot understand the Sri Lanka Catholic ChurchƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s pre-occupation with the terrorists.

There is nothing surprising inƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  Bishop Malcolm Ranjith receivingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-holy ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ensignƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-CardinalƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  That is his armour to carry his Crusade against the Government of Sri Lanka, to fulfil the terrorist Velupillai PrabhakaranƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢sƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  unfulfilled dream ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ of setting up the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Tamil HomelandƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ was ably supported by his ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-SoldiersƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ Shamil Perera, Father G.Sigamany, in the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-CrusadeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ of presenting their case onƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the grievances of minorities to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

All they said about the changes necessary for the National Reconciliation had been carefully studied to keep ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the North and East an ethnically pure Tamil territory, and all impediments for a future rising of Tamil terrorism be removed.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The Catholic Church and its God have no love to the people or the country, but they have the love for their Church with which they have the privileges that noneƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  has in Sri Lanka , including even the Buddhists Monks.

With those privileges Cardinal Malcom Ranjith, begins his Holy war with the blessings of the Pope Benedict XVI.

Sri Lanka has had experience of these Crusades of the Church in late 1950s the Catholic Action was very active not providing ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ spiritual guidance to the people, but to stabilise and strengthen the influence of the Catholic Church in the country by demanding the congregation at Church services to vote for the political party of its choice which was of course the UNP a Political party as reactrionary as the Catholic Church..ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

The Catholic Church in Kotahena was the Centre for Catholic action. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It was said then that any problem regardingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  an administrative or judicial matter could be solved by merelyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  addressing a note to Holy Mother MaryƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  giving the details of the problem with oneƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s personal details and put it into ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the box provided for the purpose, and miraculously, it seems ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the problems were solved within days or weeks.

The Church, the father mother son and the holy ghost, theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  confessions, andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  prayers were all a means to strengthen the voice of the Church, to control, make or unmake governments.

The Catholic action were very activeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  not only within the Catholic Churches but out side in Government Departments and in the public sector.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-The Press Commission Report (1964) of Mr. Justice K.D. de Silva, makes glaring references to the work of Catholic Action in the media and its control of leading newspapers in the country. The BJB presented invaluable evidence to the Press Commission on Catholic Action. Catholic Action was behind the failed Catholic Army Officers Coup in 1962 to overthrow the legitimately elected government of Mrs. Bandaranayaka.

The Catholic Action worked in a subtle way without attracting attention of the public.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  It was thanks to late Mr.H.L.Mettananda and the Bauddha Janatha Balavegaya that the Catholic Action was exposed.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-A significant development during the 1960’s was the emergence of the outspoken Mr. L.H. Mettananda and his Bauddha Jatika Balavagaya ( BJB ) which was instrumental in exposing the work of Catholic Action and its control over Sri Lanka’s mass media. The seeds for the current Buddhist Revival campaign were laid by Mr. Mettananda who played a singular role in writing the Buddhist Commission Report in 1956. This report had strong impact on political developments in the country at that time. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-

Unfortunately the Catholic Church has this time come out publicly in its crusade to divide the country and the people as, the President Mahinda Rajapakse gave in too much of leeway for the Catholic Church to interfere into the affairs of the country.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Catholic Action which remained dormant until 1977 raised its head again, and has been a key player in the moves to create religious and communal tension in Sri Lanka by playing one community against the other (against the so – called ‘ majoritarianism ‘ of the Sinhala Buddhists). Most Sinhala Buddhists are aware that the Marga Institute, National Peace Council, Centre for Policy Alternatives, Caritas, Opus Dei, are all leading Christian NGOs working under the direction of Catholic Action.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

Catholic Church did not only get involved in reactionary politics in Sri Lanka but Pope John Paul II also issued strictures against Buddhism.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-But Pope John Paul II threw water on that fire in 1994ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Crossing the Threshold of Hope with comments regarding Buddhism that received a good amount of press at the time (and also a lot of debate). In his comments, our late pontiff really didnƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t pull any punches, calling Buddhism ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-in large measure an ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”atheisticƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ systemƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ He pulled the carpet out from under comparisons to Catholicism by pointing out that the ultimate end of man for Christians is union with God, while for Buddhists it is Nirvana (complete detachment, or a state of nothingness).ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ (http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/20722/)

In Crossing the Threshold of Hope, Pope John Paul asserts that “the ‘enlightenment’ experienced by the Buddha comes down to the conviction that the world is bad, that it is the source of evil and suffering for man” (p.85). No doubt the fact that the book consistently encloses the word “enlightenment” in quotation marks already suggests that the Pope’s attitude to Buddhism is not an appreciative one. This suggestion is confirmed by his manner of characterizing the content of the enlightenment, which reduces the Buddha’s great awakening beneath the Bodhi tree to a caricature. (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/bps-essay_30.html)

The Catholic Clergy , who are intelligent people, know of the non-existence of a God, but they have to keep up the lie to perpetuate the kingdom of the God, as the believers have been ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ duped to accept it. The people who have blindly adhered to it, making use of their blind attachment to its faith for various reasons political power, financial welfare and social recognition and so forth , uses that spiritual identity to maintain a privileged position in the Christian societies the world over.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-These apparent similarities led to heightened Catholic interest in Buddhism with the rise of the New Age movement in the 1980ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s and 1990ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s. Some imagined that Buddhism had many new insights to offer to Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular due to their supposed compatibilities.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Interestingly, some critics of the PopeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s remarks stated with vigor that Buddhism is not ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-atheisticƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. Counter attacks varied. One Buddhist commented in rebuttal that followers of Buddha believe that he was the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-teacher of gods and menƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, and that some Buddhists believe in multiple deities or spirits that look after the affairs of both men and nature. Others pointed out that certain teachings of Buddha specifically point to an uncreated being without which nothing would be in existence.

Please note that though these arguments object to the PopeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s characterization of Buddhism, they in fact do nothing to bring it closer to CatholicismƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.

(http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/20722/)

This is the Background of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka who pretends to work for the poor but in fact feathering it own nest so to say.

Some say ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-the good Cardinal has his own reasons for the statements he madeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  We are sure he has some reason , we only hope they arenƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t sinisterƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚¦.

What canƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  the Cardinal if he is a real patriot of Sri Lanka, besides his Crusade for the holy Church, could do for the progress and development of our mother land ?