{"id":70804,"date":"2013-01-23T10:43:42","date_gmt":"2013-01-23T10:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=70804"},"modified":"2013-02-02T11:57:23","modified_gmt":"2013-02-02T11:57:23","slug":"i-write-this-as-your-bishop-we-no-longer-appear-to-be-a-constitutional-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/i-write-this-as-your-bishop-we-no-longer-appear-to-be-a-constitutional-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"We No Longer Appear To Be A Constitutional Democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Rt. Revd\u00a0 Dhiloraj Canagasabey<\/a><\/span> –\u00a0Bishop of Colombo –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Rt. Revd Dhiloraj Canagasabey<\/p><\/div>\n

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,<\/em><\/p>\n

I write this pastoral letter to you I write this as your Bishop\u00a0<\/span>as we approach the 65th anniversary of our national independence. It is with a heavy heart that I write it, the reason\u00a0 being\u00a0 that\u00a0 in the past few days we have seen the complete collapse of the rule of\u00a0 law in our nation. We no longer appear to be a constitutional democracy.<\/span><\/p>\n

The rule of law means that we as a nation are governed by a system of\u00a0 laws\u00a0 to\u00a0 which the lawmakers themselves are subject. This is a way of ensuring that\u00a0 power\u00a0\u00a0 is not concentrated in the hands of one person (or group of persons) and\u00a0 exercised arbitrarily. The breakdown of such accountability is a process that has been building up for\u00a0 the\u00a0 past\u00a0 several years. It has now climaxed in the recent events that have seen both the Executive and\u00a0 the\u00a0 Legislature disregarding the\u00a0 provisions of the very Constitution\u00a0 which they swore to uphold\u00a0 and defend, giving the appearance of a country ruled on the principle that ”Might is Right”<\/p>\n

The numerous warnings that the Church, other religious organizations and civil society bodies\u00a0 repeatedly issued have been ignored. There is currently a climate of\u00a0 fear\u00a0 and\u00a0 helplessness, where\u00a0\u00a0 people remain silent rather than speak out against rampant injustice. intimidation, violence and falsehoods.
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We as a Christian Church cannot remain silent in this situation. Such silence will be dishonouring to our Lord\u00a0 and\u00a0 a betrayal of our identity\u00a0\u00a0 as\u00a0 His people. I wish to remind you that right from the day of Pentecost, the Church has learnt to say that ‘Jesus is Lord and not Caesar’. Often this has led to suffering and persecution. The Church must always be prepared for this eventuality.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There\u00a0 are many examples in the Bible and Christian history\u00a0 of persons who have refused to follow\u00a0 orders when they have contradicted God’s moral law. Even in the Old Testament, Kings were\u00a0 expected to rule under\u00a0 a law which they themselves did not make\u00a0 and to which they were\u00a0 accountable (Deuteronomy 18: Psalms\u00a0 72, etc.). Where rulers violated the\u00a0 law, God challenged them\u00a0 through prophetic men and women chosen and sent by him. The Church iscalled to be such a\u00a0 prophetic presence and voice in our local communities, our places of work, our schools and\u00a0 in the wider society<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 This is a time for us as a Church to take an honest look at ourselves, where we have shamelessly compromised our loyalty to God. We need to repent of ways in which we, as individuals as well as collectively, have;<\/p>\n

\u2022 been silent when we should have spoken<\/p>\n

\u2022 allowed ourselves (thoughtlessly or out of fear)\u00a0 to be used by those in authority to speak lies or commit wrong and\u00a0 unjust\u00a0 acts<\/p>\n

\u2022 consciously received benefits for ourselves through acts of injustice committed against others<\/p>\n

I, as your Bishop, call the Church to a period of lament together for the terrible state\u00a0 of\u00a0 our\u00a0 nation today, and repentance for our failing as a Church to “love mercy, to seek justice and to walk humbly with the Lord” (Micah 6:8).<\/p>\n

I,\u00a0 therefore propose that<\/strong><\/p>\n

(a) Sunday 3rd February 2013 be observed in all parishes within our Diocese as a Day of Lament. All services should\u00a0 have an extended time of silence, prayer and\u00a0 intercessions, to grieve over the state\u00a0 of our country today. Please encourage all parishioners to wear white and to fast wherever possible.<\/p>\n

(b) We\u00a0 as a diocese will congregate on\u00a0 4th\u00a0 February 2013 at 9am,\u00a0 dressed in white, for a service to continue our Time of Lament. Those who are unable to be present at the Cathedral for this service are encouraged to gather in their\u00a0 own churches at this time.<\/p>\n

c)\u00a0 I\u00a0 further propose that all parishes in our Diocese have a series of Bible studies, reflections and discussions during Lent,\u00a0 which is traditionally a period\u00a0 of self-examination and\u00a0 penitence, to reflect on what\u00a0 it means\u00a0 to live as a faithful disciple-community of Jesus\u00a0 in the context of our\u00a0 nation today.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0 thank God for the calling he has given us to be faithful to Him. When others may be controlled\u00a0 by fear\u00a0 and\u00a0 helplessness, we must remember that our Lord who was crucified and suffered death was raised to new life offering hope\u00a0 to all.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the words of St. Paul, “Therefore my brethren stand firm and immovable, and work for the Lord always; work without limit since you know that in the Lord, your labour cannot be in vain”(I\u00a0 Corinthians 15:58)<\/span><\/p>\n

With\u00a0 Prayers\u00a0 and Christian Greetings’<\/p>\n

The Rt. Revd\u00a0 Dhiloraj Canagasabey<\/p>\n

Bishop of Colombo<\/p>\n

18th\u00a0\u00a0 January 2013<\/p>\n

Read the original text here<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Read the Sinhala translation here<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":71988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8,2938],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-editorial","category-popular"],"yoast_head":"\nWe No Longer Appear To Be A Constitutional Democracy - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/i-write-this-as-your-bishop-we-no-longer-appear-to-be-a-constitutional-democracy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"We No Longer Appear To Be A Constitutional Democracy - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/i-write-this-as-your-bishop-we-no-longer-appear-to-be-a-constitutional-democracy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-23T10:43:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-02-02T11:57:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Dhiloraj-Canagasabey.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"489\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"554\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/i-write-this-as-your-bishop-we-no-longer-appear-to-be-a-constitutional-democracy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/i-write-this-as-your-bishop-we-no-longer-appear-to-be-a-constitutional-democracy\/\",\"name\":\"We No Longer Appear To Be A Constitutional Democracy - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/i-write-this-as-your-bishop-we-no-longer-appear-to-be-a-constitutional-democracy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/i-write-this-as-your-bishop-we-no-longer-appear-to-be-a-constitutional-democracy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Dhiloraj-Canagasabey.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-01-23T10:43:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-02-02T11:57:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/i-write-this-as-your-bishop-we-no-longer-appear-to-be-a-constitutional-democracy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/i-write-this-as-your-bishop-we-no-longer-appear-to-be-a-constitutional-democracy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/i-write-this-as-your-bishop-we-no-longer-appear-to-be-a-constitutional-democracy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Dhiloraj-Canagasabey.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Dhiloraj-Canagasabey.jpg\",\"width\":\"489\",\"height\":\"554\",\"caption\":\"Rt. 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