“Bishop Duleep de Chickera should have also known while the Church of England is a constituent part of the Church of South India, his church in Sri Lanka is not in union with the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India. The reason for this is that while the Church of England in India unlike in other countries became truly an intrinsic part of India’s cultural traditions and was nurtured and nourished in that ethos to such an extent, the good elements of the diverse spiritual and philosophical ideas and thoughts intermingled as strengthening forces in the country. Furthermore, the Church of South India has over four million communicant members across several ethnic groups that act as one of the primary bonding forces in India.”
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by Victor Karunairajan
(July 23, Toronto, Sri Lanka Guardian) Nowhere in his sermon was any reference or recognition of Christian identity giving the impression, no doubt, that it is the Anglican identity that is primary to Christian discipleship.
The Rt Rev Duleep de Chicekra, the Bishop of Colombo delivering the sermon at the opening Eucharist of the Fourteenth Decennial Lambeth Conference of the worldwide Anglican Communion being held currently in Canterbury, England called for the strengthening of the Anglican identity to enable the bishops of the communion to be the leaders in God’s mission.
Nowhere in his sermon was any reference or recognition of Christian identity giving the impression, no doubt, that it is the Anglican identity that is primary to Christian discipleship. At the beginning of the sermon he suggested to the congregation of over 750 bishops and their spouses that they pause in their worship to express thanks and gratitude to God for those responsible for shaping the Anglican identity, an identity that was also raised and fostered on colonial outrages committed in various parts of the world.
He should have also known while the Church of England is a constituent part of the Church of South India, his church in Sri Lanka is not in union with the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India. The reason for this is that while the Church of England in India unlike in other countries became truly an intrinsic part of India’s cultural traditions and was nurtured and nourished in that ethos to such an extent, the good elements of the diverse spiritual and philosophical ideas and thoughts intermingled as strengthening forces in the country. Furthermore, the Church of South India has over four million communicant members across several ethnic groups that act as one of the primary bonding forces in India.
No such thing happened in Sri Lanka and the Anglican Church developed within an urban elitist frame and remained there steadfast with one may say with some justification, the customary English Tea and garden parties. So there is justification in Bishop Duleep de Chickera stressing on the Anglican identity at the opening service of the Lambeth Conference 2008 for that is what seems to be the objective of the Anglican Church in Sri Lanka and to preserve the British colonial traditions even after six decades of independence.
While there are the Methodists, the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India which has parishes in the Southern, Western, Central, Uva and Eastern Provinces, the Dutch Reformed Church, the Ceylon Pentecostal Church and other missions, instead of calling all Christians of the country including the Roman Catholic Church, he called upon the Anglican Communion to give voice to the voiceless whether they are in Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Afghanistan or Iraq.
How has Bishop de Chickera’s church performed in this respect at least in Sri Lanka? Except for a pompous statement he made recently about the need for a solution to the ethnic crisis, the Anglican, Church has remained largely aloof. The only exception was, some years ago the determined interests the late Bishop of Kurunegala, Rt Rev Lakshman Wickremasinghe took to bring some sense into the communal problems in the country.
Unfortunately Bishop de Chickera has a black mark, a scar that will remain for a long time in respect of his church. In 1983 when the near-genocidal communal riots broke out, he was the Deputy Warden of Mount Lavinia’s famed Church of England St Thomas’ College. When Tamil families in the neighbourhood pursued by murderous gangs sought refuge in the school, he was said to have had the gates shut on them.
On the contrary, St Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya and Saraswathy Vidyalaya, Wellawatte entertained thousands of refugees even though their facilities were extremely limited. Many of the people who sought refuge at St Thomas’ would have had their children as students there.
This one action remains a good example for Jesus to relate the Parable of the Good Samaritan. In this sermon he also referred to Christ Church in Jaffna where he said they would keep the scars on the walls to remain when the renovations are done. What we should seek is not only a resolution but also the scars to be wiped out and the community to move forward. This is the kind of vision we have to pursue and it was unfortunate Bishop de Chickera made a point about keeping the scars in his Lambeth sermon.
Concluding his sermon, Bishop de Chickera quoted Archbishop William Temple when he said that the church is the one institution that does not live for itself. Whether he was right or wrong in making such a claim even though they were the words Archbishop Temple ignoring other living faiths, yet he called this the crux of the Anglican identity and herein the Anglican spirituality. His spiritual scenario is quite limited and seems impervious to other faiths. He has a great deal of reading and research to do especially in respect of India and its age-old spiritual and cultural traditions.
His sermon depicted a man caught within the trap of Anglicanism and cannot appreciate the role of other churches and even of other faiths serving as disciples of God. His church in Sri Lanka cannot even have union with the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India when the Church of England in India is part of the Church of South India. Which means even here, they are unable to seek a unity with a church with which they have full communion.
All in all, it adds up to the truism that the sermon of Bishop de Chickera marked the personal integrity that he lacks, especially when he waxed so much about unity in diversity. Ironically, not many weeks ago, the Bishop in Jaffna, the Rt Rev Dr Daniel Thiagarajah in an open and courageous interview given to the Sri Lanka Guardian called for a resolution to Sri Lanka’s ethnic crisis based on the ideal of unity in diversity.
In a feature that appeared in the Sri Lanka Guardian Andrew Samarasinghe of Mount Lavinia said:
“Bishop Daniel Thiagarajah of the Jaffna Diocese of the Church of South India (JDCSI), in an interview published in the Sri Lanka Guardian has advocated unity in diversity as essential for peace in Sri Lanka. His views affecting his church have been frank and forthright but it was on the question of the ethnic crisis that has plagued Sri Lanka so long, he has come out strongly as a worthy leader not only of his own community but the entire nation too.
“JDCSI is not a relic of the colonial empire. It is evidently a church free from political pollution of the bigoted kind but one that grew on the cultural soil natural to us in India and Sri Lanka and has been enriched by traditions and customs that are precious to us.
“This has been reflected in what Bishop Daniel Thiagarajah considers as important for our country. He advocates that we accept the diversities of our culture and forge a united nation out of them. It is sad that this forceful idea has escaped the visions and attentions of other churches in Sri Lanka. The Church of England with its global Anglican Union could have been a good force to advocate the philosophy of unity in diversity something the late adorable Bishop Lakshman Wickremasinghe held dear during his lifetime.
“Cast in the racial and religious extremities that has taken a tight grip on Sri Lanka and the virtual collapse of the rule of law, it was very courageous of Bishop Daniel Thiagarajah to call for unity in diversity and recognize every citizen as equal to the other in respect of their rights that are fundamental to this ideal.”
The Fourteenth Lambeth Conference is taking place in the midst of deep-seated controversies with the worldwide Anglican Communion under a threat of a major split. A dissident group that claims to represent almost a half of the 77 million Anglicans have called for the creation of a new structure within the church that would permit them to practice their faith as they choose and not holden to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. They had a weeklong conference recently in Jerusalem at which 1,148 embittered Anglicans participated. They have made proposals to set up a Council of Primates to promote conservative views on doctrine.
When the first Lambeth Conference was called in 1867, many Anglican bishops including the Archbishop of York, refused to attend it doubting the wisdom of such an assembly. Even the Dean of the Westminster Abbey refused to allow the closing service to be held there and his grounds were his conviction that the assembly had a partial character.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Rowan Williams who recently visited Sri Lanka in his welcome address to the Lambeth delegates said: “Our communion is living through very difficult times and we are bound to be aware of the divisions and conflicts that have hurt us all in recent years. But as the Lord says (John 16:33), it is in union with him that we shall find peace.”
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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