Catholic bishops in Asia have expressed concern over reports Muslims have been targeted in Sri Lanka in the wake of the Easter Sunday attacks.
Agenzia Fides reports that Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Bishop of Yangon in Myanmar and president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, said the church was “seriously concerned about news of revenge and retaliation against Muslim citizens, refugees and asylum seekers in Sri Lanka”.
“Many have fled from the persecution on their lands and are now being targeted,” he said in the statement. “Nearly 900 cases were reported at risk of retaliation, 150 people were forced to seek shelter in police stations. Terrorism aims to fuel hatred and sow discord, while the enemies of terrorism are love and brotherhood, peace and harmony. Is there a difference between us and terrorists if we target innocent people only out of hatred for diversity?”
Cardinal Bo “uneqivocally” condemned the Easter Sunday attacks.
“Many were targeted while celebrating the most propitious and joyful moments of the Christian calendar: the victory of life over death in the Resurrection of Christ. Unfortunately, those who try to promote discord and hate were at work on that day when we lost so many precious lives, sowing death and destroying life”.
He pointed out that Christians and Muslims in Sri Lanka are both minorities which have suffered discrimination, intolerance and persecution in the past.
“Turning against each other would only make the situation worse. Solidarity must prevail. The actions of a small group, which represents an extremist interpretation of a religion, should not be used to judge the entire community of adherents of that faith.”
He said that it was for this reason that the Asian Bishops asked religious leaders “to promote a sense of solidarity and to rebuild trust among the communities”, and the Sri Lankan authorities “to act to stop incitement to hatred and to protect the most vulnerable. Ignoring this problem will only stimulate resentment, which is exactly the goal of ISIS”.
Meanwhile, Dhiloraj Canagasabey, the Anglican Bishop of Colombo, said in a statement last week that Christians “cannot and must not act on the basis of ‘an eye for an eye, or a tooth for a tooth’ but we will follow the Master’s example and cry the same cry He cried on the cross with so much of sadness and heaviness of heart saying – ‘Father, Forgive them for they do not know what they do’.”
“We need to commit ourselves to build bridges of trust and confidence with each other,” he wrote. “Out of the debris of this chaotic situation something beautiful, something fragrant, something positive needs to emerge.”
He also called on all citizens and Christians in particular to “embrace the Muslim community who have lived in this country for many hundreds of years in peaceful co-existence”.
“They must be treated with love and understanding and not be held responsible for the acts of a small number of depraved fanatics. At the same time I call on the Muslim community to turn the spotlight inward. lt is common knowledge that new extremist lslamic teachings have been allowed to make inroads into the Sri Lankan Muslim community in recent years, causing tensions and suspicion. There is a heavy responsibility cast on moderate leaders of the community to be aware of and to combat such teachings and indoctrination.”
Bishop Canagasabey also said that the “innocent blood” of those who died was “upon the heads” of the executive and legislature and that parliament had “failed miserably” in their responsibility to “not to secure their own privileges, power and position but for the common good of the People”.
