Rev. Dr David Peramangalam, OFM Cap.

How would you look at the Corona Pandemic that has hit all of us very hard?

No doubt, the pandemic has hit all of us hard. Despair, bewilderment, anxiety and fear have been dominating the human spirit. Science and medicine with their impressive advances have become helpless before a tiny, seemingly insignificant thing that could paralyze our planet. It reveals the fragility of human nature. It is an intractable, inevitable situation where one finds her/himself. It impels one to look for answers, which science cannot provide. It was Karl Jaspers who alluded to these situations as “boundary experiences” “boundary situations”, “brittleness of human existence” etc.This compels one to discover ways and means to transcend them.

The Corona pandemic is sometimes explained as a door, said to be a portal, but portal to what? What is coming or what must come after the plague? Camus in his novel, The Plague speaks of an earthquake which must come after the plague. Do you think of an earthquake in the offing in society and in religions?

We enter into and exit from buildings through doors. The ‘in’ and ‘out’ of the building is possible because there are openings on the walls. Doors and windows define the ‘inside’ and ‘outside of our existential spatiality; they separate and at the same time connect our spatial “life–world.”

In this sense, the corona pandemic, through the ‘separating’-‘connecting’ dynamics is defining our spatial life-world. This pandemic has made us be all with ourselves, necessitating a relook into ourselves, our value-system, our priorities, the never-ending rat race all of us are caught up with…And this pandemic induced soul-searching will hopefully help us better reconnect with one another, the environment, and the Divine. At the macro level, despite its devastating consequences, we should say, the corona pandemic creates an existential space for the emergence of a new world order, for the formulation and implementation of more sustainable economic strategies and for fostering a society that constantly seeks to tear down boundaries, as we have learnt the lesson, “united we stand, divided we fall” in a hard way.

Camus’ reference to an earthquakes in his novel, The plague, which must come after the plague, becomes more meaningful when it is understood in terms of the drastic change that is to be effected in the understanding of society, religion, the church etc.

Could you clarify what you are actually visualizing?

I am intending the urgent need for a paradigm shift.

Could you explain this paradigm shift?

The next several years will be very decisive as the world will be pushed out of its comfort zones, and no one at the moment is in a position to hazard a guess regarding the shape of things to come. However, one thing is as clear as daylight: the society cannot go on as it used to be. That we need to go for a shift in the prioritizing of values and strategies is no more a choice. It is in this context we are speaking of a paradigm shift. The paradigm shift has to be in the direction of creating a pro-existential society, as the entire gamut of Covid-related experience all over the world has irrefutably shown. Societies and nations have all been guided by a narcissistic drive towards self-preservation. The guiding principle in such a world was, what we call, co-existence, where we adjust and adapt for pragmatic and strategic interest. The post-Covid world has to shift gear to a pro-existential option that keeps in its focus the cause of the collective good. It is here the governmental organization and political powers have an important role to play. They need to appeal to the people’s sense of duty that will insist one to act in the interest of the society as a whole. There should be clear policies and constant monitoring at the various level. Educating the individuals and especially the children in this regard will be a must. As Immanuel Kant rightly point out men have as innate tendency to make exceptions for themselves when it comes to a matter of self-preservation.An obvious recent example is the case of panic buying spree seen during the time of the outbreak of the pandemic. There has been a palpable reluctance to put society before oneself. The spread of the pandemic has cut the root of this way of thinking and such. The pro – existential option forces one to be responsible for the other. It is a matter of responsibility preceding freedom. The post-corona world can ill afford not to live the pro-existential option.

This paradigm shift would imply a shift at various levels:
• From the disproportionate capitalist emphasis on infinity growth to sustainable transformation.
• From the focus on increase of wealth and profit making towards the social good.
• From having toward being.
• From self-preservation towards care and responsibility for the other.
• From individualism and ego-centrism towards partnership and collaboration.
• From exploitation of nature and natural resources towards shepherding of nature.

Towards A pro-existential church:

The pandemic made many of the absolutes of the church be changed, especially the rituals. What is happening in the minds of the people with this plague in the religious realm?

This is the most opportune time for the church to realize the undue emphasis placed on rituals at the expense of a deep interior life. There are instances, not that isolated, where we had gone away from the spirit of the Gospels. Instead of revealing Christ all glitter and glow emanating from mammoth churches have many a time hidden His compassionate face. The Time has come to look for a new way of being the Church. The primary concern has to be to impart a deep sense of religiosity. A Church that has made a pro-existential option will give utmost priority to justice, and will not be contented with a few acts of charity and distribution of funds. It is admirable that several dioceses and congregations have come forward to adopt poor families during the lockdown period. But this just would not suffice in the post-Corona world; the Church has to find ways and means to collaborate with the governmental agencies to help increase the purchasing power of these poor victims of history, finally paving the way for an egalitarian existence, very munch after the pattern envisaged by the Kingdom of God.