Esth. 4:14 “For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.”

To all those who hold a position of authority in the Church,

All the forms of protests and dissents are almost always seen by autocrats as an act of indiscipline. The dissenters are branded as enemies and are then eliminated for the betterment of the societies they govern. However for the people who protest, it is a struggle for meaningful existence in their space and time. When farmers were protesting in Delhi some time back, they were branded as anti-nationals and the rulers tried everything to brand and destroy the dissent because it was indiscipline and an act against the nation because they were speaking against the rulers.

When fishermen protested in Vizhinjam, they too were branded as anti-nationals and to certain extent the administration was successful in dividing and destroying the dissent. For the government, it was as an act of indiscipline-nothing else. However to the people who were affected, it was a struggle for meaningful existence and survival.

When Church is at the forefront leading the dissent against the administration and the rulers in the strike regarding buffer-zone issue; again for the ruling government, it is an act of indiscipline with vested interests. However for the people, it is question of meaningful existence. In all the above situations we know who is right and who is wrong. There is no doubt in our minds.

However when it comes to us to deal with a dissent and a protest from within, it is an issue of gross indiscipline because now we are the ruling side.

When we see a deterioration of democrative values all around us in the political sphere of our nation and states, and the weakening of institutions like media, judiciary etc., we feel helpless and lament that democracy is threatened. We protest against right wing ideologies and autocrats at least on our dining tables saying that the differences of this great nation are not celebrated and are destroyed for the sake of unity. We know for sure who is right and who is wrong.

However, when there is a systematic manipulation and suppression of differences for the sake of unity within the church, we know for sure that majority opinion should prevail and those who dissent must fall in line with the majority opinion- that remains the only solution available to us.

When the minorities are attacked and targeted for their differences by extreme right wing groups and their leaders, we become immediately conscious of our minority rights and our right to be different. We know for sure who is right and who is wrong.

However in order to execute the decision of a ruling body of the church taken with a majority opinion on everybody, we attack our own churches and desecrate the altar. Still we are right because we are doing it for a right cause-“all children should obey one Father in the Family.”

When a person of another religion took away some statues from a crib in this Christmas season, it was condemned as a greatest act of intolerance and blasphemy. We lamented about how people are indoctrinated to hate and destroy. We know for sure who is right and who is wrong.

However when Holy Mass is attacked and altar was desecrated by our own people-there was a stoic silence about it because we knew that they were right because they were doing it all for the unity of the church and we had taught them systematically that those who protest belong to Satan’s party and what they celebrate is Satan’s Mass.

When mighty powers are bent on weakening and destroying the diversity of our culture under the banner of ‘one nation, one culture, one language’, we join with those who take pain to celebrate the differences of our nation because we know who is right and who is wrong.

We started the protests and strikes and took refuge in Holy Mass and our prayers. Had the people not protested against the injustice, the policies of the governments would have prevailed.

However when it comes to a decision by a ruling body within the church-the only solution to the dissent is obedience. We know we are right because we have made Jesus as an icon of obedience to deal with the dissent of our people and we have conveniently forgotten his prophetic mission.

Wake up…. the church in Kerala as a reaction to the past is moving to the extreme right position in its ideologies and has become an intolerant church in many of its policies and approaches.

Either we accept that the right wing intolerant policies are in harmony with the values of Jesus and stop protesting against it when it is seen outside the church or recognize its evil influences both within and without. The choice is ours…. People in authority positions in the church, please wake up before it is too late and we are left with a Christ-less and faithful-less church with our all India Jurisdiction.

We shall never forget that Not all battles are fought for victory. Some are fought to tell the world that someone was there in the battlefield.

Fr. BijuSavioThekkekkara CMI