A video showing a parish priest in Salcete taking the pulpit and heaping scorn at the BJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah has triggered controversy. This has come at a time when the political scenario in the State is on the boil while the church is walking a tightrope with the political environment on one side and moral guidance on the other. The priest in question has certainly overstepped the diktat of Church leadership of refraining from naming and shaming political figures and expressing personal views.
Catholic priests across the State hold the supreme responsibility of encouraging its faithful to go with a clean conscience. There are guidelines issued at every election with stress on the ground situation. Factors like corruption, environmental damage and even the recent defections against the mandate have been issues that are brought into focus. The Church makes itself duty-bound not only to its people, but to the future generation as well. All of this is fine, but what happens when someone in the order crosses the line, not once, but repeatedly?
The same priest while posted at Taleigao had sparked off another controversy in the run up to the 2017 election openly canvassing for Babush Monserrate and his wife Jennifer. He had exhorted the huge gathering at the Christmas-eve mass to give the Monserrate couple a Christmas gift in the form of a thumping mandate. Stray cases like these create tension in a highly volatile political scenario and cause embarrassment to the Church which propagates moral guidance.
On the flip side, there are isolated instances like these in every religion where preachers have gone beyond their duty and given vent to their personal choices. As a tolerant state we can’t allow such episodes to bring an entire institution into disrepute. Goa is known to be a peace-loving State with people across sections, irrespective of caste, religion and party affiliations living in perfect harmony. Whether Parties like it or not, the Church is known to be guiding its flock at every election, and the political undertones are part and parcel. If we may recall, the Church played a huge role in the 2012 assembly elections and was instrumental in installing Manohar Parrikar as the chief minister when it changed focus from ‘secularism’ to ‘corruption’.
Political leaders very often make sweeping statements creating a huge divide, sometimes on religious lines. Amit Shah recently vowed to weed out all infiltrators, but said he will protect the Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists. There is another voice calling out Hindu rashtra. These are all political statements made to suit electoral agendas. But it is unbecoming of a priest, irrespective of any religion, to spread hatred from their teachings.
The Church in Goa has a beautiful tradition where the Archbishop hosts an annual civic reception during the Christmas season for functionaries across the spectrum, including bureaucrats, political leaders and the Governor. A feeling of bonhomie prevails at this gathering even as the Archbishop delivers his key-note address touching upon various aspects of polity, at times even ruffling a few feathers. The halo of compassion and brotherhood brings in mutual respect to the church from all quarters. It has a role to play in politics, but it must ensure that the fine line of political guidance is not muddied by such issues. Amen.
