When the bells of the Holy Trinity Church, Benaulim were being tolled last Monday, it was not a summons to the parishioners to worship the Holy Trinity, the patron of the parish, but to denigrate and demonize their shepherd who silently bore the insults and insinuations of his sheep. Amidst the melee, the law enforcement machinery too stood as a mute spectator to the pre-meditated and well-hatched plot by the agitators who descended in the sacred precincts of the holy place with mala fide intentions of literally demeaning and dragging their parish priest out of his office. Being held hostage for almost six gruelling hours, the parish priest was coerced into signing his letter of resignation. The sad irony in this whole ugly drama is that those who appealed to conscience and to calm were being dubbed as criminals while the “crowd pullers” were being hailed as saviours. The shameful and unbecoming way in which this man of God has been treated by his parishioners is nothing short of an ‘act of terror’ that deserves outright condemnation.
The questions that ring foremost in one’s mind are: Is this the new trend that has set in among the faithful to abandon or discard at will their spiritual leaders? Aren’t there amicable ways of sorting out issues rather than taking the law in one’s hand? Were there some external forces responsible for influencing and prevailing upon the parishioners to do what they did? Where is the silent majority when their pastor is ashamed and assaulted by it’s own people? Doesn’t this behaviour of the lay faithful cut a sorry picture of our superficiality in terms of witnessing to our faith ethos and moral values?
The agitating forces have had their say and are seemingly content to have achieved their baleful design. With the disgraceful ouster of the parish priest in question, the Holy Trinity Church bells have fallen silent. But by indulging in this wilful and inhuman act, the parishioners have only sadly deprived themselves of the services and care of a pastor and are now like a sheep without a shepherd. The Holy Trinity to which the Church belongs is an image of undivided unity and selfless communion. I hope and pray that sanity is restored and forgiveness and healing take place amidst a community in which this prototypical image of the Tri-une God is seen to have been badly bruised and battered. As a Church on the path of synodality, there is the need for serious introspection and remedial reconciliation between the priest and his parishioners, and among the community that appears painfully fragmented. May the bells start ringing sooner than later to celebrate the unity and communion of the parishioners with their pastor.
