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Independence Day message: Archbishop notes gradual loss of hard won freedom 

03 Feb 2022

  • Calls for societal examination of conscience and complete transformation 
  • Blames political myopia, lack of intelligence, ethnic/religious division/mistrust, corruption, manipulation of the rule of law, subservience to ideologies, power lust and greed for moral/spiritual/economic/social degradation
  • Notes rising poverty, new sort of slavery
  • Independence, not an experience which can be obtained by mere celebrations/speeches/parades/march pasts’ 
BY Buddhika Samaraweera  Claiming that the country, as a nation, has begun to gradually lose the hard won freedom in the 74 years post-Independence, Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith said that all those who truly love their homeland should engage in a profound examination of the conscience, and seek a total transformation of the society. In a message issued on the occasion of the 74th Independence Day, he said that due to the short sighted and unintelligent actions of political leaders leading to the spread of a spirit of deep division and mistrust among the different ethnic and religious groups, increasing corruption prevalent among leaders and the continuous manipulation of the rule of the law by them to suit their own interests, “independence” has turned out to be a meaningless word for the people.  The message issued by the Archbishop read: “It is with a deep spirit of gratitude and veneration that we commemorate our national heroes and patriots who engaged themselves in the struggle for the liberation of our motherland from the colonial powers as we complete 74 years of our nation’s Independence. Among these national heroes, we commemorate with special gratitude those who laid down their lives in this cause, those who led the Independence struggle in the period preceding 1948 and all the truly patriotic people of this nation who raise their voices even today for the cause of true freedom.”  It further read: “We need to consider the political and social freedoms which were won through the commitment of these heroes, as a gift of immense value to our motherland. It is the responsibility of all of us then, to protect these freedoms and strengthen them further. Yet, one has to sadly affirm that after obtaining Independence, due to a growing spirit of subservience to different ideologies over the years, the craving for power by our political leaders and the increasing spirit of greed for wealth, our homeland has slid into an unredeemable precipice of moral, spiritual, economic and social degradation.”  The Archbishop also said that more and more people in the country are currently suffering from poverty and are becoming victims of a new kind of slavery resulting from the short sighted decisions of political leaders. Thus, he said that there emerges a question in many minds as to what happened to the hard won Independence. If one really loves their motherland, he said that it is indeed necessary to do an examination of the conscience about what has happened to ourselves, adding that Independence is not an experience which can be obtained by mere celebrations, speeches or parades and march pasts. “At a moment like this, what all those who truly love our homeland should do is to engage in a profound examination of the conscience and to seek a total transformation of our society, seeking to extricate our country from the effects of those decisions that led it onto this downward slide. Committing ourselves to that is the best way to commemorate our Independence,” it added. 


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