KOCHI Cardinal George Alencherry, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, thinks that India is going through a period of transformation in the democratic practice and the balance of power between major political fronts, essential to a democracy, has been lost. But he is sanguine about pluralistic forces asserting themselves in a bid to cement the unity of the country through its diversity in the no-so-distant future.
“India is a diverse country, but hardly any Indian would not like to be identified as one. Therefore, I am sure that the politically intelligent people will find ways and means to surmount this crisis. The pluralistic forces have to assert themselves to keep India’s democracy and that’s already emerging,” Cardinal Alencherry said in a free-wheeling chat with The Hindu on the prevailing socio-political climate.
While democracy is the will of the majority, there is a need to segregate politics and religion, as their mixing up will rupture India’s social fabric. “Indians are religious-minded, but extremism in any religion drives a wedge in society, as it causes different interests to come into clash with one another,” he says. But the recent rise of sectarian thinking, along religious or linguistic identities, is a global phenomenon. Extremism in religion, he says, ironically, cuts at the very root of the values of human goodness and love to be fostered by any religion.
Kerala situation
Cardinal Alencherry believes that there is a turmoil-like situation in Kerala society, politics, religion and also in the cultural world. There is discontent and confusion in people’s minds and religio-political extremism is poised to thwart communal amity and peace, he feels.
Vote bank politics, in Kerala and nationally, has often worked against the interests of the Christian community. “While it is understandable that a government panders to the sentiments of a community that favours it, it should also give what is due to other communities. Whenever we feel that it is not being done, we take it up with the respective government as we believe in a constant dialogue.”
Verdicts, implementation
On questions pertaining to the unrest over the Sabarimala verdict and the bitter stand-off between the Orthodox and Jacobite factions of the Malankara Church in the wake of a court order in favour of the Orthodox faction, the Cardinal said governments should respect people’s religiosity. “My personal view is that in a democratic country like ours, even court decisions on such issues that affect society deeply should have a praxis of implementation. It will be good to have legislation to ensure that there’s room for discussion in society for the implementation of such verdicts.”
While the Church steers clear of party politics, it encourages the faithful to be politically conscious so that they take ‘the right political decisions’ for the common good.
Interfaith marriages
The Church, he said, is not ideologically or theoretically against interfaith marriages, but it does not encourage the practice either. “We do not want the phenomenon to be promoted. Not because we are against humanity, but we have conviction that the good aspects of Christian life would suffer in certain interfaith marriages. Marriage is a contractual love between two partners and for Christians, it is a sacrament that renders the couple to maintain their faith in Christ and the Church. In some inter-religious marriages, there’s a danger of the Christian partners being forced to compromise on their faith. Further, religion shall not become an aggressive force in marital life. Thirdly, a marriage should not break families and become a reason for disharmony between religions and communities,” he said.
