A Sri Lankan bishop stressed that the faithful must learn how to genuinely reach out to people within and outside the Church instead of treating them as “projects” to be accomplished.
“The journey is simply to open your heart [and] mind, and feel that your brother and sister is with you,” said Bishop Raymond Wickramasinghe of the Diocese of Galle in an interview with Radio Veritas Asia.
Shepherding the diocese since 2011, the prelate shared that he has fully embraced one of the main aspects of Pope Francis’ papacy: going out to the peripheries.
Bishop Wickramasinghe said that in addition to reaching out to the poor and the marginalized, interreligious dialogue is one of the missions he concentrates on.
Since Catholics are a minority in Sri Lanka, they make time to participate in cultural events where they can mingle with other denominations.
“We have a difficult dialogue,” he said. “But yet, we say it is not impossible. For every celebration… they come together, we discuss, and we meet.”
Bishop Wickramasinghe also revealed that he regularly visits Buddhist and Hindu temples to maintain meaningful connections with their own religious leaders.
“I cannot ignore… the religions, the culture, and the poor,” he said.
Despite the combined efforts of their clergy and lay people, the bishop admitted that there is so much more to be done, especially in a “battered nation” like Sri Lanka.
He said the country’s economic crisis, as well as the lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, has left the nation in much disarray.
“We have sold most parts of our country to different countries,” he lamented. “We need to keep an eye open… and the people of goodwill must extend their goodwill if we want to see the glory of our country back.”
Furthermore, Bishop Wickramasinghe explained how southern Sri Lanka is being terrorized by different extremist groups, which poses a huge challenge to their interreligious dialogue efforts.
Nevertheless, the prelate expressed his gratitude to be of service to the people and urged everyone to do their part in bringing Sri Lanka together.
“We need to open our eyes [and] doors so that the people can come to us and have their own place. This is their Church,” he said.
“We are never late for anything to begin anew,” he also said.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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