Message by the Colombo Archbishop on Independence Day

 Message by the Colombo Archbishop, His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith on Independence Day

Dear all Sri Lankans,

First and foremost, I would like to remind you that today is the most appropriate day to walk down the lane for the last seven decades since our country received Independence from the British 73 years ago and recollect the positive and negative facets thereby taking action to shred the negative aspects of the past and make new decisions for a forward march.

The beautiful island we call our motherland has a long history; especially being lit up by the teaching of the Buddha. The inhabitants of this island are nourished in such cultural surroundings that have been further sharpened by the influence of the fellowmen belonging to other religious denominations such as Hinduism, Islam and Catholicism. This island where different language speaking people are living has a history of over 2500 years. The country was gradually inspired by European cultural models after foreign invasions and, having abandoned their native and religious civilization, she embraced global new liberal economic methods and is compelled to stray towards a new and outlandish culture. 

It is regretfully mentioned that a reckless tradition has emerged in the past several decades where foreign makes are held above the local products, national sources are plundered to making fast money, the breathtaking greenery is vandalized, power and wealth is abused to control everything but justice, and religions are exploited without hesitation to justify the unvirtuous and corrupt practices. Consequent to these deteriorations in society, it is no exaggeration to say that Sri Lanka would split itself to become a scapegoat of foreign elements thereby depriving us of our much-esteemed independence. Every citizen in the country today is a defaulter. Even controlling the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic has posed us a grave challenge due to the unruly people and their egocentric attitudes.

Some may think sometimes that this is an expression of negative comments. It is not so. This will open the eyes of real compatriots of this beautiful island to understand the imminent challenges that are standing in our way. It also invites us to make our full commitment to save our motherland from the perils that are looming large. 

Therefore, let’s work hard to build a sincere and righteous society where all the decisions are taken on the brotherhood, equality, and freedom but power and wealth thereby making the independence we received years ago a material benediction.  Wish our beloved motherland and her citizens all courage to achieve such goals.

Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith

Archbishop of Colombo