Cardinal calls for Christmas sharing in crisis-hit Lanka

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has urged Christians to share a meal with the hungry poor this Christmas as millions in this crisis-hit nation island nation struggle to put food on the table.

The situation in the island nation is “precarious,” Ranjith, the archbishop of Colombo, said while addressing media people on Dec. 19 at the Archbishop’s House in Colombo.

He said a large number of families do not have proper sustenance, pointing to a recent study that a family of four requires 120,000 Sri Lankan rupees (US$371) to cover monthly expenses, but the average monthly income of a family is only US$241.

“So with that kind of money, they cannot manage meals let alone the schooling of children, or pay for electricity, water, cooking gas and other things,” the 76-year-old cardinal said.

A lot of borrowing “goes on all the time, even pawning one’s silver and gold. So a lot of people are under great stress,” said the leader of the country’s 1.5 million Catholics.

Christians, the majority of them Catholics, account for seven percent of the 22 million people in the nation, which is experiencing its worst economic crisis in its history.

The continuing crisis has led to unprecedented inflation, the near-depletion of its foreign exchange reserves and shortages of medical supplies, and price hikes of essential commodities such as cooking oil, rice and fuel.

“It is a situation that we cannot ignore when we are celebrating Christmas because Jesus Christ as a symbol was born in poverty,” said Ranjith, a vocal critic of the government’s economic policies.

Jesus Christ lived the life of “a person from an average poor family” and was a “mendicant who walked streets, with his disciples behind him, they had enough to eat and sustain themselves. When we think of Jesus as a poor man, we must show a lot of respect for the poor during Christmas celebrations,” he said.

He urged Catholics, all other Christians, as well as other people of goodwill “to share your Christmas this year … with the poor in your neighborhood or your surroundings.”

Ranjith also urged them to cut down “as much as possible … unnecessary expenditure on decorations, gifts and other things. We are not saying not to give gifts, but do not waste.”

He also asked them to invite the poor “to share a meal with them” on Christmas Day.The cardinal said he had advised parish priests in Colombo archdiocese to organize feeding programs for the poor at Christmas.

he said he plans to participate in a feeding program on Christmas Day to share his meals with the poor “in fraternity with those who suffer hunger.”

He wished the gathering a “very happy Christmas” but reiterated that “happiness does not lie in drinking, eating and merry-making alone.”

“Inner happiness you can draw on by giving up something to make another person happy,” the cardinal said.