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| Sunday, 21 July 2002 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Prelate of proven leadership and commitment
Pope John Paul II has appointed Bishop Oswald Thomas Gomis, M.A., Ph.D., as the eighth metropolitan archbishop of Colombo. Since he became a bishop in 1968, the new archbishop has been playing a leadership role in the service of both Church and Nation in numerous fields ranging from pastoral care to education, media and ethnic amity. He keeps a happy balance within the twin responsibilities of a bishop to his diocese as well as collegial service beyond diocesan and national boundaries. This outstanding Sri Lankan prelate is like the Kofi Annan of the Catholic Church in Asia. As secretary general of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, which has no president, he enjoys the trust of Church leaders in some 30 Asian countries and territories ranging from Japan and Korea in East Asia to Siberia and Uzbekistan in Central Asia. The new archbishop is the only Sri Lankan to have been elected by Asia's bishops to this top Church responsibility as their secretary general. He has been serving the Church at international level ever since the 1970s, when he was elected to the federation's central committee. As president of the Asian Bishops' Commission for Social Communications, Bishop Gomis revived Manila-based Radio Veritas Asia. He led a successful fund-raising campaign and provided US$1.5 million for the station and put it on a sound footing. Archbishop Gomis' international repute as a Church leader is surpassed by his stature in both the Church and in the Nation community in our country.It is not just his imposing physique that prompts many priest-friends to describe him as an "episcopal heavyweight". Very much in the tradition of the giants of the country's first-generation native episcopate, such as Cardinal Thomas Cooray, and Bishops Edmund Pieris, Emilianus Pillai and Leo Nanayakkara, Archbishop Gomis stands out today because of his proven personal leadership during the past four decades of local Church history. Currently he is president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference in Sri Lanka, where, earlier, he was secretary general for three terms. During that time, he raised funds and built Lankaramaya, the headquarters of the Catholic Bishops' Conference. He also spent much time and energy to obtain a legal status for the Bishops' Conference. Except for the few years as bishop of Anuradhapura, the new archbishop served Colombo archdiocese for 37 years, 27 of these as auxiliary bishop. He also served on the Colombo seminary staff all through his priestly career and even while he managed the Colombo Catholic Press and edited the "Gnanartha Pradeepaya", the Sinhala Catholic weekly. He counts three bishops and many archdiocesan priests among his spiritual sons. So he is no stranger to Colombo, and his return is a joyous homecoming to his home diocese! With his reputation as a no-nonsense Church leader noted for his patriotism and empathy with our people, their language and culture, the new archbishop's past record inspires trust among people. Like the country's first metropolitan, Archbishop Christopher Bonjean, the new archbishop comes to Colombo with a proven record of wisdom and visionary leadership. The archbishop is the youngest son of the late Vincent and Florinda Gomis, a respected family in Kelaniya. Born and nurtured in the neighbourhood of Kelaniya's revered Raja Maha Vihara, he is well accepted by Buddhist clergy and laity and was at ease among them even long before the Church started to dialogue with other religions in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. Most Venerable Madihe Pannasihe Maha Nayaka Thero considers the archbishop a personal friend and the late Venerable Doctor Walpola Rahula Maha Thero once described him as "My very dear friend, our bishop from Kelaniya". Venerable Doctor Mahinda Sangarakhita Maha Thero, chief incumbent of Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara, too is a personal friend who has lauded the archbishop's pioneer role in interreligious amity. The late Father Marcelline Jayekody once described the archbishop's close relations with our Buddhist brethren as a prophetic omen for the future of the Sri Lankan Church. A prelate who lived interreligious dialogue in daily life from childhood, the new archbishop has natural links with ecumenism because of his Anglican connections. He was a pioneer in the ecumenical field and along with the late Reverend Celestine Fernando, then head of the Bible Society, he jointly chaired the local SODEPAX, (Society Development and Peace), a forum of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace and the National Christian Council. He was a regular visitor both to Bible House in Kollupitiya and the Havelock Road-based National Christian Council headed by Sam Jegasothy. Along with other Sinhala scholars such as late Reverend S.J. de S. Weerasinghe, he served for long on the Inter-Church Committee for the Translation of the Bible. Thoroughness is a goal that the archbishop pursued from his early days. When Cardinal Cooray put him in charge of educational apostolate, the then-young bishop lost no time in equipping himself for the task. While serving the needs of the apostolate among his other episcopal duties, he learned on the job and became master of education while also gaining eminence as an educationist. Since there was an ongoing search at that time for new educational tools outside the formal system of schooling, he specialized in non-formal education for his master's degree in education. The praxis-based educationist did not take too long to catch the eye of the country's educational elite. As a result he has been one of the longest serving members of the council of the Colombo University since 1977 and is held in high esteem by the university community in our country. As editor of the Sinhala Catholic weekly "Gnanartha Pradeepaya" and manager of the Colombo Catholic Press he launched three series of books "Pradeepa Poth," "Pahan Poth" and "Mini Pahan". During his tenure some 50 titles were published in these series providing current religious reading in Sinhala to clergy, Religious and laity. Some books were specially targeted to meet the needs of Sinhala-educated Religious who had a dearth of spiritual reading material in their language. The three series of books were also a boon to upcoming young writers. In later years, amid his numerous episcopal tasks in the archdiocese, the bishops' conference and at the level of the Asian Church, he found time to write about a dozen books on current titles of concern to the Catholic community. "Mahopadesaya", a catechism for adults, is one of his monumental works that had to be reprinted several times to meet popular demand. A prolific writer in both Sinhala and English as well as a public speaker who knows to hold an audience, the archbishop is in high demand by print and electronic media. Away from the public eye, he continues to be an excellent confessor and counsellor in the footsteps of his own spiritual master, the late Father Justin Perera. Through people's joys and sorrows he has been with them as a father to all who encounter him. The appointment of this well-experienced and open-minded Church leader as chief pastor of the Sri Lankan Catholic Church at a very critical moment in both Church and Nation will be welcomed by Catholics as well as followers of other religions as a timely and reassuring move. The writer Hector Welgampola is Editorial Adviser, Asian Catholic News, Bangkok |
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