US embassy cable - 05VATICAN513

C O N F I D E N T I A L  VATICAN 000513 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/WE (TCUNNINGHAM); DRL/IRF (JMORALES) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  8/17/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, KIRF, KISL, VT, CE, religious freedom 
SUBJECT: ANTI-CONVERSION LEGISLATION CONCERNS VATICAN; JESUIT HAS 
ROSIER VIEW 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Peter Martin, Political Officer, POL, STATE. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
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Summary 
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1. (C) Vatican Country Director for Sri Lanka Monsignor 
Bernardito Auza told us recently that the Vatican was concerned 
about pending anti-conversion legislation in that country.  He 
emphasized the "dangerous" effect such legislation could have on 
schools, orphanages, old age homes, hospitals, and other 
institutions that the Church runs.  Auza said the Holy See was 
concerned about any abridgement of religious liberty for 
followers of any faith.  Auza's perspective contrasted with that 
of the Rome-based Jesuit regional secretary for South Asia, Fr. 
Anton Weerasinghe.  Weerasinghe told us some Sri Lankan 
Catholics did not oppose the legislation, as they saw it as a 
defense against evangelicals making inroads into their 
traditional communities.  He had an optimistic outlook on 
inter-religious relations in the country, and claimed they had 
remained relatively stable in the seven months since the 
Tsunami.  While not minimizing the seriousness of any 
 
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inter-religious violence, he commented that anti-Christian 
attacks tended to be against fringe groups, and not Catholics. 
He claimed that violence by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam 
(LTTE) affected all denominations.  End Summary. 
 
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Vatican Concerned about Anti-conversion Legislation 
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2. (C) Holy See Country Director for Sri Lanka Monsignor 
Bernardito Auza told us in early August that the Vatican was 
"certainly concerned" about Sri Lankan anti-conversion 
legislation, noting he had two reports on his desk on the 
subject from the papal nuncio to Sri Lanka.  Auza said there had 
been close communication between the Holy See and the Sri Lankan 
Church on the issue, and also highlighted a July 29 statement by 
the Archbishop of Colombo, Oswald Gomis, who appealed to the Sri 
Lankan government and parliament to respect the "fundamental 
right to religious freedom."  Auza felt that the current version 
of the anti-conversion bill was even harsher than an earlier 
version he had seen. 
 
3. (C) According to Auza, the Vatican is concerned that 
Church-run schools, orphanages, old age homes, hospitals, and 
other institutions could become targets of this law as some 
might charge that such establishments were proselytizing.  Auza 
said that children, the elderly and the sick had special 
protections under the law, and since these were some of the main 
constituencies of the Church in its aid work, the legislation 
could create a "dangerous" situation.  Auza believed that 
penalties stemming from the legislation could affect not only 
the institutions noted above, but also individual dioceses and 
the Sri Lankan Church as a whole.  Auza was quick to emphasize 
that the Holy See's concerns on the legislation were not simply 
related to its parochial concerns; "We are concerned any time 
the religious freedom of any group is under attack," he said. 
 
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Jesuit: Anti-conversion Bill Supported by Some Catholics 
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4. (C) Auza's perspective contrasted with that of the regional 
secretary for South Asia at the curia of the Society of Jesus 
 
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(Jesuits) in Rome, Fr. Anton Weerasinghe.  Weerasinghe insisted 
that some Sri Lankan Catholics supported the Jathika Hela 
Urumaya (JHU) party's anti-conversion legislation.  "We are not 
insecure about this law; it might support Catholic interests in 
some ways," he said.  Weerasinghe argued that the 
anti-conversion legislation would affect the activities of 
evangelical and other small Christian groups rather than major 
religious groups.  He claimed that proselytism by evangelicals 
and Jehovah's Witnesses primarily targeted Catholics and 
Lutherans, not Buddhists or Muslims.  "We don't want people to 
be cheated by fringe religious groups," Weerasinghe said.  He 
said that a common technique of evangelical groups was to invite 
people to "Sunday masses" that weren't actually Catholic. 
Weerasinghe expected the parliament to pass the legislation this 
year, and concluded that local implementation and the 
interpretation of judges would determine the real effect of the 
law. 
 
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Tsunami Relief not Leading to Communal Tensions 
 
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5. (C) Weerasinghe had an optimistic outlook on broader issues 
of inter-religious relations in Sri Lanka, and described a 
relatively stable period in the country in the seven months 
since the Tsunami.  He commended the work of international NGOs 
 
 
in the aftermath of the disaster, and noted that after receiving 
word of the Tsunami, Jesuit Father General Kolvenbach 
immediately donated a symbolic $10,000 and mobilized the Jesuit 
Refugee Service for aid efforts.  He said that despite 
predictions to the contrary, Christian NGOs' relief work had not 
led to an expected spike in sectarian tensions.  Weerasinghe 
admitted that there were still occasional attacks.  (In fact, 
shortly after our conversation Rome-based media reported the 
July 22 burning of a Catholic church in the diocese of 
Anuradhapura.)  Though not minimizing the seriousness of all 
inter-religious violence, he commented that anti-Christian 
attacks in Sri Lanka did not usually target Catholics or 
Lutherans, but were against "fringe" Christian communities such 
as evangelicals and Jehovah's Witnesses. 
 
6.  (C) Weerasinghe said there had been some proselytism in the 
wake of the Tsunami, with one or two Christian NGOs including 
religious literature in their food aid packages.  He condemned 
this behavior as "taking advantage of the population." 
Weerasinghe said that Christian NGOs were not the only ones to 
exploit the situation, as the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) 
party co-opted the Tsunami relief work to gain free publicity. 
According to Weerasinghe, when the first NGOs responded, the JVP 
draped foreign aid trucks with party banners and signs.  He said 
the local populations initially believed the JVP was entirely 
responsible for the quick response. 
 
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LTTE: A Threat to Everyone 
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7. (C) The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) are 
indiscriminate and do not target Catholics any more than they do 
other groups, emphasized Weerasinghe [please protect his 
comments on LTTE].  Unlike the majority of Protestants who are 
ethnically Tamil, Catholics are evenly divided between Tamils 
and Sinhalese, he said.  Weerasinghe recounted how at the 
beginning of the conflict many Tamil nuns and priests had 
supported the LTTE, and the bishop of Trincomalee-Batticaloa had 
been known to refer to the guerillas as "my boys."  However he 
said that after the LTTE "requisitioned" the bishop's jeep and 
shot the vicar general, Catholic opinion turned against the 
group.  "They have no values, no morality -- just the power of 
the gun," Weerasinghe declared.  He cited the 1990 disappearance 
and presumed murder of Fr. Eugene Herbert, an AmCit working at a 
Jesuit technical school, as an example of LTTE violence.  He 
strongly supported the efforts of foreign aid agencies to have 
aid distributed by need, especially in LTTE held areas, but also 
raised concerns.  "When you give money to criminals, who is 
going to do the accounting?" he asked.  Weerasinghe admitted he 
was strongly anti-LTTE, and that Tamil priests might hold other 
views. 
 
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Kumaratunga: a Friend to Catholics? 
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8. (C)  Weerasinghe's optimism about the inter-religious 
situation in his home country was striking.  He believes that 
President Kumaratunga is a friend to the Catholic Church. 
"Although she is politically Buddhist, President Kumaratunga has 
been good to Catholics and she depends on Catholic leadership 
and support," he insisted.  Auza also felt that Kumaratunga has 
been attentive to Catholics; he said the Sri Lankan bishops had 
had a good meeting with her in January, and reported that in 
private she seemed sympathetic to the Church. According to Auza, 
however, she is "cornered" by political considerations and will 
ultimately do little to address Catholic concerns. 
 
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Comment 
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9. (C) From our vantage point, Weerasinghe seems to be isolated 
in his opinion of Sri Lanka's anti-conversion legislation. 
Though we defer to Embassy Colombo on the specifics of the Sri 
Lankan bishops' position, we note that during their May "ad 
Limina" (official quinquennial) visit to Rome, Joseph Vianney 
Fernando, bishop of Kandy and conference president, raised the 
bishops' concerns about the legislation with Pope Benedict XVI. 
Auza noted that the Vatican approved the bishops' conference's 
backing of the creation of a national inter-religious commission 
that could address the issue of the legislation and related 
topics.  The Holy See has also discussed the anti-conversion 
legislation with Sri Lankan Ambassador to the Holy See Fernando 
both in Rome and in Geneva where she is resident. 
 
10.  (C)  The Vatican Foreign Ministry is unlikely to be 
influenced by Weerasinghe on an issue such as this.  Lines of 
communication are normally fairly set between the MFA, the 
nuncio, and the bishops' conference and do not often include the 
 
 
leadership of religious orders.  Still, Weerasinghe wields some 
influence within the Jesuit curia as the Jesuit Father General's 
primary advisor on Sri Lanka.  He told us that there are 120 
Jesuits in the Sri Lanka province of the Society of Jesus, and 
three technical schools.  We would be interested in hearing 
Embassy Colombo's views on the extent of Jesuit influence in the 
country.  End Comment. 
 
SANDROLINI