Catholic Envoy in Malaysia Runs Into First Dustup

ARCHIVES 2013

By admin-g On Jul 14, 2013

(The Wall Street Journal) – The Vatican’s new envoy to Malaysia called for interfaith dialogue this week but instead found himself taking a tongue-lashing by two Muslim groups.

The dustup happened after Archbishop Joseph Marino gently weighed into a fire-hot court case in Muslim-majority Malaysia over whether non-Muslims should be able to use the word “Allah.” The local Catholic Church’s newspaper had used the word “Allah” — the word Muslims use for God — leading to a case that it won at a mid-level court in a ruling that is under appeal.

In an interview Thursday with a small group of reporters, including from The Wall Street Journal, the archbishop said he supported the arguments in a fact sheet put out by the Christian Federation of Malaysia on why Christians should be allowed to use “Allah.”

“In terms of how they presented the arguments in favor, it seems to be quite logical and acceptable,” he said.

Two local online news outlets invited to the talk characterized his comments as supporting the use of “Allah.”

That drew a strong response from the far right group Perkasa and a newly formed Muslim NGO Jati. The groups demanded the envoy retract his statement or else they would ask for the government to close the embassy and ask the envoy to leave the country, according to The Malaysian Insider.

It’s unclear whether the tussle will undermine the archbishop’s stated goals of helping nurture interfaith harmony.

Muslims and Christians have largely lived in harmony in Malaysia, but tensions have grown in recent years. Of Malaysia’s 28 million people, Christians make up about 9 percent of the population, while Muslims are 61% of the population.

The 60-year old Roman Catholic archbishop Marino arrived in Malaysia in mid-April as the first papal ambassador or apostolic nuncio to Malaysia. In the interview in his embassy’s living room and a talk afterwards with The Wall Street Journal, he touched on topics ranging from the meaning of God to his love of mystery novels, and Dan Brown in particular. He also has yet to try durian, the stinky fruit that people tend to either love or hate.

He described his primary role as being “the constant link between Pope Francis and the local Catholic community, primarily to the bishops.”

He was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in January, two years after Malaysia established diplomatic ties with the Vatican.

Archbishop Marino is no stranger to living in a Muslim majority country. Prior to his posting here, he was the Holy See’s envoy to Bangladesh for five years.

“The first thing I came to learn was the beauty of Islam, and it is indeed a religion of peace and harmony,” he said. “Its spiritual components of seeking God are profound. That was the joy that I have, if I may say, with my deep contact with Islam in a country that is predominantly Muslim.”

Having served in Bangladesh for so many years, Archbishop Marino has developed a deep interest in inter-faith dialogue, he said, something which the small Christian community there was very active in.

In Malaysia, Archbishop Marino said he was eager to be a part of any inter-religious dialogue.

He said that inter-religious dialogue it is a gift to society because it assures society that religion will never be a source of discord.

“Religion cannot be a source of discord. It is against the very nature of religion that we fight over religion. It is against the very nature of God. … So not only is inter-religious dialogue something among peoples of faith, it is also something that peoples of faith give to society – harmony , tolerance, living together, working together.”