Archbishop Menamparampil urges all to spread hope, peace of Christmas

(December 4, 2009) In the run-up to Christmas, an Indian Catholic archbishop has urged Christians in his troubled state to help spread the hope and peace of the Prince of Peace. Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil of Guwahati has issued a message urging the people in the strife-torn state of Assam state in north-east India, saying the Church is committed to bringing back to life the human sensitivity of those who practice a culture of death. The respected peace-maker urged authorities not to “impose peace” but to have courage, an “open mind” and “far-sighted intelligence”. In his ‘Message of Peace in preparation for Christmas’, Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil told Christians in the Assam that peace cannot be “imposed”, nor can bad actions just be “condemned”; instead, Christmas calls on each one of us to spread “hope” and the “breath of peace”. Assam’s 27 million population is some 65% Hindu, 31% Muslim and only 4 percent Christian. The prelate’s message is meant first for Christians, but is also directed to everyone in a land torn by inter-ethnic strife, where terrorist attacks continue to cause victims. The Salesian Archbishop and his Joint Peace Team of North-East India have been involved in peace negotiations with radical, tribal, ethnic and religious groups for the past 13 years. According to Archbishop Menamparampil the temptation of using force to impose peace and justice is still alive, which breeds dissatisfaction and despair triggering violence. Instead he said the mission of the peace-maker” is to whisper “peace to the unwilling, stirring up in them the sensitivity that has gone dead.” For this reason, the prelate warned State authorities and separatist groups to turn against the path of force and understand and see things from the adversary’s point of view.