Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, Archbishop Ian Ernest.
SARAWAK could be a model of harmonious living within a diversity of religions in terms of interfaith relationship and understanding, opined the Most Revd Ian Ernest.
The Archbishop of Canterbury’s personal representative to the Holy See in the Vatican, Rome, found this during his packed five-day visit to the state.
“The world today, with globalisation, is where there is interaction of cultures and races and we should be able to foster the spirit of respect towards each other. This is where Sarawak could become a form of example of such harmonious living.
“Every opportunity to develop harmonious living should be seized because each of us, whatever our religious, social or professional backgrounds, we all wish to be blessed, to be happy, and to have all the opportunities that we have so that our lives be lives that bring joy. This is what the Kingdom of God is all about,” he said in an exclusive interview with thesundaypost.
On how Sarawak compares to his home country of Mauritius where race and interfaith relations are concerned, he said both have the same joy of living in a harmonious society.
“Of course, we have to be vigilant and be respectful of each other and it all goes to the type of education that we offer to our children. I have the joy of tasting the variety of cultures here in Sarawak, which brings value to human life, to family life, and to community life.
“It is the same at home, in spite of coming from all places of the world, from different religions. A few years ago, in the gardens of the Bishop’s House in Mauritius, we had the Diwali festival. Together with the Roman Catholic Bishop, we thought it would be good to open the gardens of the Bishop’s House together with the Muslim president of the country and to welcome people from other faiths and celebrate Light,” he shared.
Ian ministers to longhouse folk during his visit. — Photo via Facebook/Diocese of Kuching
The director of the Anglican Centre in Rome said after meeting Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who is the minister in charge of the Unit for Other Religions (Unifor), as well as Church leaders in Sarawak, he noted that everyone is eager to build that spirit of harmonious living with mutual respect and mutual recognition.
Besides interfaith relations, he said inter-denominational ties are very vital to Christianity.
This is because Christians share a common faith.
“There is that longing of Christ that we all may be one. We are all baptised in the death and the resurrection of Christ. We are called sons and daughters of God but we are like different families, because of the reformation we have been developing traditions.
“We are able to live up to the ideals of our forefathers and we should not forget that the Anglican tradition is also founded on the patristic Fathers of the Church. We are bound to be together and this is what God wants us to be,” he said.
Ian shared that during his meeting with the leader of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kuching, Archbishop Simon Poh, they spoke at length on the relationship between Christians here.
Ian is seen with Poh (fourth left) in a group photo.— Photo via Facebook/Diocese of Kuching
“We talked about working towards keeping the harmonious life and also how it is important to protect the integrity of the Church, which is indeed something very valuable.
“Now the question of interfaith is also part of the conversation, and we have seen how the Catholic and Anglican Churches promote even greater ecumenical action,” he said.
Ian was also impressed by the Anglican community in Sarawak, which began in 1848 with the arrival of Bishop Francis Thomas McDougall.
“People are proud of being Christian, proud of one’s history and the history of the Anglican Church. Then there is the willingness to carry it forward, to transmit it to other generations.
“I wish to congratulate the Anglican Diocese of Kuching for the missionary work and for protecting the rich and varied cultures of the Church,” he said.
Ian also found the hospitality received during his visit to Sarawak to be something he would never forget.
“The richness of this place, the different cultures, and the heart for hospitality. The hospitality, you have to keep it, don’t lose it,” he said.
He explained that his mandate to travel the Anglican Communion from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Justin Welby, and the Board of Governors, is to ensure the Anglican Centre in Rome will not only become known but also a home of the Anglican Communion.
“With the Anglican Centre in Rome, there is the possibility for the clergy and the laypeople to come and study, and to organise pilgrimages.
“The Anglican Centre is a place of encounter and a place of learning,” he said.
When explaining how the Centre came to being, he pointed out an understanding of the history of the Anglican Church is needed.
Ian tries playing a traditional Iban ketebong drum at a longhouse in Po Ai, Melugu. — Photo via Facebook/Diocese of Kuching
“For 500 years, the Church of England has separated itself from the Church of Rome for many reasons and that had caused a lot of hurt, sadness and also persecution against the other, and the cultivation of false perception. That had prevailed for a very long time. Instead of being brothers and sisters under the Lordship of Christ, we were not only separated but we became enemies.
“But there were men of goodwill in the 18th, 19th centuries, who were looking at how they could respond to the longing of Christ that we all may be one, so they started to meet with each other, to encounter with each other, and also to have dialogues and to create a relationship grounded in friendship,” he said.
Ian explained that led to the1921 Malines Conversations, a series of informal talks between the Catholic Church and the Church of England, which continues today.
“The Conversations are informal but they have nurtured, nourished, and brought about a greater understanding that created some mutual recognition of the other. That prepared us for what would happen at the Vatican, the Second Vatican Council. Pope John XXIII was courageous to call the Council and started the reform. Out of this reform, ecumenism formed part of it.
“There were people from the Church of England who were observers at this Vatican Council. One of them was the Bishop of Ripon, John Moorman, who thought it would be good to bring a permanent and visible presence of the Anglican Communion at the heart of Roman Catholicism,” he said.
Ian is seen with Bishop of the Anglican Church in Sarawak and Brunei the Rt Revd Datuk Danald Jute and ladies from the Orang Ulu community at the Miri City Christmas Parade. — Photo via Facebook/Dan Jute
Ian pointed out that it was sealed by a symbolic gesture from Pope Paul VI when he gave his Episcopal ring to the Archbishop of Canterbury.
“The Anglican Centre in Rome was established to bring about that symbol into concrete realisation of a relationship that would bear the fruits for the glory of God and that would respond to the longing of Christ that all may be one.
“The Anglican Centre was established in 1966 and its calling is to be a place of encounter, a place of hospitality, a place of mutual learning, a place of prayer and a place that would represent not only the Anglican Communion but also the Archbishop of Canterbury,” he said.
He encouraged the Anglican Communion to learn more about the centre by visiting https://www.anglicancentreinrome.org/.
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