News of the dismissal of Sister Lucy of the Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC) came as quite a shock to me. She is one of the faces of the protests against Bishop Franco Mullakal. The case against the bishop is in court and he has been granted bail while the courts deliberate on whether he is innocent or guilty of the charges leveled at him. It is natural to assume that Sr. Lucy’s dismissal is in someway related to Fr. Mullakal’s case. While I cannot comment on either the case against Fr. Mullakal nor on whether her involvement in the case has anything to do with her dismissal, there are a few related points I think we should consider.
The statement announcing her dismissal mention that apart from she her part in the protests, she has been writing and publishing poems, learned to drive, and has purchased a car. While the FCC might have very good reasons to dismiss someone for these activities, to a lay person standing outside and looking in, this seems shocking. It almost seems like the church wants to clamp down on any dissenting voices. The message seems to be, “Toe our line, or else…”
As I considered Sr. Lucy’s dismissal, I couldn’t help but remember Yuval Noah Harari’s book, Sapiens. In the book, Yuval demolishes the myth of the good shepherd. To make the flock compliant, the shepherd usually culls the untameable and curious first. So, it is the meek and pliant that get to reproduce. The aim is to eventually have a flock that cannot (will not) think for itself and will look to the shepherd for everything. He introduces us to shepherds who cut off the nose of pigs so they cannot smell. This ensures they cannot find food on their own and are, hence, dependent on the shepherd. Such actions to selectively breed for meek and pliant herds are common and easily found.
However, I doubt this is what Jesus meant when he compared himself to the shepherd.
Talking about Jesus and his message – the New Testament tells us that Jesus gave us one commandment to make all other commandments redundant – Do unto others as you would have them do to you.
I would urge the church to consider this decision from the one law and commandment that their God gave them and measure their action against that to see if it passes muster as what Jesus would have wanted.
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