Leadership conflict 'challenges synodality' in Bangladesh

Jul 03, 2024

DHAKA: Conflicts over leadership in Christian-run financial institutions that trigger disunity in the community in Bangladesh is a major challenge to establishing a Synodal Church, a top Church leader said.

“Though the Catholic Church is small in Bangladesh, we have found that factions develop over leadership in the mainly Bengali-dominated Christian communities, but also in some ethnic Christian communities,” said Archbishop Bejoy N. D’Cruze of Dhaka.

“This is not the Christian way of living,” the Oblate prelate said.

D’Cruze made the remarks during a press conference at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh (CBCB) center in the capital Dhaka on June 29.

The press meet marked the closure of a three-day national workshop on synodality for some 80 representatives from the country’s eight Catholic dioceses.

French Xaverian nun, Sister Nathalie Becquart, the Undersecretary of the Vatican’s Synod of Bishops and Salesian Father George Plathottam, secretary of the Office of Social Communication at the Federation of the Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC), jointly conducted the workshop.

The trainers touched on various topics that Catholic leaders from across Asia sorted out as "emerging realities" for Churches in Asia during the Continental Synod meeting in Bangkok held on Oct. 12-30, 2022 that drew representatives from 29 countries. It was followed up during another continental meeting on Feb. 24-26 last year.

The 40-page continental synod document, also known as "Bangkok Document" covers issues including migrants, refugees, and indigenous people displaced from their homelands, families, gender issues, the role of women, clericalism, youth, climate crisis, and interreligious dialogue.

The idea of a Synodal Church is walking together and discerning what the Holy Spirit is asking of the Church, Sister Becquart said.

It is a participatory way of living where both the clerics and laity participate in decision-making as well as share their lives and help each other for growing together, the nun explained.

Archbishop D’Cruze said enmity among Christian leaders entering elections in financial organizations such as cooperatives sow division in the minority community.

“Different groups [within Christian communities] have confrontational positions surrounding the elections. This is a malpractice of elections in many of the financial institutions,” D’Cruze said.

“There should not be such enmity or violent activities. This is not the way of Christianity. Such groupings prevent us from going forward in a Christian way,” he said.

Though cooperative elections are held in line with government regulations, Church leaders have been forced to deploy observers to ensure the enmity between rival groups does not spiral out of control, D’Cruze added.

Candidates in such elections should shun confrontational attitudes and adopt compromise, he insisted.

There are about 250 Christian-run cooperative credit unions across Bangladesh. Christians make up less than half a percent of about 170 million people in the Muslim-majority nation.

Cooperatives play a vital role in economic development of the Christian community, but they become a source of conflict mostly during elections, said Sanjeeb Drong, an ethnic Garo Catholic, rights activist and writer.

Drong was one of three observers nominated by the Archdiocese of Dhaka during the last election of the Christian Cooperative Credit Union Limited (CCCUL), the largest Christian-run cooperative based in Dhaka.

“What I have seen over the years is that some of the important cooperative unions’ elections got politicized. This means that leaders of the cooperatives are going to government ministers or even to court to address the problems of cooperatives,” he told UCA News on July 1.

Drong said there is a tendency among some leaders to cling to power because of financial and political gains, who don’t hesitate to indulge in corruption.

“Such ill practices generate social ills,” he said.

Drong alleged candidates sometimes pay voters to go to election centers from far off places and termed it a deplorable malpractice.

Besides nominating observers, the Church leaders also held dialogue with Christian leaders to avert conflicts, he said.

“This sort of dialogue is very important,” he added.

Nirmol Rozario, president of the Bangladesh Christian Association (BCA) and former president of the CCCUL said that Christians respect the laws of the land and cooperative elections are held democratically.

“If there is a consensus, leadership can be selected instead of elected,” he told UCA News.

“It is normal that there are challenges in the election process. If there is no challenge, a society cannot develop,” he said, adding that competition should never breed enmity.

Archbishop D’Cruze said during the workshop that lay participants opined for better opportunities to contribute to the decision-making process so the Church does not appear as a hierarchical body of priests and religious.

“Still now, many people think that the Church is the fathers, brothers and sisters. To change this mindset, the clergy and religious need to draw people closer to them and be more hospitable,” he added. --ucanews.com