A resolve to “weed out injustice, defend the falsely accused, speak out for the voiceless, and bring justice to the wronged” was strengthened during a prayer service for Father Stan Swamy at the Archbishop's House on Wednesday evening.
Prayers for “justice and peace” were held in churches across the city at 6pm. The Archbishop of Calcutta, Thomas D’Souza, attended the prayer at Morning Star College in Barrackpore.
Hymns were sung and candles were lit and in some churches Father Stan's life and work were remembered during the prayer.
The 84-year-old, ailing Jesuit priest passed away while in custody after being repeatedly denied bail. His death was announced while a court was hearing his prayer for bail on health grounds.
Many allege the death of Father Stan, who worked for years among some of India’s poorest of the poor, amounted to institutional murder.
The prayer for Father Stan Swamy at the Archbishop’s House.
“Today we strengthen our resolve to stand up and weed out injustice, defend the falsely accused, speak out for the voiceless, and bring justice to the wronged for we are all brothers and sisters…. Anyone in need is our neighbour and, as Christians, we will stand with all who are wronged, treated unequally and unjustly. Thank you, Father Stan, for your inspiration,” said Father Dominic Gomes, the vicar general of the archdiocese of Calcutta, who conducted the prayer at the Archbishop’s House.
Father Gomes later told Metro that it was no longer enough to be “onlookers or silent observers”. It is “time for action” to fight injustice, he said.
“Silence in the face of blatant injustice is cowardice,” Father Gomes said during the prayer.
“Father Stan and many like him, with whom we stand in solidarity today, show us that between the pre-dominant world culture of ‘silence and/or violence’ there is a way of ‘active non-violence’.”
The Jesuit Provincial of India, Reverend Stanislaus D'Souza, had on Tuesday urged people to mark July 28 as National Justice Day and to pay “deep respects” and carry forward the legacy of Father Stan.
The prayer service at St Xavier’s College.
Father Dominic Savio, the principal of St Xavier’s College, Calcutta, described Father Stan as a “crusader of peace”. He quoted Reverend Stanislaus D’Souza at a prayer service at the college: “It (Father Stan’s death) is an opportunity for us to pause, ponder and proceed boldly on our way.”
At all the services, the speakers reminded the audience that Father Stan struggled for the oppressed through legal, constitutional and peaceful means.
“His (Father Stan Swamy) was a struggle for all the oppressed everywhere totally through legal, constitutional and peaceful means. He was never a proponent of violence.… In life and death he remains a crusader of peace and reconciliation following the path of Jesus. Thus he remains a model for us all for reconciliation and peace, for justice and equality, for fraternity and harmony,” said Father Savio.
“We are here to pray for justice, peace, harmony, equality in the world, in India, in our place, in our hearts.”
At St Xavier’s College, the prayer was organised together with St Xavier’s Collegiate School. Priests, college staff and members of St Xavier’s College (Calcutta) Alumni Association and Alumnorum Societas (St Xavier’s School Old Boys’ Association) joined the prayer.
Father Thamacin Arulappan, the principal of St Xavier’s Collegiate School, and Father Jeyaraj Veluswamy, rector, were among those who offered their prayers.
The Catholic Association of Bengal held a service at Prabhu Jessu Girja, where “candles of hope were lit”.
“We pray that many other Stan Swamys are born and we carry forward what he left behind,” said Angelina Mantosh Jasnani, the president of the association.
At the Archbishop’s House, Father Gomes urged people to stand up for equality and justice in small ways in the parishes.
“It is applicable not only on public platforms, but that we all in our small and humble ways make a difference to the lives of those around us,” he said.
