18th August 2008
PRESS STATEMENT ON THE
WARNING AND “SHOW CAUSE” LETTERS ISSUED BY THE HOME MINISTRY TO THE
HERALD
A series of warning letters culminating in a “show cause” letter
have been issued by the Home Ministry to the HERALD-The Catholic
Weekly in respect of articles carried by the paper which, according
to an official from the Home Ministry, were allegedly “politically
inclined and touched on Islamic issues”.
The Herald is a weekly publication printed by
the Catholic Church in Malaysia. It carries news of current affairs
and religious and educational articles with a view to propagating
the Catholic faith. The Herald is sold in churches and not by
newsvendors. The Herald has a circulation of 13,000 copies per week
and a readership estimated at 50,000.
In seeking to control the contents of the
Herald, the Home Ministry’s warning and “show cause” letters go
against Article 3 (1), Article 10 (1) (a) and Article 11 (3) (a) of
the Federal Constitution i.e. the right to freely practice one’s
religion, the general freedom of speech and expression and the
right of a religious group to manage its own affairs. Such controls
would deprive the Catholic community of current information and
education relating to their faith and such an act by the
authorities is tantamount to a curtailment of religious freedom.
The Honourable Home Minister has said that the
Herald should restrict its articles to matter pertaining to
religion only. In an article carried by the Sun on 14.8.2008, he
was quoted as stating:
“If you are to write on religion, then you are
supposed to touch on matters pertaining to:
It is significant that the Honourable Minister
referred to matters pertaining to the adherence to God, followers
and anything related to the divine mission. The Catholic Church
teaches that it is the duty of Christians to contribute along with
the civil authorities to the good of the society in a spirit of
truth, justice, solidarity and freedom. This contribution of
Christians to society is rooted in love. This love manifests itself
in social and political charity. Social charity is to seek the good
of all people not only as individuals but as a larger, social
community. In order to promulgate social charity, it is necessary
to organise and structure society in order that no member of
society is left in need. Organising and structuring society
requires the application of political charity. This teaching in
found in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church and
for the purpose of easy reference this can be read on pages 207 &
208 under the section “The Way of Love”.
The reporting in the Herald is in line with the
teachings of the Catholic Church on social and political charity
and on each Catholic’s mission as an adherent of the faith.
Ultimately, the interpretation of what
constitutes religious matters should be left to the leaders and
adherents of the faith in question. The Home Ministry is not in a
position to dictate to Catholics (or for that matter, the
proponents of any other faith) the scope of their religion.
The Catholic Lawyers’ Society of Kuala Lumpur
calls on the Home Ministry to withdraw its warning and “show cause”
letters and maintain the Herald’s publishing permit.
Mabel Sabastian
President
Catholic Lawyers’ Society Kuala Lumpur
CATHOLIC WEEKLY DEFENDS
ITSELF
For more news, click
here
Dompok: Normal for 'Herald'
to touch on politics
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here
MALAYSIA SPAT ERUPTS OVER
CURBING RELIGIOUS DEBATE
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here
