IN the past few weeks, I have been positively surprised by how the Malaysian government decided to relax the movement restrictions that so deeply have hurt lives and businesses so far. A growing number of scientific evidences shows how lockdowns have no significant impact on the Covid-19 spread; as far as an effective cure is not found, it seems that the best solution we have in hand is to allow near-normal lives while protecting the vulnerable, as claimed by the Great Barrington Declaration.

In line with this, Senior Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has recently stated that “life must go on” and that “we have to learn how to live with the virus”, hinting that the damage from a prolonged lockdown can be far greater than the ones directly related with Covid-19. It goes without saying, this does not mean that we have to live irresponsibly; quite the contrary: it is a call for a greater individual responsibility to step up in dealing with the necessary precautions while we try as much as possible to walk back to normality.

These progresses are very much welcome and with the Christmas week approaching we will see many parks to reopen, including Zoo Negara: nothing like open air and sun rays (Vitamin D) can be helpful in boosting our immune system, together with a good amount of Vitamin C. A cloud, however, sheds shadow on such a promising scenario: Archbishop Julian Leow Beng Kim announced that there will be no sacraments and no masses for Christmas, forcing Malaysian Catholics to be deprived of what they hold most dear during the most prominent period of the year, after they were forced to renounce to Easter earlier this year because we were in full lockdown. This is happening despite the latest government SOPs allow churches to be open.

Around the world the church is fighting against new restrictions from governments, while in Malaysia we find ourselves in the peculiar situation in which the suspension of masses is decided and prolonged by the archdioceses and not by the government.

Without downgrading the risk posed by the rise in Covid-19 infections, as a Catholic I ask His Grace the Bishop: what do we hold most dear? Can we really live a true life without sacraments for the fear of the virus? As a cancer patient, since 2016 I was forced to deal with the horizon of an early death in a very concrete way and I feel much more scared by the hypothesis that I may die without receiving the sacrament. 

What do we hold most dear? Is it not Jesus in the Eucharist that gives meaning to all our otherwise meaningless actions? Is it not Jesus Who gives meaning to our relationships, families, works? Should our faith experience and life be determined by fear or trust? Should we not live all our entire life by trusting that Jesus is holding our hands?

This does not mean to avoid the necessary precautions. But if there are SOPs for every little gesture of our daily routine, up to the absurdity that people really think they can escape death, are we not in the possibility to implement and enforce SOPs for our eucharistic life? What about the availability of more masses but of shorter duration?

Catholics should be witnesses of hope and love, bringing to the world the message of a life that defeated death. I then ask how it is possible that the Malaysian church gave up to this message, suggesting to the faithful that we should live in fear like mice hidden in our hole. Does this not mean that we do not believe any more in what we preach? 

 What is a safe life if it is deprived of meaning?

It is time for His Grace Bishop Leow to reflect upon these issues, recognising that he is forcing the faithful to live in a way that even the government is not asking them. And, most importantly, these decisions put doubts into faithful’s hearts. How is it possible that we can go to restaurants, supermarkets and zoos but we do not have access to What gives meaning to all these things? Even science is not supporting these choices anymore.

Time for a change of pace, dear Bishop Leow.. – December 18, 2020.

* Dr Carmelo Ferlito is Centre for Market Education CEO.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.