Higher powers of the country are ordained by the Holy God (Holy Bible, Romans 13:1).
The Honourable Lahore High Court has given a major decision against the appointment of Bishop Nadeem Kamran and has declared the appointment unconstitutional and illegal. We should respect our government, and gentlemen should not fight among themselves. This issue should have been resolved at the time the appointment was announced, before the holy ordination. Once his ordination was blessed and his installation took place, he became an anointed man of God. To speak against a man of God is something very serious, and to lay hands against him is something the Holy God does not tolerate. This is clearly shown in the Book of Samuel, when King Saul was thirsty for David’s blood. When David found Saul alone in the cave, he could have killed his enemy, yet he spared Saul’s life, saying that he could not lay hands on the Lord’s anointed.
When I was working in Lahore for a daily newspaper, I had a good friend who was a magistrate in the District Court. Whenever I visited him, he would ask me to sit beside him and would tease me, saying, “Javed, what is the matter that cases of your padres are more than those of criminals?” At the time, I used to laugh, but inwardly I felt deeply ashamed.
Now, in this matter, it has been revealed that our clergy remain the same: no respect for the Church, no respect for ordination, no respect for installation. Differences will always exist, but is it not possible to resolve them at the church level? The problem arises when the congregation approaches external authorities, often aligned with one side.
We should first approach church authorities, and in the absence of such authorities at the Pakistan level, then approach the government. As citizens, we must understand that church administration is not entirely separate from the government. It is the duty of the government that, if there is a problem in an institution and people begin fighting among themselves, the government may be requested to intervene. When complaints reveal irregularities, the Honourable Court passes its verdict accordingly and declares actions unconstitutional. The Court decides on the basis of evidence placed before it. The Bishop has the right to approach a higher forum to prove his innocence.
It must be remembered that the Honourable Lahore High Court did not dismiss the Bishop himself; it dismissed the process through which he was elected. If the Honourable Court delivered this verdict, it did so on solid legal grounds, based on the matter presented before it by the complainants. At the same time, church matters, in principle, do not fall within the ordinary purview of the judiciary of Pakistan.
However, the church leadership should be ashamed that matters have come to this point. The Church of Pakistan is spiralling down spiritually, and this is due to the collective failure of all leaders—both the ruling group and the opposition. If there were differences, they should have been resolved within the church premises.
- TALI was created as Archbishop.
- The Church of Pakistan should work seriously on its constitution.
- The Church of Pakistan does not have a proper authority to whom members can approach to resolve disputes.
- The Synod of the Church of Pakistan should be reconstituted.
- All bishops of the Church of Pakistan—their qualifications and testimonials of secular and theological education—should be properly verified.
- Retired pastors and bishops should not be allowed to intervene in church affairs; they should confine themselves to prayer.
- Retired clergy should not be allowed to interfere in financial matters.
- The current Synod of the Church of Pakistan is a defunct body; multiple amendments made to extend retirement age and to benefit certain bishops have rendered the Synod ineffective and without proper direction.
All churches and all Christians should pray for unity in these days. The clergy itself has become the source and cause of disunity for the sake of worldly power and financial matters.
May the Holy God and my Lord Jesus Christ bless your pastors and bless them to serve Him and His people.