The Catholic Church has demanded repentance from a leading liberation theologian priest who faces excommunication for a controversial book on the Virgin Mary published three years ago.
Archbishop Nicholas Marcus Fernando of Colombo said the church will take back Father Tissa Balasuriya (72) if he "repents" and reaffirms his faith in Catholicism.
Dr Balasuriya, a member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), denies allegations that his book, Mary and Human Liberation, hurt the feelings of believers. He has appealed to the Pope after being told last week that he will be excommunicated unless he signs a fresh profession of faith.
The archbishop said in a statement yesterday that Dr Balasuriya would automatically be excommunicated if he refused to sign the profession of faith. This applied "whether it is a simple Catholic like most of our faithful or a secular intellectual who claims to be a Catholic theologian," the archbishop said.
Dr Balasuriya, who is attending a theological conference in Manila, was not available for comment. However, his supporters said he had already signed the profession of faith of Pope Paul VI, and he maintains it was against his conscience to sign the new one the Vatican had drawn up for him.
The dedication on Dr Balasuriya's book says: "To my mother Victoria Balasuriya, 1901 to 1985, the congregation of the OMI, also my mother since 1945, and all the women who have enriched my life."
Dr Balasuriya said recently he had no opportunity to discuss his book objectively.
The bishops of Sri Lanka wrote to him in May 1994 claiming there were "glaring errors" in his book, which "downplayed the validity of sacred tradition . . . rather portraying tradition as some sort of unwarranted creation of some self-interested church men," they said.