Catholic Bishop Dr Paul Tan Chee Ing once again praised PAS MP Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa as a “modern-day St Francis of Assisi who has come to bring peace to our increasingly troubled land.”

The head of the Catholic Church in the Malacca-Johor diocese, who had previously lauded the parliamentarian for gestures of an ecumenical nature, today praised him for “promptly dousing out the embers of a potential flare-up between followers of two religions on account of the provocative remarks of an overzealous preacher”.

Bishop Paul ( right ) was referring to the federal legislator’s swift action in generating a photo opportunity depicting reconciliation between suitably contrite provocateur, Ustaz Shahul Hamid, and a random representative of the aggrieved party, Asokan Perumal, himself notable lately for gestures of an ecumenical nature.

“Praise God for these providential moments when the heart unites with the mind in a gesture of great panache,” remarked the Jesuit-trained prelate, after viewing on web news portals a photo of Mujahid sealing a handshake between a penitent Shahul and a reconciliatory Asokan.

“The photo and the sentiments accompanying it will go a long way in bringing pardon where there has been injury, in the fashion, truly, of St Francis of Asisi,” noted the bishop, a vocal advocate of inter-religious dialogue and ecumenism.

Francis was a 12th century Catholic saint revered for living out a life regarded as irenic in its depiction of the evangelical counsels of poverty, peace and forgiveness between warring parties, and - centuries before the matter became a modern-day concern - respect for the environment.   

“This man,” said Bishop Paul, referring to Mujahid, “daily augments the store of good in this country by his exertions on behalf of inter-religious understanding.

“By now most of us are aware that racial and religious toxins are constantly being disbursed in the educational and homiletic streams of this country,” said the bishop.

“Need we be surprised that now and then a match is struck against this tinder and a conflagration threatens, requiring someone of Mujahid’s disposition to douse it before it becomes an inferno?”

“A kind providence has given us this man but it will be a greater beneficence that gives us the courage and wisdom to impugn the perpetrators and clear out the toxins that befoul this land,” asserted the bishop.

“We must be grateful for the charisma of this man but must persevere in prayer and deed for the deliverance of this nation,” he urged.