Catholic Bishop Emeritus Dr Paul Tan Chee Ing said he was appalled by the extent of Gerakan Youth deputy leader Andy Yong’s ignorance of the Christian churches’ stand on Bersih 5.

In a statement issued yesterday, Yong criticised Christian clergymen whom he claimed took a partisan stand on polls reform advocacy group Bersih’s decision to organise a protest march in Kuala Lumpur last Saturday.

“To the extent one can decipher Andy Yong’s meaning from the muddle of his dysfunctional English, he said he thinks Christian clergymen had urged their congregations to wear Bersih colours to a prayer service in church and from there both priests and laity fanned out into the streets as partisan supporters of a political cause,” said the Jesuit-trained priest.

Bishop Paul said the truth was more nearly that Christian clerics saw the Bersih demand for clean and fair elections and corruption-free governance as inseparable from the social justice that all Christians must struggle for in this world.

“Churches’ decision to support Bersih’s aims was not mixing religion with politics as Andy Yong claims,” said the former head of the Catholic Church in the Malacca-Johor diocese.

“The churches’ stand was a projection of the social justice values of the Gospel and not a matter of dragging it into being a partisan supporter of political parties and their agendas,” iterated the prelate.

“Catholic clergy are forbidden from taking part in politics. They can voice support for social justice ideals but cannot be politically aligned players of the game,” said Bishop Paul.

“The laity can take part in politics but the clergy must stay above the partisan fray,” he clarified.

Bishop Paul said from what Andy Yong is quoted as saying, the Gerakan leader is in the wrong political coalition because he insists that religion must not be mixed with politics.

“Even a cursory survey of the Malaysian political landscape is enough to tell you which among the political parties fuses religion with politics,” argued the cleric.

Bishop Paul said the stand of the churches on the Bersih march was prompted by a desire to struggle for the social justice values of the Christian message of fostering a peace premised on justice.

“That message can invite misunderstanding and hostility, the endurance of which is part of the Christian struggle for a more authentic existence,” asserted the bishop.