Features

Popes and Cardinals

Published

2 years ago

2024/04/28

Thilina Walpola

Hulugalle family at an audience with the Pope

(Excerpted from Selected Journalism by HAJ Hulugalle)

The enthusiasm generated by the election of a new Pope may give the impression that the 500 million Roman Catholics – sometimes derisively called Papists – are a separate species of human beings. That is not the impression I carried away, after a stay of over five years in Rome. Roman Catholics are, I am certain, like the rest of us, capable of all the follies to which human frailty exposes men and women.

The Pope does not dictate the policies of governments; not even those of the Government of Italy which, in recent times has been successively totalitarian, conservative, middle-of – the-road, and left of center.

The Pope himself can be a liberal or a conservative, as the history of the papacy has shown. Pope John was hailed by Mr. Khrushchev, who is very discriminating in these matters, as a man of peace. The new Pope is generally regarded as a progressive. deeply interested in social reform. My impression gained in Rome, is that the Catholic Church expects, indeed insists upon, its members taking their religion seriously, and the Pope is the pastor of the flock under God’s guidance.

There are two large statues of St. Peter and St. Paul in the square of the great Basilica of the Vatican. St. Peter was crucified, not a hundred yards from where these statues stand. It is of interest to note that this happened in the reign of the Emperor Claudius, about the time when, according to Pliny, the Roman historian, three ambassadors from Ceylon visited Rome. St. Paul, too, died in Rome. Since then Rome has been the heart of Christendom.

Though my dealings were with the Italian government, I had many contacts with the hierarchy of the Church. It so happened that I was living in Rome, at an important moment in the history of the Church. I hope you will pardon me if I now draw on a few personal experiences. I was in the square outside the Pope’s summer palace in Castel Gandolfo, a few miles from Rome, when Pius XII was dying, ending a reign of 19 years. I stood with the crowd when his body was taken in solemn procession through the streets of the city to the Vatican, and I was Ceylon’s representative at the funeral.

I was among the many thousands present in St. Peter’s Square when the white smoke from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel announced the election of a new Pope, after three days of inconclusive voting. I was present when Cardinal Canali appeared in the balcony of the basilica and announced that a new Pope had been elected, and that his name would be John XXIII. I was also Ceylon’s representative at the coronation of the new Pope. A few days later, he received the Commonwealth representatives and had a short conversation with each one of us.

During four years, I saw Pius XII on many occasions. I often accompanied Ministers and other VIP’s from Ceylon who wished to see the Pope and receive his blessing. He was a saintly man, somewhat aloof, but with a strong personality. He spoke several languages, one of which was English. I liked above all the public audiences at Castel Gandolfo where he spoke from an upper floor to his listeners congregated in the cortile, what in Sinhalese we would call the ‘Meda Midula’.

The universality of the Church is never felt more than at these public audiences. Men from every nation on earth and, it must be added, from every religion, are usually present. Also on the steps of St. Peter’s, on any Sunday morning, you can be sure of seeing men and women from all parts of the world. I rarely failed to meet one or more Ceylonese whenever I was there on a Sunday morning at any time of the year. They were not always Christians.

Shortly after I arrived in Rome, Monsignor Montini was consecrated Archbishop of Milan, in succession to Cardinal Schuster, who had played a difficult and heroic part during the German occupation and the last days of Mussolini. Montini’s influence was felt both in and outside the Vatican after he left Rome. He had been one of the two Secretaries who assisted Pius XII, the other being Monsignor Tardini.

Pius XII had not appointed a Cardinal Secretary of State since the death of Cardinal Maglione in 1944, and preferred to direct the affairs of the Church personally, rather than nominate a Secretary of State who, in the Vatican government, is Foreign Minister. For the next 10 years Montini was both Prime Minister and the closest associate of Pius XII. It is recorded that both Montini and Tardini refused to be made Cardinals at the consistory of 1953, saying that they preferred to work by the side of the Pope.

There was, however, much speculation when Montini was appointed Archbishop of Milan, the great industrial city of northern Italy, with its powerful trade unions and Communist cells. “He is my gift to Milan”, the Pope had said.

Montini and Tardini had worked in great harmony but they were two different types. Tardini, who continued in the Vatican Secretariat until his death two or three years ago, was a cheerful Neapolitan, cracking jokes and speaking his mind, and slow to make innovations. Montini was a northerner, an intellectual, soft-spoken and deliberate, an accomplished diplomat. He was not afraid of change and had a brother in the progressive wing of the Christian Democrat Party.

Mrs Hulugalle with the diplomatic community being received by the Holy Father

It is not usual for a Secretary of State to succeed a Pope under whom he has served. Pacelli, who became Pius XII, was an exception. When Montini was made Archbishop of Milan, there were many who said that, in making the appointment, the Pope showed that he expected Montini to succeed him. Strictly speaking no Pope can nominate his successor. But it was expected that, when Montini was made a Cardinal, in due course and given the red hat, he would be papabile – that is, capable of being made Pope. But when Pius XII died Monsignor Montini was still without a red hat. He had not become a Cardinal. All Popes since Urban XI elected in 1378, however, have been Cardinals. Thus, Montini was not papabile after all.

It may be said that God works in a mysterious way to achieve his purposes. The papacy of John XXIII was interposed between those of Pacelli (i.e. Pius XII) and Montini (now Paul VI), the two men who had worked so closely together for 10 years. Pope John was 77 when he was elected and it was expected that his papacy would be one of transition. But in fact it was a historical interlude – if interlude it can be called – with far-reaching implications and consequences.

Montini’s name appeared at the head of the list of Cardinals created by John XXIII. When a Pope dies he sometimes leaves two or three names in a sealed envelope to his successor containing the names of persons he had intended to appoint to the Sacred College. They are the Cardinals in “petto”- in his breast. It may be that Montini was a Cardinal “in petto” at the time of the death of Pius XII.

Montini’s home town of Brescia is in the north of Italy, near the beautiful Lake Garda. Bergamo, the nearest town to Pope John’s home, is about equidistant from Brescia and Milan. But the background of the present Pope (Paul VI) is different from that of his predecessor, though both had what perhaps Pius XII lacked, and that is, the common touch.

Montini’s early friends included the unconventional and saintly Mayor of Florence, Giorgio La Pira – whom I knew well, Father Dossetti, a mystic and well known social reformer, and the former Prime Minister Amintore Fanfani.

So much has been written, and will be written about the new Pope, that it seems unnecessary for me to try to say more about him.. Let me, for a moment, take you back to the coronation of John XXIII four and a half years ago.

One would be tempted to call the coronation of the Pope the Greatest Show on Earth were the description not too trite and were it not a solemn and sacred ceremony. As a special representative I had a close view of the proceedings but this is of course not the place or time to describe it. Princes of royal blood, Presidents and Prime Ministers of Catholic countries, Foreign Ministers like Mr. Foster Dulles of America, and the Catholic Duke of Norfolk were among the official representatives.

I can recall the faces of the Cardinals, starting from Siri of Genoa in his early fifties, to Rodriguesz of Santiago, Chile in his nineties. A very few of them, like Cardinal Canali, came from aristocratic families.

The papacy is no longer the monopoly of the aristocracy as it was in the Middle Ages. Pius X the former Cardinal Sarto and John XXIII came from simple peasant families. Pope John is said to have made the joke that there are three ways of losing money: wine, women and agriculture; and that his father chose the dullest way of the three. It is more likely that the joke was made up by Romans for they are given to making jests about their Popes.

Personally, I cannot deplore the rich Mediaeval Popes. Much of the beauty of Rome, Florence and other historic Italian cities, is the result of their culture and munificence. The Popes of recent times are no doubt more spiritual but the Renaissance Popes were more magnificent patrons of art and learning.

I know my way about Rome as well as any man, and I speak from first-hand knowledge. For five years I lived on the periphery of the Borghese Gardens, one of the loveliest features in the city. It owed its existence to Pope Paul V, a member of the Borghese family. Not hundred yards from our house was the country residence of Julius III, who was born in 1550. It is an architectural gem in a fine state of preservation. The Medici palace in Rome is now the French Academy, the Farnese houses the French Embassy.

The palaces of the Colonnas, the Dorias, Orsini, Corsini, Barberini, Ruspoli, Odescalchi and Aldobrandini families contained fine collections of paintings and sculpture to which the public have access. The Chigi Palace now houses the offices of the Prime Minister of Italy and his staff. The hills round Rome, the Critelli Romani as they are called, contained many beautiful country houses or villas of the nobility which contributed their quota of Cardinals and one or more Popes.

As I was observing the solemn and beautiful coronation ceremony at St. Peter’s in Rome, I said to myself that never again will a Pope be elected simply because he came from a noble and influential family. He could come from the lesser nobility like Pacelli, from the peasantry like Roncalli or be the son of a newspaper editor like Montini. But he must have the piety and personality which mark him out from his peers for the leadership of five hundred million souls.

(This article was first published in July, 1963)

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Features

The hard challenge of clinching a political settlement in the Middle East

Published

21 hours ago

2026/07/23

Sahan Weerasooriya

Bruised hearts: Displaced Palestinian civilians in the Gaza.(Photo by Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Despite some sections of the Trump administration persisting with the view that the possibility could not be entirely ruled out of there being a diplomatic solution to the current US-Iran hostilities in West Asia, the skeptic could not be blamed for thinking otherwise. The intensity, scale and frequency of the tit-for-tat strikes by the antagonists over the past few days against selected military targets and civilian infrastructure in particular in West Asia make the adoption of this stance excusable.

The continuing hostilities render the mentioning of the MOU signed between the warring parties in mid-June a laughable matter. While it could very well be that the foes are wishing privately for a cessation of hostilities before long, what seems to be uppermost on their minds right now is to negotiate with each other from a position of strength. This strategy compels them to incapacitate each other militarily to the extent possible, lest they have to concede too much to each other during negotiations. Hence the stepped-up hostilities.

However, even on the question of there being a negotiated political settlement in the West Asian theatre in the longer term, the skeptic could come to be seen as scoring over the optimist. Developments on the ground account for this.

At the time of writing Israel’s Netanyahu government is going ahead in fairly care-free fashion with the establishment of more Jewish settlements in the Gaza and the West Bank, and it’s all happening under the apparently complacent gaze of the US. In fact, some quarters estimate that Israel is in control of some 65% of the Gaza Strip. Ethnic cleansing, that is, is being drastically stepped-up.

Accordingly, in terms of the power relations of West Asia, the world is almost back to the status quo of the late forties of the last century when the state of Israel was established and the Palestinians were reduced to a microscopic minority in the land they came to inhabit. Therefore, even the impartial observer would be compelled to ask: ‘Will a negotiated peace be ever possible in the Middle East?’

The humanist in the observer would prefer to answer this question in the affirmative and it is indeed the ideal stance to adopt considering the staggering human and material costs of the conflict. But the way ahead to peace could be expected to be highly hazardous and arduous. Among other odds, it would also prove an uphill endeavour to win minds and hearts.

The US’ Trump administration would need to be counted out in this pursuit. This is on account of the fact that it has been far too wayward in its management of West Asian affairs in particular over the past couple of years. Given its unpredictable character it is a matter for conjecture whether it could be counted on to live up to its commitments.

Moreover, Israel could be expected to ‘go it alone’ in the Middle East regardless of whether US help is coming or otherwise. It has indicated as much in recent times and Israel could be doubted on this score only at the doubter’s peril. Because time and again Israel has demonstrated that it could steadfastly defend its interests even single-handedly in the Middle East. History bears this out.

However, a durable alliance with the US would stand Israel in good stead. On the matter of military and intelligence assistance, for example, the US’s help proved invaluable for Israel in the past and going forward this is bound to be so as well. Moreover, it is unlikely that the Trump administration would give up on Israel, considering that a strong Israel is crucial for the furtherance of the US’ strategic and economic interests in West Asia.

But whether the above factors would have a considerable bearing on the question of working out a durable solution to the West Asian tangle is an entirely different matter. Israel, as in the case of the Palestinian enclaves, is acutely security conscious and would need to satisfy itself fully that it could live in a security environment that would guarantee its complete safety, going forward.

The Middle East is badly in need of another peace effort on the lines of the Oslo Accords of the mid-nineties that brought the key actors together and helped hammer out a solution that addressed some of their notable concerns. To be sure, that process did not prove to be the ideal answer to the tangle, but it yielded some respite to the region and drove home that one-time sworn foes could indeed negotiate with a degree of success. The West Bank authority, although falling short of fulfilling some key Palestinian aspirations, is testimony that a degree of success is possible if the intent is right.

Given the current realities of West Asia, peace-making is bound to be an uphill challenge. The violence faced in recent times by the Palestinian community, in particular, has been nothing less than mind-numbing. Merciless has been the violence visited on them by the Israeli side. In such circumstances, durable peace in the region could smack of an idealist’s dream.

Nevertheless, there needs to be urgently, a meeting of minds over the divides. The US would need to be counted out as an honest broker in bringing the sides together but the rest of the West would do well to step up to the challenge.

In this exercise the onus would be on the world’s democracies to take the initiative and doggedly stay the course. An acceptable combination would be the EU and the UN. Given their credentials, the main sides in West Asia ought to find them the least controversial.

Even if the relevant institutional and political arrangements could be shored up to take a reconciliation process forward, winning hearts and minds for the peace drive would prove a grueling challenge. Over the past few years in particular tens of thousands of hearts and minds on both sides of the divide have been bruised badly in the runaway murderous violence that has come to define the Middle East.

These badly scarred personalities would need to experience healing without much delay. It is therefore a multi-faceted challenge that is at hand. Since wide-ranging expertise would be needed in the healing process, people’s participation in peace-making, ranging over the divides, would need to be made a durable reality. It will be a time for enthroning humanity and ensuring the rejection of all forms of violence and coercion.

Features

Amazing Thailand …right here in Colombo

Published

21 hours ago

2026/07/23

Sahan Weerasooriya

For many Sri Lankans, Thailand is the go-to holiday — beaches, temples, food, and that famous warm hospitality.

In fact, I’ve been to Amazing Thailand 24 times myself, and was honoured with the Friends of Thailand International Media Award by the Tourism Authority of Thailand for promoting Thai tourism.

The good news I have for you today is that you don’t even need a passport to get a taste of Amazing Thailand.

The Royal Thai Embassy, in Colombo, is bringing a vibrant slice of Thailand, to the city of Colombo, with Thai Festival 2026 — a cultural experience like never before.

Whether you are an avid enthusiast of Thai culture, a total novice, or simply just interested in exploring foreign cultures, Thai Festival 2026 is going to be the perfect opportunity for you to get more than just a glimpse into one of the most celebrated cultural heritages in South East Asia. And ENTRANCE IS FREE.

The festival will be held on the 1st and 2nd of August, 2026, at Siam Nivasa, 43, C.W.W. Kannangara Mawatha, Colombo 7, and the East Parking Area, of the Colombo Municipal Council, from 11:00am to 5:00pm.

Both days will be full of live entertainment, and dispersed throughout with Thai cultural displays, including exhilarating traditional dance performances and breathtaking Muay Thai demonstrations.

Exploring art and craft specific to Thailand, tasting irresistible authentic Thai cuisine, and playing arcade games, are just a few more fun-filled events available for visitors at the festival premises.

An array of Thai products will also be available for purchase.

While at the festival, you will find Sri Lankan Alumni from Thai universities sharing their experiences with you and willing to answer any questions you might have, related to studying abroad in Thailand.

You can also register for the Muay Thai workshop that will be happening on the 7th and 8th of August, 2026, in Colombo.

Irresistible authentic Thai cuisine

Visitors can also stand a chance to win traditional Thai souvenirs, get exclusive photo opportunities, and, the big one — to enter the raffle draw, at the end of each day, for the grand prize of an all-inclusive round trip to Thailand.

Be sure to avail yourself of this exceptional opportunity and add a cultural spin to your weekend.

To keep up with the latest updates on Thai Festival 2026, head over to the Thai Festival official social media pages.

The Royal Thai Embassy in Colombo official webpage:

https://colombo.thaiembassy.org

Official social media:

Facebook: @RTEColombo

Instagram: @thaiembassysrilanka

Thai Festival official social media:

Facebook: Thai Festival in Colombo

Instagram: @thaifestival_colombo

TikTok: @thaifestival.incolombo

Features

Thicker, stronger hair …

Published

21 hours ago

2026/07/23

Sahan Weerasooriya

Hair fall, in this heat, can be so frustrating, and noticing a thin patch is even more worrying. The good news is … yes, with a little care and kitchen ingredients, you can nourish your scalp and support healthy regrowth.

Try these four easy home remedies … even our grandmothers trusted:

* Coconut Oil and Curry Leaves Tonic:

Warm 04 tablespoons of coconut oil, with a handful of curry leaves, till the leaves turn black. Cool, strain, and massage into scalp 02-03 times a week. Leave for 01 hour, or overnight.

Why:

Coconut oil deeply nourishes, while curry leaves help strengthen roots and add shine.

* Onion Juice for Spot Treatment:

With cotton, dab the juice of 01 small onion, directly on the thin/bald patches. Leave for 20-30 minutes, and then wash with a mild shampoo. Use twice a week.

Why:

Rich in sulfur, onion juice helps boost blood circulation to the scalp.

* Aloe Vera and Castor Oil Mask:

Mix 02 tablespoons of fresh aloe vera gel and 01 tablespoon castor oil and apply to the scalp, focusing on thinning areas. Leave for 45 minutes, and then rinse with cool water.

Why:

Aloe vera soothes the scalp, while castor oil coats hair to make it look thicker.

* Fenugreek and Curd Strengthening Pack:

You will need 02 tablespoons fenugreek seeds, soaked overnight, and 02 tablespoons plain curd.

Grind to a paste, apply to scalp for 30 minutes, and then wash.

Why:

Fenugreek strengthens strands and reduces breakage.

Extra Tips for Healthy Hair:

Avoid tight hairstyles that pull on the scalp.

Eat iron and protein rich foods: greens, dhal, eggs, fish.

Use lukewarm water, not hot.

Be gentle when brushing and drying.