Although published in 1990, Mary and Human Liberation had not created too many ripples until the Vatican decided it was heresy and excommunicated its 72-year-old Sri Lankan author, Father Tissa Balasuriya, earlier this year. Says the defiant padre: "I am fighting against the excommunication. I am not asking for a pardon, I am asking for justice. I want those who did this to be tried."
It was the Vatican Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Roman Catholic Church´s doctrinal watchdog, that issued the notification excommunicating Fr Balasuriya, a priest for 51 years and widely respected in Sri Lanka for his grassroots links. On 5 January, the Congregation issued a statement saying Fr Balasuriya had incurred the severest form of excommunication, or Latae sententiae, because he distorted Catholic dogma. The last person excommunicated in Sri Lanka was the reverend Leonard Feeney—an American—in the 1950s for an alleged statement he made against salvation outside the church.
Fr Balasunya´s most recent book (he is author of nine) ruffled the papal cape because it challenges fundamental Catholic beliefs related to baptism, original sin and immaculate conception. The Vatican has accused Fr Balasuriya of questioning the validity of sacred tradition and of minimizing the validity of faith. It says the priest´s presentation of original sin questions the basic teachings of the church regarding Jesus Christ and his mother Mary and casts serious doubts on the divinity of Christ, the role of Christ as redeemer, and the privileged position of Mary in the history of salvation.
Fr Balasuriya refutes it all, saying, "I firmly state that I have never denied, rejected or deviated from any doctrine of the Catholic faith. It follows that I have not committed any form of heresy. Therefore, there is no basis in fact or in law to make a declaration that I have incurred excommunication."