Church mourns death of ecumenical stalwart

Church people in India and abroad last week mourned the death of Dr Kunchala Rajaratnam, a renowned ecumenical leader and former president of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI).

"As we mourn Dr Rajaratnam's passing, the WCC recognizes his invaluable contributions to the church and to society. Let me take this opportunity to express our deep condolences to his bereaved family and colleagues," Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), said while offering his condolences. "In this Easter season, we pray that they will find comfort and peace in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life."

Dr Rajaratnam passed away on April 7 at the age of 89. The funeral service was held on Saturday, April 10 at Gurukul Auditorium in Chennai.

Besides NCCI, Dr Rajaratnam also served as the Asia Secretary of the Lutheran World Federation in Geneva, the Executive Secretary of the United Evangelical Lutheran Churches in India, chancellor of the Senate of Serampore University and director of the Gurukul Lutheran Theological Seminary.

Rev. Asir Ebenezer, Officiating General Secretary of the NCCI, in a statement, paid rich tribute to Dr Rajaratnam for leading the ecumenical movement in India "by example and from the front".

"Many of the unique firsts and fruits of the ecumenical movement can be attributed to the leadership of Dr Rajaratnam. He drove the NCCI to prioritise facilitation of socio-political involvement as the mission of the Church. Almost single-handedly Dr Rajaratnam made the NCCI adopt Dalit liberation as its core concern," Rev. Ebenezer recalled.

"I pray God to bestow the family, and also the Church and importantly the ecumenical movement in India, with a blessing – a blessing to capture, culture and continue the vision and mission of Dr Rajaratnam which will further the legacy and heritage of God that we have inherited in him," he added.

Lutheran World Federation (LWF) General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko paid tribute to Rajaratnam as a leader who "challenged his colleagues to redefine partnership in mission.

"He was forthright in his views and seldom compromised his commitments to justice and fairness. He did not mince his words and when necessary he spoke in capital letters," said Noko in a statement issued at the LWF headquarters in Geneva.

"Yet, even on those occasions, those of us who knew him well realized that deep down in his personality there was a softness that made him likable," he noted.

The general secretary said that in Rajaratnam's death, Lutherans and the ecumenical movement have lost "a voice in pursuit of justice."