If priest goes, we’ll leave too

The Roman Catholic Church could face an exodus from its St Patrick’s Church, Newton, in support of parish priest Fr Kennedy Swaratsingh.

Some 300 parishioners met  Tuesday evening to show Archbishop Edward Gilbert their firm disdain for allegations made against the priest about financial and personal impropriety. Some 30 people spoke in support of Fr Swaratsingh with one sole dissenter. It was a scene of repeated thunderous applause in support of the absent priest, with one speaker at the open mike even getting a standing ovation from others present. Supporting Swaratsingh were grandmothers, schoolchildren, a United States diplomat and a Carnival bandleader/school dean. Several speakers noted that this Easter certain persons wanted to “crucify” the priest.

The first speaker hit Archbishop Gilbert for damning a parish financial committee as a “smokescreen” without first having investigated, complaining this charge was also damaging to his reputation as a financial advisor and a member of that committee. The church exploded into thunderous applause (for Swaratsingh). Parishioners supported the priest against charges that in his preaching and teaching, he had introduced personal dimensions into the Liturgy which had shaken people, especially the young.

One woman said: “Isn’t the Gospel about giving personal testimony about our lives?”. A man effused: “Since Fr Kennedy has joined this church it has filled as never before. He speaks in a manner people can understand. He encouraged the youth and elderly to come out”. A woman said some elderly parishioners could not accept the changes brought by Fr Swaratsingh. Another woman said the charges had been brought by certain persons who had failed to usurp the priest, unlike previous “soft priests over the years that you could manipulate, control and buy”. She was loudly clapped.

As to charges that Fr Swaratsingh had once told his congregation about an “adult” television programme, a parishioner explained the priest had accidently seen it while switching channels, and that far from relishing it, Fr Swaratsingh had sympathetically lamented: “That is what our youths are faced with today”. A young woman contrasted Fr Swaratsingh to aloof priests, saying: “You could speak to him at any time. He brought us something we did not have — community spirit. We now have a new St Patrick’s family. I had stopped coming to church but now I am back. If Fr Kennedy leaves the church I don’t know what will happen”.

An elderly man said: “I am a sinner. When I come to church and hear Fr Swaratsingh I feel relieved”. A employee of the United States Embassy thanked Fr Swaratsingh for helping him and his wife during a difficult pregnancy, and lamented the intimidation the priest was now being subjected to. “The parish priest has taken what looked like a sick parish and worked night and day to bring back the parishioners. They’ve all come back”. A young woman warned the Archbishop: “This evening could turn somebody away from the Catholic Church. If he has to go, I am leaving, period!”. She was loudly clapped.  An elderly man said: “Fr Kennedy has already been publicly crucified. The time is now 8.30pm yet here we see people from all demographics, come out to support this man”.

A man who had known Fr Swaratsingh from his previous Morvant church of St Dominic’s rejected the charges of financial impropriety, saying: “That’s not him. He takes money from his own pocket to help pay the church. He is a holy man, filled with the Holy Spirit”. Two parishioners, one living in Arima and one in the west, said they regularly travelled to St Patrick’s to hear Fr Swaratsingh preach. A man who said he was 80-years old concluded the contributions by warning Archbishop Gilbert: “I didn’t expect tonight’s bacchanal. It reminded me of the bacchanal you had to face when the Holy Father chose you and they didn’t want you...I knew Fr Finbar Ryan and after him, his replacement was an Archbishop loved by all but respected by none.  I hope that will not be your fate”. 

After the hearing, Archbishop Edward Gilbert told reporters: “We will bring the report back to the Personnel Board and they will make a recommendation to me. I shall make a written statement on this and send it to all the media. I hope to have it done by the middle of Holy Week, i.e. the middle of next week. He assured Fr Swaratsingh would say Mass this weekend at St Patrick’s Church.  Asked to comment on the evening’s proceedings, he said: “I found it a very, very warm but truthful reception to the facts. One of the things that surfaced is, there is a concern about a divisive group in the parish that is involved in this process. That’s up to the local level to solve,” he added.