THE EDITOR: Bruce Hamel in his letter to the Editor (Newsday, Tuesday July 22) addressed a number of questions to me with regard to my series Why Catholics leave the Church. His first question is to whether I could give in ‘points’ reasons for Catholics leaving, I need only one point and I find it in Bruce Hamel’s letter. He writes ‘our Church.’ Well it is not our Church. It is the Lord’s Church. We have not created it and we do not possess it. Since Bruce Hamel is unlikely to take my word for it I will quote Cardinal Kaspar: “It is he (Christ) who transmits life to the Church from generation to generation. The ecclesiastical magisterium is only a humble servant of his action. The Church is not purely an exterior body created by the community of believers … The Church can’t be made from below (but) not even the hierarchy, the Pope, the bishops, can think it’s they who ‘produce the Church.’’
It is this business that it is ‘our’ Church which accounts for our thumbing our nose at every Vatican directive which doesn’t suit us. We set out during slavery to construct ‘our’ Church with disastrous results. We continued to construct a respectable well-heeled Church excluding the modern day widow with her penny and the prostitute, a Church not of the Sacraments but of the priest Trini-wood star-ing, a charismatic Church, a Caribbean Church. None will work. It is the Lord’s Church. The second question that Bruce Hamel asks is the absence of references to the Bible in order to prove my thesis. I am neither a Muslim vis a vis the Koran nor a Christian Fundamenta-list whose Faith is made and rests on, the Bible. I am a Catholic. Because I am a Catholic I am wary of personal interpretations of the Bible. I read the Bible ‘in Church,’ ie, within the lived experience and traditions of the Apostles and of the People of God. Because I am a Catholic I place great store on reasons, or if you like on the ‘two wings Faith and Reason’ to quote Cardinal Newman or indeed the Holy Father.
I need not add that I am not a Gnostic, ie, I do not get automatic and semi-secret wisdom from above. I can therefore rely on reasons in my series. The third question of Bruce Hamel is whether or not I have ‘galvanised’ (it is the word he uses) people to join ‘our’ church. I do not believe that Faith is based on ‘galvanizing’ or the use of emotions in order to achieve ‘joining.’ I leave ‘galvanizing’ for TV commercials and election campaigns. God speaks in silence. If Bruce Hamel means ‘conversion’ I readily admit that I have converted no one. It is the Lord who freely chooses his disciples and the Holy Spirit who prompts Faith. I can only announce the ‘good news.’ In this as in the Church I am only the humble and useless servant of the Lord. With reference to Bruce Hamel’s presumption as to what and for whom I pray while in Church, I can assure Bruce Hamel that while at Mass I rarely pray for anything: the Word, the Creed, above all the Eucharist are prayers — as is silence. I hope that this replies to Bruce Hamel’s concerns.
MARION O’CALLAGHAN
Woodbrook
MICHAEL BOODOO, the driver of a grey Galant car and a male passenger in the front seat were killed instantly when the car skidded off the roadway and crashed into a tree. The driver who was thrown onto the busy Churchill Roosevelt Highway, close to Andrew Lane, Mausica, was killed instantly while the front seat passenger was pinned to his seat. His body was removed by a team of fire officers led by Fire Station Officer Telesford who cut away the vehicle to free the body. He was identified as Leon Goodridge of Silver Mill Road, San Juan. The two deaths caused the road fatality rate to move to 112 persons killed in road deaths for the year so far. Three other passengers in the vehicle, Richard Samlal,18, the cousin of freed kidnap victim Mark Samlal, who was kidnapped along with his girlfriend Kendra Kissoon from San Juan two weeks ago, Mario Flores, 19, and Carlos Flores 18, of Santa Cruz Old Road, who were seated in the back seat of the car, were rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital by Emergency Health Services (EHS) officers. They were all listed in serious condition.
Checks with the Port-of-Spain General Hospital revealed that the three suffered cuts, bruises and head injuries. Reports revealed that around 2.30 pm, the five occupants of the car were on their way to the Mayaro Beach, when on reaching Andrew Lane, about 500 yards from the Mausica Road, Boodoo lost control of the car which picked up a skid, crossed the highway, and crashed into a tree planted in the middle of the median. Inside the car, a cooler with Heineken beers remained strewn over the vehicle. Both bodies were viewed by District Medical Officer Dr Emmanuel Hosein and ordered removed to the Port-of-Spain Mortuary. A party of officers led by Inspector Wesley Moore and including officers of the Arima Police Station went to the scene and carried out inquiries. The two fatalities caused a massive traffic pile up. Relatives of Samlal were contacted by Newsday at their home and they expressed relief that Richard was only injured. The Samlal family owns Shannon’s Bakery in San Juan, while at the home of the Flores family, a relative expressed shock at the incident. Ag Police Commissioner Everald Snaggs was informed of the two deaths by Ag ACP Crime Nazamul Hosein.
There was a general mood of bewilderment yesterday at the Usine Ste Madeleine sugar factory as approximately 1,000 daily paid workers received Voluntary Separation of Employment Package (VSEP) cheques. Some complained that the sum of money they received was a “robbery” and they were still being owed. Some of the workers at that factory told Newsday that they were waiting for the payments since ten o’clock in the morning but were told that the cheques would arrive at midday. The cheques they said never reached until 2 pm. Even as they finally received the cheques there was no celebration. Many arrived on the Usine Ste Madeleine compound in a subdued mood to collect their cheques, chatting with one another about the uncertain future they faced.
Some even voiced their dissatisfaction to Newsday about the amount they received in the cheques. One man who worked as a palletizer for eight years displayed a cheque worth $16,300, another who worked the similar job for 13 years showed a cheque for $32,000. One scale attendant who was employed for 23 years said he received a cheque valued at $110,000. He claimed that he knew of one security guard who worked for some 24 years and received over $ 200,000. As one former employee left the compound with his envelope folded in his pocket he shouted , “Caroni rob all de daily paid and dem.” He declined to say how much he received.Up to four pm yesterday some of the staff workers at the Usine compound said they were yet to receive any final word on the date of their payments. They added that the Ag Factory Manager Ayoub Ali was scheduled to collect their cheques at Brechin Castle earlier in the day but he said they were not yet available.
Ag CEO of Caroni Chandra Bobart said that due to “technical glitches in the system” the cheques of the daily paid workers would not have been made ready by the Information Service Department until about eight o’clock last night. He added that since it would not be wise to pay them at this hour the staff workers would receive their cheques today. As to the complaints by the daily paid workers Bobart said “genuine queries and concerns” would be dealt with by certain individuals assigned to the various Section Offices. He added that “a total breakdown of all the deductions” was outlined in the cheques. Earlier in the day while speaking to Newsday President General of the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers Trade Union(ATSGWTU), Rudranath Indarsingh, promised that, “All hell would break loose” if daily paid workers were not paid by Monday. However, after most of the payments had been made he could not be reached for comment.
MOURNERS packed the Rio Claro Roman Catholic Church yesterday afternoon for the funeral service of Patricia Montrichard, the woman who died while giving birth earlier this week. Missing among the large congregation was Montrichard’s elderly and ailing mother, Priscilla Campbell, 64, who said her final goodbyes to her only daughter at their home at Grant Street, Rio Claro. The deceased’s two elder daughters, Lowina, 11, and Akeeda, 10, were seated at the front row among relatives. But as the casket was wheeled into the front near the altar, the loss proved too much to bear for little Akeeda who broke down in tears and was taken out of the church as relatives tried to comfort her. On Monday, Montrichard, 27, died while in the delivery room of the San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH). However, her baby girl survived. Campbell said she intends to name the child Patricia in memory of her daughter.
The pregnant woman was three weeks overdue and her doctor instructed she deliver the child by Caesarian-section. Hospital officials have launched an investigation into Montrichard’s death upon request from relatives. Yesterday’s funeral service was conducted by Sister Bella Mairoon Singh, who sought to console mourners. Singh said that Montrichard’s sudden passing was not the end but the beginning of the hereafter for her. “Death is only a transition from this life to eternal bliss,” she said. “It is nothing to be afraid of. When we get to know our supreme being we will be willing to go to Him.” Following the funeral service, the body was interred at Dades Trace Cemetry in Rio Claro.
TWENTY-FOUR hours after saying police knew who were behind the spate of kidnappings in Trinidad and Tobago, Prime Minister Patrick Manning warned the criminal elements “We are coming for you”. Addressing Emancipation Day celebrations at the Queen’s Park Savannah yesterday, the Prime Minister declared: “We are coming for the criminals. Those whose intention it is to sully the good name of our country by embracing and adopting as their vocation crime and kidnapping, we are coming for you.” Manning also shared sentiments expressed previously by Planning Minister Dr Keith Rowley in Laventille, about the number of homes in the country with absentee parents and where children grow up without respect for the rule of law or basic knowledge of right and wrong. The Prime Minister said it was not enough that “every generation blames the one before” and it was high time that the entire society takes the bull by the horns. Manning said while some things were “definitely wrong” in TT, the country remains “a land of promise.”
Reflecting upon the significance of Emancipation, Manning observed: “As we journey into the new century, the shackles that confront us now are not the whips and the chains that bound those aspirant slaves and many others over the dark period of slavery. Indeed they are psychological inhibitions that are devised from that age. It matters not whether we are African, Chinese, Indian, Caucasian. Among our most important challenges remains the liberation of our minds.” He added, “There can be no letting up in our commitment to match our quest for enhanced individual freedoms and opportunities” and “elimination of prejudices of the kind that stood in the way of our ancestors and forebears.”
Manning also said prior to TT’s independence from Britain, the British viewed the country as a “curious experiment” with African slaves and indentureds of various ethnicities. The Prime Minister said today TT “is no longer a massive social and political experiment” but has “emerged as a success story.” He challenged the population to hold fast to the vision of creating a developed society and warned that such a society would not be realised “if we do not comport ourselves properly.” Noting that traditional barriers to progress were coming down, the Prime Minister declared: “We must believe in ourselves. We can make it if we try. Men and the State must act together. It is all about TT.” In his brief remarks, chairman of the Emancipation Support Committee Kafra Kambon slammed attempts to commercialise Emancipation celebrations in TT, warning its significance would be lost if that happened.
A LARGE crowd gathered in downtown Port-of-Spain yesterday, to participate in the annual street parade to mark Emancipation Day celebrations in Trinidad and Tobago. The day began with a formal opening at the Brian Lara Promenade followed by a parade through the streets, from the Brian Lara Promenade Downtown Port-of-Spain to the Queen’s Park Savannah. Songs of praise, joy and worship echoed through the capital city as part of the procession. Newsday’s photographer Erica Ramjass was on hand to bring us these images.
Officers of the Western Division arrested 21 persons on outstanding warrants, seized a gun and ammunition, marijuana, and issued tickets during a road block exercise held on Thursday night. Reports revealed that a party of officers led by Sgts Ramsubhag and Thomas started the road block around 8 pm. During the exercise two other persons were held with a .38 pistol and four rounds of ammunition, and one person was held with five kilos of marijuana. Twenty-seven tickets were also issued in the exercise. Officers of the Port-of-Spain CID who also carried out a roadblock exercise on Thursday night, issued 20 tickets.
Trinidad and Tobago’s athletes, headed by new national sprint champions Jacey Harper and Fana Ashby, are primed for medals at the Pan-American Games. And the majority of the 19-member senior team leave today for the Dominican Republic where they are expected to compete with the Western Hemisphere’s best athletic talent.
Harper and Niconnor Alexander will bid for honours in the 100 metres dash while Ashby, the newly crowned Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games sprint queen Fana Ashby will race in the 100 and 200 metres. The biggest surprise is that the country’s three senior professional sprinters Darrel Brown, Ato Boldon and Marc Burns will not be attempting to bring honour and glory to country in the individual sprint races because of contractual arrangements made by their managers at International Grand Prix races in Europe. They are down to race in the 4×100 metres relay alongside Harper and Alexander. World and Olympics bronze medallist Boldon as well as hammer specialist Candice Scott, shot putter Cleopatra Borel and female sprinter Keenan Gibson are US-based athletes and they will travel directly to Santo Domingo and link-up with the team. World junior champion and sprint sensation Darrel Brown and his Auburn University schoolmate Marc Burns will travel on Monday.
Nadine Hamid, head coach, is very confident that this team has the potential to win medals at the quadrennial Games. “This is the best quality team that we are sending to a Pan-American Games. I have a lot of confidence in them based on their performances in regional meets for the year. Once they remain fit and healthy and stay focused on their specialty, I am sure that they will get among those who will collect medals at the Games,” Hamid said. She, like many others, is disappointed that top sprinters Brown, Boldon and Burns are not available to compete in the individual races. “These athletes are professional athletes and both Brown and Burns were scheduled to race in Europe and would not arrive in time for the heats of the individual 100 metres. They will join the team on Monday and this will allow them to compete in the flat races. We are glad that they would still be available to race in the 4×100 metres relay. We are confident that they will do well in the relay.”
The team’s senior coach did not want to comment on how many medals she envisages that her team could win. “We have quality athletes in the team and they are showing very good form. I usually don’t like to single out any particular athlete to win but I am hoping that they will be positive and fight very hard to get among the medals. “We have high hopes of this team medalling and I would not call a figure,” Hamid said. Borrel picked up silver at the CAC and she should be vying for top honours while Scott should also show her class in the hammer event. Half-miler Sheridan Kirk, who won the CAC gold in the 800 metres, should also fancy his chances. The full squad comprises 11 male and eight female athletes while Gunness Persad is the assistant coach and Carlene Haynes the managress. NAAA’s senior vice-president George Commissiong is the head of the technical delegation and will also serve as assistant manager.
The TT Pan-Am Games Athletics team : Niconnor Alexander (100, 4×100 relay); Damion Barry (400, 4×400 relay); Ato Boldon (4×100 relay); Darrel Brown (4×100 relay); Marc Burns (4×100 relay); Cleavon Dillon (long jump, 4×100 relay); Jacey Harper (100, 4×100 relay); Jamil James (4×400 relay); Sheridan Kirk (800, 4×400 relay); Julien Raeburn (200, 4×400) and Dave Stoute (shot put)- Male; Fana Ashby (100, 200, 4×100 relay); KellyAnn Baptiste (100, 4×100 relay); Cleopatra Borrel (shot put); Melisa DeLeon (800); Keenan Gibson (200, 4×100 relay), Wanda Huston (4×100 relay); Adia McKinnon (400, 4×400 relay) and Candice Scott (hammer). Carlene Haynes (manager), George Commissiong (Head of Technical Delegation & asst. manager); Nadine Hamid (head coach) and Gunness Persad (assistant coach).
A 35-year-old man who was accused of stealing a bottle of methylated spirits, was beaten on the head with a piece of wood and left for dead close to his Losattajos Village, Gran Couva home. He is now listed in critical condition at the Intensive Care Unit at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital. Reports revealed that around 10 pm on Tuesday, Simon Villafana was seen drinking a bottle of methylated spirits in company with a man known to him. An eyewitness claimed that a man accused Villafana of stealing the bottle of methylated spirits and the two engaged in a heated argument. Villafana was later beaten on the head with a piece of wood. He alerted a relative who took him to his home. He was later seen frothing from the mouth and taken to the Chaguanas Health Centre where he was rushed to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital.
He underwent emergency surgery to remove a blood clot in his head and transferred to the Intensive Care Unit. A 39-year-old Gran Couva man was detained in connection with the incident. Yesterday, a party of officers led by Sgt Leo Duncan, Ag Sgt Ajith Persad and PCs Kalloo and Maraj went to the scene of the incident and carried out inquiries. Statements were recorded and a piece of wood believed to have been used in the beating was seized. Checks with the Port-of-Spain General Hospital yesterday revealed that Villafana is still listed in critical condition.
National senior vice-captain Nolan Tash and junior captain Sean Morrison will be involved in beach volleyball action today at the 14th Pan-American Games being staged in the Dominican Republic.
Tash and his brother Gideon Dixon of South East Port of Spain (SEPOS) won the local beach volleyball title last year and they represented Trinidad and Tobago at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games. But they did not make it to the semi-finals where the losing team earns bronze medals. However, Tash who is well known for his power smashes will have the versatile Morrison of Glamorgan Club to partner him in their quest to put TT on the beach volleyball map in the Western Hemisphere’s biggest multi-disciplined sporting extravaganza. Surprisingly, national setter Saleem Ali and Kevin Edwards also of Glamorgan who were runners-up by one-hundredth of a point were not considered for selection. Ali was the top setter while Edwards won the “Best Digger” at the Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association (CAZOVA) senior championship held locally during the month of July last year.
Ali, Edwards and Morrison are members of national club champions Glamorgan that is coached by successful regional coach Macsood Ali. Morrison, who is a deadly spiker and also an effective blocker, is like his senior partner Tash. Both possess powerful overhead services which can work to their advantage once they get it right. Their services, fitness and overall ability to withstand pressure will be the key for success at this high level competition. Competitors from the United States and Brazil are among the most experienced and seasoned campaigners on the sandy courts, who have attracted massive crowds at major events. They will be highly favoured to battle it out in gold medal match. TT will be represented by a 90-member squad in ten sporting discipline. And many hopes will be pinned on the nation’s athletes and swimmers to really make their mark and astride the medal podium. The Games end on August 17.
