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TRINIDAD & TOBAGO: Bishop Berkley: "We are losing our soul"
By Thenesa Grant-Caton
TOBAGO NEWS
http://www.thetobagonews.com/
May 28, 2014
Anglican Bishop, the Right Reverend Claude Berkley says the unabated crime and violence and homicide in society is traumatizing the people of Trinidad and Tobago.
Speaking at a Eucharistic service at the St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Scarborough to mark the opening of the 2014 Synod of the Anglican Church of the Dioceses of Trinidad and Tobago, Bishop Berkley stated that, “Our moral and ethics have become confused and there is unsettling uncertainty about what is right and what is wrong,”
“We are not in a good place, given our rich offering of human, physical and other resources,” said Bishop Berkley, who grew up in Pembroke.
He says that there are daily issues within the education sector regarding a shortage of teachers, buildings in disrepair or situations of indiscipline with students, parents and teachers.
Bishop Berkley highlighted the claims of corruption and stated that it continues at a fanatic pace as new matters are uncovered on a daily basis. He says that the assault on women and children continues as domestic violence and child abuse remains a worrying concern.
“We are losing our soul,” he said, stating that society needs to start over. “It seems as if we need a whole new generation of churchmen and women, teachers, public servants, parents, politicians and community workers.”
Bishop Berkley indicated that additionally there is great concern about institutional breakdown on several factors and the consequences and effects this has caused on good governance.
During his address to community members and the Tobago House of Assembly, he stated that a former high commissioner suggested that inequality pays a prominent part in fueling the surge of crime among us and the perceptions of an even distribution of goods and services argues to be an ease to the anxiety and apathy to the feelings of some people.
Bishop Berkley declared that it is evident everywhere that the price of confidence and trust plays out in the highest course of our national life. He says that the care for the poor, the homeless and other marginalised persons is yet to be clearly defined, and that there are “still too many sufferers on our streets, in our villages and towns which are occurring in the face of seven figure expenditures.”
He believes that strengthening our health care system and related services are urgent imperatives in improving the quality of life for all citizens, and that it would reduce pains and suffering.
Bishop Berkley posed numerous questions towards his congregation. He asked, “In spite of all the outrage, what reassurances have been given? Do we have a greater sense of preventative action to protect us or detective action that will bring the perpetrators to justice? What have we done differently since Dana’s murder and the murders of several young lives?”
The theme of the 2014 Synod of the Anglican Church of the Dioceses of Trinidad and Tobago, which finished on Saturday, was “Stewardship: Nurturing and Empowering Youth – Enabling the Present and Future.”
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