THE EDITOR, Sir:WELL! WELL! Well! The Church has finally awakened from its slumber. It takes an attack on its compound and it takes an attack on an upscale/uptown resident to arouse the established church from its apathy, even though this mayhem has been an ongoing event in the country for a prolonged period.
Attacks and murder have been taking place on small-church compounds and even at their church services, but not a word from the established churches or the united voice of the Church. This country has the record of having the most churches per square mile yet we hold the infamous record of being the murder capital of the world.
GUARDIAN OF MORALS
It therefore appears that the Church is not as proactive as it ought to be, considering that it is the guardian of morals in the society. Roman Catholic Archbishop, the Most Reverend Lawrence Burke, in The Gleaner recently "acknowledged that he had not publicly decried Jamaica's downwards spiral of murder but was moved to speak out because of the murder of Mrs. Vilma Mais at the compound of the Stella Morris Catholic Church." He continued by
saying that "we should not and cannot allow a society hell-bent on self-destruction to continue to rob us of such promising, committed, selfless, and productive persons ..."
What hypocrisy! What about the ordinary man! Where is the Church's concern for the family of six recently murdered; and for the multitude of murders (including children); rape; and general abuse of the ordinary man on the street on a continuous basis.
He expressed concern for the need of security on the church compounds. Amazing! What a priority? Where is the combined voice of the Church to retrieve us from this moral decay?
ISOLATED INITIATIVES
Mr. Jim Webb S. J. chairman of the Justice Commission of the Archdiocese of Kingston, tried to absolve the Church by stating in an article 'Unfair to Accuse Archbishop, Church' in the Observer newspaper that the Archbishop of Kingston "staged forums on crime and violence over the past two years ..." but that they were not widely reported in the press.
These isolated initiatives are important but the process of moral reform needs to be a perpetual event involving combined and co-ordinated human resources in the relevant disciplines, until results are achieved emanating in a culture of people abiding by acceptable moral principles.
The task is certainly onerous but the results will be compensatory. The united voice of the Church in sensitising and
mobilising this initiative will be a valuable component.
I am, etc.,
ALFONSO F. JACQUES, JP
Padmore, St. Andrew
