Contributed
Marcia Tai Chung (left), church council president at St Paul of the Cross Cathedral, enjoys the company of the Most Rev Neil Tiedemann, the new Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Mandeville.
Mark Dawes, Religion Editor
After working most of his life in Spanish-speaking communities, the Most Rev Neil Tiedemann was assigned to come to Jamaica and become the Roman Catholic bishop for the Diocese of Mandeville.
Jamaica was not on his radar. He was happily serving as a Passionist priest in Honduras when the Apostolic Nuncio (the Pope's envoy) called advising that Pope Benedict XVI wanted to elevate him to the rank of bishop and have him serve in Jamaica. And so in obedience to the Holy Father, Tiedemann left Honduras, and was on Wednesday, August 6, ordained and installed as the bishop of Mandeville.
Evangelisation activities
He has been in Jamaica for about three months and acknowledges that he is still trying to get a handle of life in this country. Like any bishop, he is keen to augment evangelisation activities within the diocese. But in doing so, he wants to avoid being reckless and culturally insensitive. Accordingly, he confessed, his major task at this time is to listen. He is busy listening to his priests, the religious orders, lay people and ordinary Jamaicans.
Armed with a sense of humour, Tiedemann when asked if he has had any culture shocks since he has been in Jamaica said, "Yes, the culture shock is that I talk funny." Born and raised in Brooklyn in New York, Tiedemann, 60, speaks with a similar accent as John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States.
"I bought two CDs (compact discs) of Patois. When people are talking, I don't always understand. But I have to learn this," he told The Gleaner earlier this week during an interview at his Mandeville office.
Bishop Tiedemann succeeds the Most Rev Gordon Bennett who vacated the office for reasons linked to ill health.
Has a strong presence
Bishop Tiedemann is a Passionist - a religious order that has a strong presence in Mandeville. The full title of this group is The Congregation of Discalced Clerks of the Most Holy Cross and Passion of Our Lord Jesus.
The Passionists, Bishop Tiedemann noted, were founded in 18th century by St Paul of the Cross.
"The whole dream of the Passionists is that we have a special commitment, devotion to the Passion of Jesus Christ. So when we take our vows, we actually place on our heart the words of the Passion of Jesus Christ. The idea is that the Passion of Jesus Christ will be written on our hearts. By Passion of Jesus Christ we mean the death of Jesus Christ. Part of what we really believe, and St Paul writes about this in his letters, is that the Passion of Jesus continues in those who suffer in the world. So a Passionist is someone who spends his life trying to understand suffering, the meaning of suffering and how suffering saves us.
"My model is 'By his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). So what that really means, is that somehow through the suffering of Jesus and the suffering of others we ourselves are healed - We are dedicated to Jesus as He is crucified but also serving the crucified today. In the Gospel of John as Jesus dies on the cross, the beloved disciple is there and the mother of Jesus and He said to both of them, 'Behold your mother. Behold your son.' As Passionists what we really do is we behold the Jesus who is suffering in the world today but we are nourished by the Christ who died on the cross."
Desire to become a priest
As a youngster growing up in Brooklyn, Tiedemann said the desire to become a priest was there from as early as 11 years old. He was born into a Roman Catholic household. But it was the dedicated and spiritual lives of the priests with whom he came into contact with that really impressed him. Interestingly, most of those priests belonged to the Passionist religious order.
He was ordained to the priesthood on May 16, 1975. Twelve days later, he was in Bolivia and later Colombia trying to learn Spanish.
After learning Spanish, he worked mostly with Spanish-speaking communities in the United States. But his longest stint anywhere was in Honduras. He was there first between 1987 and 1994 and then again between 2005 and 2006.
Established the first AIDS hospice
In Honduras he worked with others towards the establishment of the first AIDS hospice in that nation. Since 1990, more than 600 persons have lived in that hospice. The majority, however, have died.
Since coming to Jamaica, he observed that many of the challenges that affect the diocese are not peculiar to Mandeville or the rest of the country. Such challenges, he said, are widespread in other countries.
"One of the things is that we live in a world that is more and more non-religious. It is becoming more secular. So one of the challenges we have as a diocese is what we call evangelisation. That is preaching the good news of Jesus Christ and God's love for people."
Mandeville, he said, poses a challenge with respect to catechesis. That is, trying to have the people better understand what is it that we believe and how is it that we live. What does it mean to be Roman Catholic?
"I have found that the Jamaican people are very religious. At the recent graduation dinner of the Catholic College of Mandeville, people were able to get up and talk about 'I did not think I would be able to make it, but God helped me, God strengthened me.' They were able to quote Scripture and break into song. And people were able to clap and join in.
"I think one thing is to be people of the Word and to be very biblical. There is also a catechesis that the Catholic Church has a social teaching that is very important. It talks about the sacredness of life. How we protect life, how we take care of the poor. What is justice, how we work for justice - there is a global solidarity. This does not just pertain to Jamaica. We talk about how different cultures get along and racial solidarity. The differences between charity and justice. Charity is where I would make sure you have something to eat and I give to you. Justice is how we make sure there are no poor people in the world, that people are educated, and there is human development."
Doubts about God's love
The catechesis he said also involves teaching people to live on the basis of scriptural truth notwithstanding seasons of doubts about God's love towards oneself.
As the head of the diocese, he said, the best way at present for him to lead the evangelisation process is to listen. "I am probably not as sensitive as I should be. I can't preach the gospel until I know what is deep in your heart and I have to listen.
I would like to be a fly on the wall, to hear what people are talking about and what they are worried about, what happens to them. When I lived in Honduras, I lived in a home with 15 other persons and there were times when I was just silent and listened and learnt a lot. I am trying to be good at listening to people. I try to go to a different parish every Sunday. What I really want to do when I visit the different churches is to listen to the people."
Bishop Tiedemann said another challenge for him in the diocese is to promote vocations to the religious life and priesthood. "I think a particular challenge that I have here is that, I am a boy from Brooklyn. There should be a Jamaican bishop here. I would love when I retire at 75 that there is a Jamaican bishop here and there are at least 20 Jamaican priests serving in Mandeville."
As bishop he supervises 19 priests, 10 of whom are from Africa; 24 religious women drawn mostly from India, Africa, and the United States; and 26 parishes/churches covering the parishes of Clarendon, Manchester and St Elizabeth.
Since his installation as bishop, he has been meeting with various constituents of the diocese. He meets next week with priests to review the efforts of the diocese in evangelisation. The church, he stressed, exists to do evangelisation.
He continued, "Evangelisation is not necessarily me trying to get you to become part of the church. But what it means is exploring what it means to be human, to be loved, and love and to recognise that God is love.
Curbing crime
Evangelisation, he said, has implications for marriages and curbing crime. "There needs to be attention given to the building blocks of good, healthy human relationships. If I don't know how to be a friend, I will never be a good husband. If don't know how to be a good human being, I will never be a good mother or a good wife.
"You can't be married unless you are a healthy, mature adult. That is where the challenge lies in fostering the development of healthy, mature human beings. There is a difference between falling in love and being in love."
The Brooklyn native told The Gleaner he hopes to leave a legacy in which the Mandeville diocese is 'owned' by more Jamaicans, and where the churches are full, and the families and schools are both stronger.
Send feedback to mark.dawes@gleanerjm.com.
