RC Archbishop Joseph Harris yesterday implored the congregation at the Sacred Heart RC Church to respect its sacredness and to maintain its newfound beauty. As the church turned 100 years yesterday, Harris blessed the renovated building along Queen Street, La Brea—which was constructed in 1914 under parish priest Fr GV Sunderland.
Still bearing some architectural features of the British colonial era; it now includes new stained glass windows, doors, stairways, walkways, altar, fence, toilets and a centenary memorial grotto. At a special thanksgiving mass, Harris said the church, alike the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Port-of-Spain, had to be renovated because of T&T’s poor culture of maintenance. He said this showed a lack of respect for sacred space and its people.
“Every people that I know respect sacred space, except perhaps, us. We do not respect as sacred space or the people who surround us. That is why all the murders and abuse, and all the things which are happening at the moment are caused by our lack of respect for sacred space.
“Now you have made your sacred space very beautiful. One of the problems we have in T&T is that we have no culture of maintenance and unless there is a change until the next time I come, this sacred space might not be as beautiful as it is today. Why? Because we really don’t respect it and we really don’t keep it nice and pretty.”
“We have to spend $70 million on the cathedral, why? Because when a coat of paint would have stopped the rot, we did not do it. This church had to be renovated for the same reason,” Harris said. He gave responsibility for the upkeep of the church to the congregation as he told them that their parish priest, Fr Shoji Zacharias was being relocated to Princes Town.
Shortage of priests
Harris lamented a shortage of priests to lead the 62 parishes under his archdiocese, blaming it on parents’ reluctance to see their children in a life of priesthood. With 15 parishes already without priests, he said there would be mergers and unless the Catholic community starts producing priests, things would get worst.
Already priests are being asked to carry out several services in one day while lay-ministers’ roles have increased within recent times. Harris announced yesterday that the parishes of La Brae, Point Fortin and Cedron would be joined with two priests overseeing the districts. Currently the archdiocese has 110 priests, but Harris said approximately 60 are active with others either in retirement, ill or are in the monastery or college. He said to function efficiently, the archdiocese needs about 80 priests.
“We can source priests from other countries but my answer is always: Why must I ask the parents of somebody in India to give up their sons to come to Trinidad when parents in Trinidad don’t want to give their sons? It is not fair is it? If we are a church, we should be able to generate enough clergy for our church,” Harris said.