Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph Harris yesterday referred to the controversial e-mails released by Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley in Parliament last week, saying whether or not they were authentic, they brought up issues of criminal activity by those in pursuit of power.
Speaking at the annual Corpus Christi celebration at the Grand Stand of the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain, Harris told the congregation that they had gathered during a time that “many are calling one of the darkest periods in our young history as nation.”
Addressing the e-mail scandal raised in Parliament last week, which revealed what Rowley claimed was a conspiracy on the part of high office-holders, Harris said: “Whether the e-mails are true or not, whether they were fabricated or not, whatever the origin of these e-mails, it means that crimes were being committed for the sake of power.”
During his debate on a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar last week, Rowley gave some of the contents of 31 e-mails. The e-mails addressed the Section 34 fiasco, offering the Director of Public Prosecutions a judgeship and the intimidation of a journalist who broke the story.
The e-mails were purported to be from addresses belonging to the PM, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, Local Government and Works and Transport Minister Suruj Rambachan and national security adviser to the PM, Gary Griffith. Persad-Bissessar and her Government has denied any knowledge of the e-mails, but the PM wrote to acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams, asking that it be probed. Williams in turn mandated Richardson to head the probe.
Yesterday, the Archbishop also spoke about T&T’s increasing murder rate, inadequate healthcare system and the greed which threatened to undermine the most vulnerable in society. “In short, we gather when the notion of justice seems to be a lost ideal,” he said. He said even within the religious community, there were structures and laws in place which served only to benefit those in power rather than to bring the faithful closer to God.
Harris said the belief of the Catholic Church was that “justice towards men disposes one to respect the rights of each, and to establish in human relationships the harmony that promotes equity towards persons and the common good.”
Harris said one of the greatest travesties of the Church was that members often did not live the teachings of the Church in their everyday lives. He urged the Catholic community to commit to habitual righteous thinking and to the promotion of equality for all citizens, adding that the Catholic Church and the future of T&T depended on it.
He said he hoped the celebration of Corpus Christi would mark a new beginning for all and “a commitment to building a society in which every single citizen is seen as equal, and therefore to be a participant to the tremendous riches which this country possesses.”