Dear Editor,
‘The dogs bark but the caravan keeps going.’ To my mind this is an appropriate French proverb.
My comments concerning certain issues of the Catholic Church in Guyana are all to the point and well meaning. Any objective person will readily accept this, but those intent on grinding their own axes may have different views to the extent that it serves their purposes.
I am referring especially to the rebuilding of the Sacred Heart Church and the so-called “restructuring” with its ignominious agenda. This is a downright shame and the lay persons and clergy with whom I have discussed these issues have agreed with me in toto.
Heavy weather is made of what may be called consultation with priests and the laity. It would be revealing to know how much of this process was consultation about decisions already taken. Let me refer to the rebuilding of the Main Street Church; a committee was appointed and chaired by one approved by the Bishop. What was the decision of that committee? The church should have been a reality by now and funding would not have been difficult with prompt decision-making.
Was there a consultation with the committees for pastoral development and parishioners before the decision was taken that only church readers will read at weddings and funerals? Take a poll of parishioners and of Catholics and I will wager that the outcome will be against the Church’s decision which was unilaterally taken. The fact is that they all heard of the announcement of this decision at Mass on a Sunday.
Let me again state emphatically that I am concerned with issues only and not with personalities. And I will continue to do so to the extent that this is possible. The dogs may bark but the caravan will keep going. Les chiens aboieant, la caravane passe.
Yours faithfully,
John Fredericks
