The bishop of the diocese of Willemstad, Curaçao has condemned the May 5 assassination of an outspoken politician, and called on authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. In a statement issued on behalf of the Curaçao Catholic community, Bishop Luis Secco said the diocese “deeply regrets the fatal event that led to the violent death of Helmin Wiels” and “we categorically condemn the criminal act that took his life.”

History can be as interesting and enthralling as any invented story. This is certainly the case with Fr Anthony de Verteuil’s most recent history publication, Murder Most Foul, about the sensational murder of a Roman Catholic priest in Diego Martin, a century and a half ago.

The provision of maps and old photographs (many from the treasury of Adrian Camps-Campins), roots the book firmly in reality, along with the detailed notes at the end of the chapters, explaining, to those interested, the sources, official and unofficial from which the historical information has been garnered.

The settings are revealed in some detail – Diego Martin, a secluded valley of two thousand patois-speaking, creole peasants and owners of small cocoa or coffee estates, with their interest in religion, rum and obeah. Nicholas Brunton, was the coloured proprietor of all the large sugar estates in the Valley worked by East Indian immigrants. He resided in the old stone mansion at La Cascade Estate with his white wife and nine children. Joseph Jacob Jouin, French Roman Catholic parish priest, young, energetic and handsome, had been transferred from Mayaro after a riot settled by the dispatch of 50 policemen on foot from Port of Spain. This Abbé Jouin, was the only friend of Nicholas Brunton in Diego Martin and a frequent guest at his home.

By Fr Matthew D’Hereaux

Recently, the Humanist Association of Trinidad and Tobago has been fairly successful in igniting debate over a number of issues in the public domain. Whatever our disagreement with some of the views of humanism, we can give this organisation credit for forcing debate on moral issues, the most recent of which is the omission of the word “God” in the Republican Constitution. I feel strongly about the merits of forced debate for a simple fact. It puts us in a position to determine what really is at stake.