The 14^th Conference on Catholic Theology in the Caribbean Today which took place at the newly renamed Archbishop Kelvin Felix Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre, June 15-19, was held against the backdrop of the 25^th anniversary meeting of the Association of Diocesan Clergy of the Province of Castries and the “Festschrift” for Archbishop Kelvin Felix which looked at the future leadership of the Church in the Caribbean.

It was on that occasion, January 21, 2009, that the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Thomas Gullickson delivered his seminal paper on “Church Leadership: Hopes and Expectations for the 21^st Century”. With insufficient time then to explore the ramifications of the Nuncio’s position, it was suggested that the issue of “Leadership” be taken up at the theology conference, making the conference somewhat of a follow-up to the festschrift.

Indeed the leadership question was dealt with directly by a number of presenters and provided the context for presentations by other speakers.

Sr Jean Devenish Huggins shares with readers the experiences of Wednesday, June 17, when the conference participants went on the road, so to speak.

These conferences on theology are never wholly serious thoughts and discussions, there is always a day when there is a change of scene and a different agenda in place. On Wednesday 17, we took off for Soufrière, a small fishing village several kilometres away.

Conference participants at Diamond Falls

Our first stop was at the Cathedral in Castries. Even though badly shaken by the earthquake in 2004 and in need of repair, it remains quite a treasure. It is very large and beautifully decorated along the upper walls with the work of Dunstan St Omer the “Raphael extraordinaire” of St Lucia and indeed of the Caribbean. There are roughly 10 paintings representing the history of the Church in St Lucia, with one scene of the late Bishop Gachet, in another Blessed Anne Marie Javouhey, Foundress of the Cluny Sisters, and in others there is portrayed contemporary history with the Carmelite Sisters and other well-known persons. Being in the Cathedral brought to my mind the tragic death of Sr Theresa Egan, a Cluny Sister at an Old Year’s night service several years ago while trying to escape the slaughter of a fanatic.

This is also the Cathedral that Pope John Paul II visited and the chair on which he sat.

We common folk drank avidly of the Church history and art of this extraordinary place, before moving on.

Our next stop was the Church of the Holy Family in Jacmel, Roseau. On the way there we were regaled with readings from the poetry of none other than Nobel Poet Laureate Derek Walcott, another eminent St Lucian. This time the reader was our own Rose Ann Walker, an enthusiastic lover of the poet himself. As we drove along, she chose suitable readings to coincide with the scenery and the locale through which we were travelling.

Up a slope and there was the Church before us. It was the scene inside that was the focus of our attention – a mural filling the entire wall of the sanctuary. Absolutely fascinating!

The brightness of the Virgin and Child was the centre of the picture and all around was the life of St Lucia in colours of brown and green and red and black, dancers and drummers, fishermen and workers, women and children, the head of St Joseph that of a well-known basketball player. The more we gazed, the more we saw, but we had to move on. More readings on the bus.

The town of Soufrière is quaint and picturesque. We stopped at the Diamond Falls with its warm sulphur waters. There was no stopping to plunge into the inviting baths.

Lunch at Union Village

When we finally reached Union Village, we were all warmly received by the family that owns the large estate house. It was all so friendly, cool and hospitable. The family had prepared a sumptuous meal for thirty plus persons which was thoroughly appreciated. No sooner had we finished than Paba (Msgr Patrick Anthony) had us all around the table listening to Fr Hugh Logan. His talk was delightful as he pointed out the morality in folk tales. This was an interactive session as he had us singing parts of the folk tales.

Fr Nigel Karam of Dominica followed with his presentation on the “Quest for Caribbean Integration by the OECS”. Whether we want it or not, there is an ongoing integration, Fr Karam sees it as a soul issue that is happening deep within us, springing from history and geography and therefore culture.

We were able to drag ourselves away reluctantly from Union Village and arrived back at the Retreat Centre that night where a troop of dancers were waiting to perform for us.

We were only half way through the day!!

The dancers were lovely light and rhythmic, the Helen Dancers. They managed to drag some of the theologians onto the floor and they loved it. That was just the beginning. John Robert Lee, poet and author was present with us. He read some of his own soulful poetry and guess what? Trinidad’s own Pierrot Grenade was also there spelling all the hard words that we could not. He seems to think that we need to know how to spell the names of countries for he taught us how to spell Guyana and Jamaica.

Last of all we were regaled with the presence of the man himself, Dunstan St Omer. What a treat and a thrill to have such a distinguished Caribbean personality amongst us. He told us about his story, his art, his choices and above all he was open to questions from the floor. He explained so many things that his art came alive and even the un-artistic among us began to show initial interest.

A long memorable day.

That night we fell asleep before our heads hit the pillow, grateful to God and St Lucia for so much.