Leela Ramdeen

Valentine's Day is a day when the world thinks about love. However, to truly understand what love really means Catholics should read the Holy Father's first encyclical, “God is Love”, in which he speaks of “the love which God lavishes upon us and which we in turn must share with others.”

One of the issues he addresses is: “How might love be experienced so that it can fully realise its human and divine promise?”

If we truly love God and our neighbour as God loves us, then we will all strive to promote a culture of life which Pope John Paul II urges us to do in his encyclical: “The Gospel of Life”.

The challenge for us as Catholics is to demonstrate by thought and action that we are committed to respecting, protecting, and enhancing human life at every stage and in every context.

Fr Hezekiah's warning against calls for the return of capital punishment during his homily at the funeral of Clyde and Denise Comissiong is timely. It comes in the wake of calls from a few religious leaders to execute those on Death Row.

Some have been selective in the quotations they use from the bible to support their stance. Let us remember Jesus' words in Matthew 5:38-39: “You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you this: do not oppose evil with evil.”

A couple of years ago I was a guest on a radio programme to debate issues with representatives from ASPIRE about pro-life vs pro-choice issues. I tried to locate “abortion” within the wider culture of death which Catholics seek to resist. I was surprised to hear a caller to the programme say: “Leela Ramdeen, shut your mouth! I am a Catholic and I say hang dem high!”

Let us not buy into the culture of death. Let us not forget that both victims and offenders are children of God, made in His image and likeness, with inherent and inviolable dignity. As Catholics we are called to protect and enhance this dignity and the sanctity of life.

Even the most hardened criminal has inherent and inviolable dignity and, with God's grace, and the support of people such as Fr Matthew, Sr Mary Anthony and others, can turn their lives around. We must remember the words in Deut 30:19: “I have set before you life and death. Therefore choose life that you and your descendants may live.”

Restorative justice

As I listened to the speeches at the launch of the T&T Reintegration Foundation/The Anthony Pantin Reintegration Centre, I gave thanks to God that our people within this Archdiocese gave a mandate to the Catholic Commission for Social Justice to establish such a Centre. Restorative justice is at the heart of the Gospel - repentance, reconciliation, restoration, rehabilitation, forgiveness etc.

This does not mean that offenders should not be accountable to society for the harm they have caused. Pope John Paul II rightly states that capital punishment can only be defended in cases of absolute necessity - when it is not possible otherwise to defend society.

However, he says, “such cases are rare, if not practically non-existent. Non-lethal forms of punishment are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity with the dignity of the human person.”

Archbishop Edward Gilbert has given me permission to quote from some of his speeches during the forthcoming EWTN TV programme (Feb 14). In his welcoming address to participants at the 2004 Conference on “Love, Life and the Family”, he rightly warns us of the dangers of the “split between the Gospel and ‘culture’ that has led to a crisis of meaning in contemporary society.” He says:

“In his encyclical letter on Moral Theology, Veritatis Splendor, Pope John Paul II speaks of a de-christianised culture in which the criteria used by believers in making judgements and decisions are often extraneous or even contrary to those of the Gospel. What does that mean? It means we are beginning to think like the culture in which we live.

“We must be careful that our ‘culture of life’ ministry and witness are consistent on all life issues. I mean our inconsistency can affect and even undermine our stated commitment to the culture of life. Pope John Paul II lists some examples in his encyclical letter, The Gospel of Life. I have adapted the wording to make my point:

“I'm pro-life, but I favour the death penalty; I'm pro-life, but I favour war. I'm pro-life, but I am indifferent to the oppression of poverty which pushes people into culture of death decisions.

I'm pro-life, but I do not get involved in social justice issues such as the economy or the ecology which affect the lives of people. I'm pro-life, but I support euthanasia for the terminally ill. What is my point? My point is that the challenge of being unconditionally pro-life is not at all simple and certainly not about one issue.”

Our response to crime, violence, poverty/social exclusion, family disintegration, attacks on the unborn etc. is a moral test for our nation and a challenge for our Church. Let us renew our resolve to defend and promote life in every phase as a blessing and a precious gift from God, never to be sacrificed, never to be compromised.