Outspoken Grenadian priest, Father Gerard Paul has announced that a suspension from ministry imposed upon him has been lifted and is threatening to pull out of an agreement reached with Bishop of the Diocese of St George’s-in-Grenada, Clyde Harvey.
He spoke at the conclusion of Mass on Sunday at the Holy Family Roman Catholic Church in River Sallee.
According to Father Paul, based on an agreement between himself and Bishop Harvey over the weekend, his suspension has been placed “in abeyance.”
“That means it does not exist,” he stated. “That means the suspension has been suspended.”
The announcement is the latest twist in a very public spat between him and Bishop Harvey which reportedly stemmed from statements made by Father Paul about the situation in Gaza. The priest was suspended indefinitely, not for his comments on Gaza itself but for, according to Bishop Harvey, his lack of respect for the church and pronouncements he made that have often strayed from the truth.
The two met with a team of mediators on Saturday, April 13 and an agreement was reached to promote harmony in the Catholic Church in Grenada. A statement after the meeting said the two agreed that “going forward, neither Bishop Harvey nor Father Gerard Paul will make any public statement apt to not be in the best interest of the Catholic Church.”
The statement did not mention the suspension although, according to Father Paul, its lifting was part of the agreement.
“Now a press release went out and it said nothing about the fact that the suspension has been suspended,” he stated.
“And I was protesting this morning to the leader of the mediation group that this is a major, a major omittance. What brought us here was the fact that I was suspended, according to the Bishop, so you have to say what has been reached in the agreement. I am sure that you have been confused this morning. You see me there, you don’t know what I am doing there, if I am pushing myself and you don’t know what happened. In order to be known that the suspension is suspended, I am not the one to be defending that and saying that to everybody. It has to be said by the committee.”
The priest threatened “to remove” himself from the agreement if the lifting of his suspension is not made public by the mediators.
“I will remove myself forthwith…forthwith because I did not enter into a secret agreement with the Bishop,” he said. “I did not enter into any secret agreement. It was done in private but it is for the public knowledge what has happened in this dispensation. So, I demand of the committee that it immediately put that omittance, you ensure that it is included that the suspension has been suspended or else I will withdraw from this agreement.”
it’s rather shameful to see a minister of God conduct himself is such an insubordinate manner. I say this not because this priest is Catholic, religion has no bearing on my thoughts here, but from a perspective of principle.
Personally, I think this behaviour is indicative of the breakdown in moral values, discipline, respect, humidity, etc, that has taken over in our world today. The notion that everyone beholds their own truth; the belief that whatever one thinks, says and does is right and must be accepted by everyone else.
This world quickly is becoming a sad, sad place
I like Father Paul’s no nonsense attitude. The unvarnished truth or no agreement. But, again, what do you expect from a denomination that has hidden the most heinous of crimes for centuries from the public.
I agree with Father Paul 100%.The Israelites and the American government are terrorists,habitual criminals and murders of innocent men,women and children in their own land.Anybody against Father Paul is a supporter of crimes and criminal activities.Hypocrites they all are