Catholic Commission for Social JusticeLeela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ & Director, CREDI, addresses the social justice issues arising from the Grazette case (see below).
DNA continues to play a major role in the criminal justice system and has led not only to the conviction of many but to the exoneration and release of many innocent persons from prison.
Earlier this year, Pope Francis referred to “Pius XII’s assertion that ‘the sin of the century is the loss of the sense of sin’… Losing the sense of sin causes others to pay for our ‘Christian mediocrity’…When the sense of sin is lost, so is the sense of the Kingdom of God lost.” In its place, he said, “…emerges a very powerful anthropological vision, in which ‘I can do anything’.”
On May 14, a letter by Dr Ramchand Rampersad appeared in the Newsday under the headlined, “TT now a land of hopelessness.” It stated: “It appears that even God has given up Trini citizenship and if so who can really blame him?” We Christians must categorically reject such statements.
At the funeral of Dana Seetahal SC two Thursdays ago, President Anthony Carmona quoted the 17th Century English poet, John Donne, who said: “Any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind.” Dana’s death certainly diminishes us. May her soul rest in peace.
The morning after her funeral, while we were all still reeling from the tragic loss of this bright star, we were greeted by the news that 13-year-old Devindra Boodoo, who was supposed to sit the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) exam, was discovered by his 11-year-old sister, Nirmala, hanging in the bathroom of their home in El Socorro on the Wednesday evening.
CCSJ hopes that each parish will, in whatever way possible, observe the 20th Anniversary of the International Year of the Family and International Family Day on May 15.
On the day before this international observance, Wednesday May 14, CCSJ has organised a seminar at Santa Rosa Parish Hall, Arima. You are invited to join us from 7 to 8:30 p.m. as we focus on the theme: Promoting and Protecting Family Life.
In the face of the many challenges that our families face, each of us must commit to become a sower of justice for our families. Our Church teaches that the family is the basic unit of society – the domestic Church.
CCSJ continues its serialisation of our March 19 response, on behalf of the Archdiocese, to the Ministry of Justice’s (MOJ) Discussion Paper on Restorative Justice (RJ) in TT. This is Part 4.
We agree with Paul Goggins, UK MP, who said: “I don’t want Restorative Justice to simply be reserved for serious offenders. I also want to see this approach become firmly embedded in the everyday life of local communities. It can guide the way that schools develop effective discipline and anti-bullying strategies.