A truce has been brokered between Roman Catholic Bishop Clyde Harvey and Father Gerald Paul whose public spat had threatened to divide the worshippers here.
A brief statement issued late on Saturday night by one of the two mediators, Terrence P. Smith, stated that “an agreement” had been reached to “promote harmony in the Catholic Church in Grenada”.
The statement gave no indication as to whether or not Father Paul’s “indefinite” suspension had been lifted, but said that the agreement was reached following a meeting between the two Roman Catholic priests and mediated by Smith and Shireen Wilkinson and witnessed by former attorney general and minister of legal affairs, Dr Francis Alexis KC.
The statement said 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.
“It was agreed that mediation will continue in two weeks time,” the statement said, adding that the Vicar General of the diocese will preside at Holy Mass on Sunday and that “Father Paul may be in the Sanctuary”.
Earlier this month, Bishop Harvey said that Father Paul had “not been suspended because of what he had said about Gaza” but for his continued “lack of respect” for the church and his “pronouncements that often stray from the truth”.
“I wish to state…Father Gerard Paul had not been suspended because of what he said about Gaza. His sentiments have been echoed by many in and out of the Catholic Church. The Church is very concerned and will continue to speak out about the unjust situations in the world, including Gaza, Ukraine, Haiti and Sudan,” Bishop Harvey said in a video statement.
The Trinidadian-born Bishop said that the church would continue with that policy, while being active in caring for persons “in the midst of these situations”.
He said the priest has been suspended “because of his continuing lack of respect for the church of which he is a priest and his pronouncements that often stray from the truth.”
Bishop Harvey said the suspension of a priest from ministry “is not to be confused with dismissal from the priesthood. Suspension, however long it may be, is always with a view to fraternal correction.
The controversy began on March 27, 2024 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and subsequent statements made by Father Paul on various media platforms in which he accused the church here for not condemning the situation in Gaza.
Father Paul said at a recent clergy retreat, the situation was not even mentioned or addressed.
“I call upon the Church today to get its freedom and to get its voice and speak up for justice,” the priest said, while calling the Gaza War a ‘wholesale slaughter’ of Palestinians and Muslims.
“We cannot rightly ever preach the Gospel if we do not stand for justice. It’s time the Catholic Church stands for justice. It’s time we hear the voices of the pastors of the church, we hear the voices of the priests of the church, we hear the voices of the bishops, we hear the voices of the archbishops, we hear the voice of the pope standing for justice. When you stand in silence, when you sit in silence, you are part of these injustice in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,’ the Grenadian born Father Paul said.
