Anglican archbishop Howard Gregory against resumption of hanging

Anglican Bishop of Jamaica Dr Howard Gregory has dismissed calls for the resumption of hanging even as he laments how Jamaica is “soaked in blood” and struggling with high levels of social and economic inequalities.

In a wide-ranging sermon yesterday at a service to open the 151st Synod, the annual meeting of senior officials of the Anglican Church, Gregory also slammed his religious community for being reactionary in responding to national issues.

“The church through neglect, institutional preoccupation, misconduct and abuse among its pastors, and the anti-vaccination messaging of many pastors have left many in our nation confused, disillusioned, cynical, and more suspicious of the institutional church and religious belief and expression of any kind,” he said.

Noting that Jamaica's murder rate was among the highest in the world at more than 40 per 100,000 of the population, Gregory said the solution cannot be left to the police.

The death penalty, not carried out in Jamaica since 1988, is not the answer, he argued.

“We hear some pastors offering as their Christian response the resumption of hanging as an inducement of fear and a deterrent in the minds of prospective murderers as the solution,” he said at the Cathedral of St Jago-de-la-Vega in Spanish Town, St Catherine.

According to Gregory, the issue of crime and violence is addressed in terms of anger and violence as a historical legacy that has some legitimacy.

“It misses the point as to the fracturing impact it has had on people's sense of selfhood and the consequent value which the perpetrators of violence place on their own lives and those of others,” the bishop said.

Environmental degradation, mining, agriculture and voter apathy were also on the list of things that Gregory tackled.

He was critical of the government's Greater Bernard Lodge project in St Catherine under which over 2,000 acres of prime farmlands will be used to accommodate 16,000 houses, as well as commercial and light industrial facilities.

“Whether the issue relates to mining, the destruction of mangroves and wetlands, the conversion of the best arable lands of the nation into housing and commercial development, these are all pursued with official sanction, while paying lip service in public discourse to climate change, climate resilience or food security,” Gregory said.

The government reduced the acreage for the development amid intense public complaints.

On corruption, Gregory expressed concern at dismissive attitudes towards reports from the Auditor General and the Integrity Commission, the country's main anti-corruption institution.

“Isn't it amazing how every report or investigation carried out by the Auditor General or the Integrity Commission into the conduct of public officials or institutions is always received as misinformed, misguided, did not allow the subject of the investigation a fair opportunity to respond, or was just “a witch hunt”?” he said.

He also joined calls for the removal of the gag clause from the commission that he said: “does nothing to build confidence and transparency and is not serving the interest of the people of this nation.”

The clause blocks the commission from commenting on investigations until a report is tabled in the Parliament.

Gregory said the solutions to Jamaica's problems required a “breaking of the silence” by sector groups to address contributing to injustice and inequality.

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