NATURALLY, Jamaicans are feeling some amount of disappointment at the results of the 63rd Miss Universe pageant held in Florida, Sunday night.

The country had obviously got the sense that in Miss Kaci Fennell we had found the first Jamaican winner for this crown, coming after Miss Yendi Phillipps did us proud by placing second in 2010.

Already, many views have been advanced in the post-pageant analysis, and a lot of those opinions are being informed by raw emotion, including some who felt that her fifth placing did not adequately reflect the quality of her brilliance.

Amidst the passionate discussion, though, is a fact that we all know, and accept, that people enter competitions with the knowledge that they will either win or lose.

Miss Fennell herself may well be feeling a sense of underachievement. However, if she is, we would encourage her, and the many Jamaicans who supported her, not to, but instead to take pride in the fact that she did well — extremely well.

Placing in the top five of a competition with 88 contestants is no easy feat. Add to that the fact that it takes considerable bravery and self-confidence to appear on and master a stage in an arena with hundreds of people in the audience, plus millions more watching on television across the world.

Miss Fennell, we believe, was an excellent ambassador for her country throughout this contest and she deserves our congratulations for holding Jamaica’s flag high. She used the interview section to further expose our country’s enormous achievements in sports and music, proudly trumpeting the fastest man alive in Usain Bolt and the indomitable reggae megastar Bob Marley.

While we congratulate Miss Colombia on her victory and wish her a successful reign, we are proud to boldly state that Miss Kaci Fennell is our queen.

Historic step by the Anglican Church

The Church of England took another significant step in its history yesterday when the Rev Libby Lane was ordained as the new bishop of Stockport.

Bishop Lane is now the first woman to be consecrated a bishop in the Anglican Church, a move that has ended centuries of exclusive male leadership in the church hierarchy.

It also comes just over 20 years after the church agreed to allow women to be ordained as priests.

As was expected, Bishop Lane’s consecration has fuelled further divisions in the church — as indicated by a brief delay in yesterday’s service sparked by an opponent. However, it is clear that the Anglican Communion, by this action, is adapting to the demands of a changing world that has less and less tolerance for gender inequality.

That commitment of the church to change is reflected in Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu’s comment that he had been “praying and working for this day”.

The task before the church now is to convince traditionalists to open their minds to the realities of modern civilisation. That, we believe, will not be easy, and the church needs to go about it in a manner that will not isolate those who hold steadfast to traditional beliefs.