HOWARD Gregory, archbishop of the West Indies and Bishop of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, addressing the opening service of the 153rd synod of the Anglican church in Jamaica, charged that the Church should agitate that the Andrew Holness-led Administration actively gets on with the business of leading the country to republican status.

“We must support and advocate for the stepping up of the announced process of constitutional reform to enable the country to achieve republican status within the Commonwealth,” Gregory told the faithful.

He said that the euphoria sparked by the action of the people of Barbados seems to have faded and with it the fervour in Jamaica.

His comments came against the backdrop of the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the Anglican diocese of Jamaica, and just over 150 years of disestablishment — separation of church and State.

According to Gregory, the requisite legislative and administrative changes that would see the unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy transition to the full identity of nationhood as a republic should be fervently pursued.

The clergyman in his sermon acknowledged the role of the Church in the country’s history of slavery, adding: “As a community of faith, we acknowledge, with regret, the injustices and inhumanity of our ancestors in the faith, even as we recognise that our identification as Anglicans occupies a special place in our hearts and life as members of what has become today the Anglican Communion…God speaks to the life of the person who has been wronged in the most heinous ways, the seemingly natural retributive and revengeful spirit is transformed…Restorative justice becomes an option.”

This, Gregory posited, was reason enough to keep the momentum towards republic status ongoing.

He went on to speak to the support for various institutions of national relevance.

“We must also support and advocate for the Caribbean Court of Justice becoming the final appellate court for the nation and the region, and stop demeaning ourselves by claiming that we cannot trust our Caribbean jurists to act with integrity,” he said.

Gregory continued: “If we cannot trust our jurists, on what basis should we trust any other institution of governance within our nation and region to defend justice and act with integrity?”

He charged that the nation’s leaders should be urged to discharge their duty with integrity allowing the organs of the State to do their jobs. Especially, he said, the work of the Integrity Commission and auditor general must not suffer muzzling, procedural frustration, or be hindered by sophistry.

“Corruption finds validation within our social and political culture with an apparent lack of the will to do anything transformative about the situation. In the pursuit of integrity and transparency of governance and our democratic process, bipartisan agreements of the past have made provision for the Integrity Commission and the Office of the Auditor General. We must, therefore, oppose any attempt by our elected political officials to tamper with the effective functioning of the Integrity Commission, limit access to its findings from public knowledge and discourse, even as there is a disregard for the reports of the auditor general, both of which are institutions established in a time of more sober reflection to ensure accountability and transparency in governance,” he said.

The church head said that the time had come for support of the Caricom Reparations Commission’s 10 Point Plan:

“In light of what has been advanced in terms of our history, our association with the experience of colonialism, and our commitment to be guardians of justice, we unashamedly affirm that a good place to begin at this time in refocusing our mission is for us to be engaged in the conversation concerning reparative justice at the congregational and national levels…” he said.

Gregory pointed out that while the British Government has so far refused to engage the matter of reparative justice, an arm of the Church of England, the Church Commissioners, has acknowledged, “complicity in an abominable trade that still scars the lives of billions…and in penitence and hope…proposed the establishment and investment of 100 million pounds of permanent seed capital in communities damaged by African chattel enslavement’s legacy of racism and disadvantage”.

Among those in attendance at the commencement service at St James Parish Church were Roman Catholic Archbishop Kenneth Richards; president of the Jamaica Council of Churches Christine Gooden-Benguche; Gary Harriot, moderator of the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands; Newton Dixon, general secretary, Jamaica Council of Churches; representatives of other Christian faiths; Hartley Perrin, custos of Westmoreland; Conrad Pitkin, custos of St James; and mayor of St James Richard Vernon.