RC priest takes TATT to task

The Telecommunications Authority of TT (TATT) was taken to task by Roman Catholic priest Father Martin Sirju who said the policy of banning seemingly offensive songs had to be consistent and not dependant on race, class or politics.

Sirju was delivering the Old Year’s Night sermon at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Church, Harris Promenade, San Fernando, on December 31.

Addressing a packed congregation, which filled the Church’s ornate auditorium and spilled out into the nearby car park where several large tents were set up to accommodate the overflowing mass of worshippers, Sirju based his sermon on the concept of “peace” and several of the factors which influenced that peace.

He said peace, which was based on “justice, fairness and equity” did not exist in the country at present. He said the absence of peace was evident in three national issues- vulgar songs; gender flexibility and migrant issues.

Sirju said a certain “infamous song” (which he did not identify but which seemed to be Nirmal “Massive” Gosein’s latest offering for the 2018 Chutney Soca season), had generated controversy by its “ugly chorus” and had caused TATT to warn media houses about playing it on its radio frequencies.

“This song can be racially and politically divisive,” he said, adding, “The Telecommunications Authority is wanting to take the high ground in this controversy but it does not stand on any moral authority to do so.”

He recalled that there were a number of songs over the past few years which he could not sing on the pulpit because of its lyrical content.

“The policy of banning has to be consistent and not depend on race, class or politics,” he said.

In an impassioned sermon, he admitted to having boasted about TT as being a place where its citizens did not kill people for being “gay.”

And without identifying the source of his statistics, he said between three to five per cent of a population had difficulties with the gender with which they had been born.

Sirju then expressed the opinion that gender was not static but had a measure of flexibility.

“Some people get offended when they see men dress, and act a certain way that may be effeminate to them, but we cannot disrespect them and we cannot do violence to them and certainly cannot kill them.”

Regarding the issue of refugees and migrants, he said while the nation had to extend its arms to them noted that proper investigations had to be done to ensure that genuine refugees and migrants were welcomed to these shores.

“We need to weed out the crooks and criminals, and if we have migrant children in our society, the Ministry if Education should make allowances for them to have them in our schools.

“We have to create a culture of peace.”

Sirju was recently promoted to the office of vicar general in the Port of Spain Archdiocese.

A vicar general is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority.

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"RC priest takes TATT to task"

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