GUARDING JUSTICE
Bishop uses scripture to urge J’cans to call for real engagement, governance
Published:Monday | February 12, 2024 | 12:11 AMRuddy Mathison/Gleaner Writer
The Right Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the Jamaica-born Anglican Bishop of Dover in England, yesterday delivered a powerful charge to the people of her native land to demand responsible governance and transparency from their country’s political leaders.
Hudson-Wilkin, the first black woman to become a Church of England bishop, was giving an address during the launch of the 200th-anniversary celebration of the establishment of the Diocese in Jamaica and The Cayman Islands, held at the Spanish Town Cathedral in St Catherine.
Speaking under the theme ‘Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow: Celebrating Service, Guarding Justice, Affirming Hope’, Hudson-Wilkin emphasised the critical importance of guarding justice as a fundamental responsibility of human existence.
“They [politicians] cannot just at election time throw little money around and patch up a little bit of road here and a little bit of road there,” she declared, challenging the notion of superficial gestures in place of substantive engagement with the people.
It is a critique that resonates throughout Jamaica, where various political administrations over the past decades have been accused of making empty promises or pandering to base needs through exercises like road patching at election time to secure the vote.
Just last week, political commentator Dr Paul Ashley argued that any infrastructural project undertaken by the Government at this time was being done to shore up votes for the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) ahead of the February 26 local government elections.
Ashley’s comments came after Prime Minister Andrew Holness acknowledged the optics of campaigning at the same time as launching projects. The prime minister made the comment while turning on the Mocho Water Supply System in Clarendon, giving more than 700 residents access to water, just a day after announcing that the local government elections would be held this month.
Yesterday, with a deep sense of moral obligation, Hudson-Wilkin invoked the scriptures, drawing from the book of Isaiah, to underscore the divine imperative for acting justly, with loving mercy, and walking humbly with God. She cautioned against blind allegiance to political factions, urging citizens to question leaders and advocate for essential human-development needs.
“My brothers and sisters, you must take note of this because you can’t simply join the bandwagon of waving a particular flag of a particular ... , that’s nonsense,” she declared.
“Nations will not lift up their swords against other nations. We won’t simply try to fulfil our desires. In other words, we won’t be the Putins and Netanyahus of this world,” she said in advocating for peace while directly criticising the wars now being fought by the leaders of Russia and Israel against Ukraine and Gaza, respectively.
In a searing critique, Bishop Hudson-Wilkin also admonished the British government for its handling of Rwandan refugees, questioning the expenditure of vast sums of money on repatriation efforts without addressing the root causes of displacement.
She did not spare her own church, acknowledging its complicity in the slave trade while also noting its positive contributions, particularly to education.
Calling upon the Anglican Church to actively engage with politicians, Hudson-Wilkin advocated for ‘sincerity assessments’ through open dialogue and questioning.
She cautioned against complacency, urging citizens not to relinquish their responsibilities to politicians and emphasising the need for active advocacy for the vulnerable.
As the 200th anniversary-celebration unfolds, Hudson-Wilkin’s impassioned plea echoes beyond the cathedral walls. Her words serve as a clarion call for a renewed commitment to justice, accountability, and collective action, reminding Jamaicans of their agency in shaping a brighter future for generations to come.