Bishop Persaud urges patience on cathedral rehab project

WESTERN BUREAU:

Bishop John Persaud, the apostolic administrator of the Montego Bay Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, is urging members of the church and the wider community to exercise a little more patience with the actual commencement of the rehabilitation of the cathedral.

Under the then leadership of Bishop Burchell McPherson, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Montego Bay broke ground and announced that it was seeking the help of the private sector in raising $200 million to restore the Blessed Sacrament Cathedral.

The church sits next to Mt Alvernia High School, near Queen’s Drive, but after almost 60 years, the cathedral overlooking the city of Montego Bay no longer befits its status, according to Bishop Burchell McPherson, who has since retired as Rome’s representative in the Montego Bay Diocese.

“I have been told about it. I am not only told, but I think there are some concerns being expressed because it’s been a while since funds were being raised for this project and people are not hearing anything,” Persaud said.

“I promise you, and you could let your readership know that I will be looking into it, and we will move the project forward as soon as possible,” said Persaud, who is also the Bishop of Mandeville.

The initial groundbreaking, Bishop Persaud said, took place in July last year, but the failing health of Bishop McPherson contributed to this and other programmes experiencing delays.

“People just have to be patient in the sense that Bishop Burchell for the last few years has not been well, and it really slowed down a lot of stuff, but it wasn’t intentional. I think it was simply because of his health,” he said.

At the groundbreaking ceremony last year, Bishop McPherson shared in a Gleaner interview that the church, as part of its efforts to raise funds, embarked on a series of fundraising initiatives, including fish fries. However, he said that based on the gravity of the work that needs to be done, it will require much more funds.

“These will not allow us to reach our goal of raising the $200 million needed. Therefore, I am appealing to corporate Montego Bay and the wider Jamaica to try and assist us in whatever way you can,” he pleaded then.

“When you look at the cathedral, it needs a facelift for it to look like a cathedral. It’s looking like a warehouse now,” McPherson said at the groundbreaking ceremony held on July 30, 2022.