St Catherine churches unite for peace

As part of their effort to bring peace to Spanish Town, St Catherine, which has been rocked by lawlessness in recent weeks, the churches in the town staged a mass meeting on Sunday, under the theme, 'City Praise', to highlight their concerns about the situation and their desire for peace.

Icylin Golding, custos of St Catherine, who endorsed the initiative of the churches, deemed their action as quite relevant based on the need to restore peace in the parish capital.

"We are very thankful that the church has organised this outreach .... we need it ... as we need peace of mind, and it is even more special that the youth are out," said Golding.

The custos also called on the churches to offer special prayers for the police, who regularly put their lives at risk to challenge the criminals, who are seemingly hell-bent on creating havoc.

"As justices of the peace (JPs), we are going into the schools with restorative justice, child diversion, counselling and other intervention," said Golding, in explaining the role JPs are playing in the effort to blunt the lawlessness.

Superintendent of Police, Hopton Nicholson, who heads the St Catherine North Police Division, said he welcomes the intervention by the church through their spiritual approach.

"The division has six less murders than the corresponding period last year, so we embrace the stakeholders' involvement, it helps in the fight against criminal activities," said Nicholson , who made it clear that the criminals will not be allowed to operate with impunity in the division.

Bishop Rowan Edwards, chairman of the 10,000-Men and Family Movement, said the mass meeting was necessary as the churches must be involved in the effort to address the crime problems, which has been plaguing Spanish Town over the years.

"The church leaders are aware of the problem, and we are using prayers and supplication to continue God's work for peace," explained Edwards.

The mass meeting culminated with members of the various denominations marching and singing through several streets of what was Jamaica's first capital.