The Hon. Lensley Wolfe (left), Chief Justice of Jamaica, and Chancellor of the Anglican Diocese, admires the citation presented to retiring Anglican Bishop of Jamaica, the Rt. Rev. Neville deSouza, at yesterday's Holy Eucharist at the Cathedral Church of St. Jago de la Vega, Spanish Town marking his retirement.-- Winston Sill HUNDREDS OF Anglicans from Jamaica and overseas gathered yesterday at the historic Cathedral Church of St. Jago de la Vega, Spanish Town, to say "Godspeed" to the 12th Anglican Bishop of Jamaica, the Rt. Rev. Neville deSouza, who retired from office after serving for 20 years.
Among them were Mr. Seymour Mullings, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Land and Environment, members of the diplomatic corps and the public, as well as students of several high schools, including Glenmuir High School, Clarendon, where he had taught.
The veteran clergyman, who demitted office at 72, the mandatory age of retirement, was flanked by clergy carrying ceremonial symbols and honoured with a citation and other gifts.
The former Lord Bishop took his retirement gracefully, leaving his congregation with a few words of advice that left them laughing at his keen wit even as they pondered his words.
In a rousing 45-minute presentation, Bishop deSouza commented on issues which he said Jamaica needed to examine in order to truly attain nationhood.
Chief among these was Jamaica's need to look closely at injustice and inequity pervading the society which, he said, bred anger and other destructive behaviour such as crime and suicide. Quoting figures from a United Nations' charter on economy and population in the world, Bishop deSouza pointed out that equity was impossible in a country where the top 20 per cent owned 80 per cent of the economy while the lowest 20 per cent shared 1.9 per cent.
The only other country below Jamaica was war-torn Sierra Leone, where the lowest 20 per cent shared 1.1 per cent.
"It is urgent that we look at that because if Sierra Leone at 1.1 per cent is involved in a civil war, then Jamaica at 1.9 per cent needs to recognise that things are getting very desperate. We have to get rid of the oppressive forces... and free the people (because) freedom is God's will for all of us," he said.
He urged Jamaicans to break free from mental slavery and embrace true emancipation "encased in autonomy of choice" .
Likening Jamaica's gaining emancipation from slavery to the Israelites coming out of Pharaoh's Egypt, Rev. deSouza warned Jamaicans that "no one can be independent until they free their minds from being manipulated."
Jamaicans, he said, needed to claim their heritage and to assume responsibility for their actions and development instead of blaming leaders, remaining trapped in fear and pandering to the opinions of others, some of whom he called "fifth columnists" who supported Britain against freeing the slaves and who now support the United States, which he accused of practising "neo-colonism".
"We don't talk about the ills of the time but what people will think of us. We begin to talk about image rather than face reality. Who you are is more important than who you pretend to be," he said, to murmurs of agreement from the 1500-strong congregation.
