'Restore a cathedral and restore a city' - Holy Trinity Catholic Church playing a lead role in the rebirth

Arthur Hall, Senior Gleaner Writer

For more than 200 years, the Holy Trinity Catholic Church has been a beacon in downtown Kingston.

With its mandate to win souls for Christ, the church has concentrated on its religious offering.

However,
the economic and social conditions of the people in the communities
around the magnificent Cathedral have not been ignored.

"We have
our regular social outreach programmes that involve a feeding programme
and also a scheme where we distribute groceries to the needy.

"We
used to do that once a week, but because of financial constraints we now
limit it to once a month," said, vicar general of the Archdiocese of
Kingston and rector of the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Monsignor Kenneth
Richards.

"We also have a feeding programme on a Saturday where
approximately 140 persons come here and we give them a meal, or we
deliver the meals to the shut-ins who can't make it," Richards added.

But the leadership of the Holy Trinity Cathedral family is interested in much more than handouts to the needy.

According
to Richards, the church is trying to influence social changes which
will improve the lives of the residents of downtown Kingston.

He
said the almost-completed multimillion-dollar refurbishing of the North
Street-based cathedral provided a prefect opportunity for the church to
influence the lives of scores of persons.

"During the height of
the restoration of the cathedral, the salary package was roughly one
million dollars, which went into the community each month," Richards
told The Gleaner.

"The work - restoring 3,000 square feet
of art - was accomplished primarily by the young men and young women
from the community who were trained by the Spanish experts who came in,"
added Richards.

According to Richards: "We think that the church
has to do something to restore the vibrancy of what downtown should be
like and, with the church in this community for more than 200 years -
because the original church was built in 1811 at the corner of Duke and
Sutton streets before it was destroyed by the 1907 earthquake - we have
to play our part."

The Holy Trinity Cathedral has also, in the past, embarked on a resocialisation programme for residents of downtown Kingston.

"Because
we want to give them a new mindset about the concept of self, because
when you have a understanding of self it will influence how you relate
to others," Richards said.

Now Holy Trinity is looking at other social programmes as it plays its part in the rebirth of downtown Kingston.