Suspended Roman Catholic Priest, Fr Gerard Paul has defended one of his calypsoes which helped him to reach the semi-finals of Grenada’s 2026 National Calypso semi-finals to be held Sunday at the Seamoon Cultural Centre in St Andrew.
The song, which took a swipe at some Catholic priests who have often been accused of being engaged in homosexual activities, is not going down well with a certain section of the religious flock.
In an exclusive interview with THE NEW TODAY on Thursday, Fr Paul lamented that the song reflected a situation that has dogged the Catholic church for centuries and one that the church has often chosen to just ignore and not address.
Fr Paul is the first catholic priest to face the judges in a national calypso competition in the Spice Isle and to also make it into the semi-finals.
According to the cleric as far as he knows it is only “a few people” in the church who are complaining about the song called “The Radar” in which he took a shot at those priests who are suspected to be homosexuals
“As far as I know, it’s only a few very vocal people complaining about the downside of the church that I raised but what about the downside that I raised about criminality in Grenada, about politics in Grenada (in the song).
“It is alright to raise that but I guess when it comes to church, I have been saying that for scores of years. We behave like the politicians – I like Keith Mitchell, don’t say anything against Keith Mitchell no matter whether it is true or not, just don’t say anything about it.
“If I like Dickon Mitchell, don’t say anything bad about him. Don’t speak the truth, that is wrong about him. If I like NNP, NNP could do no wrong, if I like NDC, NDC could do no wrong.”
Fr Paul pointed out that this syndrome is also prevalent in the Catholic Church with many becoming upset with anyone who speaks out against “the evils” in the church.
“I am a Catholic, we cannot be wrong. Do not speak about the wrong in the Catholic church – you could speak about the wrongs in all the other churches … I will smile and I will be happy to hear you speak about it but don’t touch the wrong in my church.
“As I have always said, people have a right to their opinion, people have a right to feel how they feel. In Grenada and maybe across the world it’s the same story – feelings become the most important thing, facts don’t matter, truth doesn’t matter, morality doesn’t matter, justice does not matter, real peace does not matter and all sorts of things don’t matter.
“I will not be bothered about the opinion of people who are locked up in their feelings. I don’t understand why it is so hard for us to be level-headed on matters.
“It’s unfortunate. Why can’t we speak about what is good, what is bad, what should go on in the society, what should not go on in the society without strings attached?”
Fr Paul stressed that in The Radar, he was also critical of those persons who go to church only to make “melee, confusion and bad talk people and destroy one another’s lives.
“… It seems nothing wrong with it but when I speak about the evils of the Catholic Church at the very highest level something is wrong with me,” he said.
“Something is not wrong with the people who are doing the wrong – something is wrong with me,” he added.
Fr Paul went on to say: “Historically, the fact is that these evils that I am referring to are not things that began 3 and 5 years ago – these are things that have been going on for thousands of years in the Catholic Church but people will not speak about it.
“People do not want to speak about it for many reasons. Nobody wants to say this is wrong and it should not happen and so it goes on and it goes on.
“The sexual molestation of children in the church is not something new. The Catholic Church does not seem to want to correct itself at all.”