Pray for our new Cardinals
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI I thank God for sending us the 19 cardinals who were appointed by Pope Francis at the February 22 public Consistory at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The Consistory was held on the Feast of the Chair of St Peter. As you know, among those now joining […]
Need to ‘grow’ our own Police Commissioners
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI Recently I was invited by the T&T Police Service (TTPS) to attend a Stakeholders’ Consultation with members of the Executive as the TTPS prepares its strategic plan for 2014-2016 (see my presentation on CCSJ’s website). A large proportion of T&T’s budget is spent on national security/crime reduction. […]
Treasure the elderly…not all as fortunate as Aunty Mary
Aunty Mary at her 100th birthday celebration. Photo by Matthias Marquez By Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ (http://rcsocialjusticett.org) & Director, CREDI On Saturday, January 25, I attended the 100th birthday celebrations of Mrs Mary Alice Pemberton of Lange Park, Chaguanas. This grand old lady left those gathered in awe at her amazing memory. She addressed us for […]
Workers free to form unions
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is playing its part in creating a regional jurisprudence. This article is the second in CCSJ’s series to educate the public about the links between judgments of the CCJ and Catholic Social Teaching (CST). In this article, I locate the CCJ’s […]
Confronting a culture of violence
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI “Our society needs both more personal responsibility and broader social responsibility to overcome the plague of violence in our land and the lack of peace in our hearts.”(Confronting a Culture of Violence: A Catholic Framework for Action – US Bishops, 1994). Violence in our society continues unabated. […]
An app to support New Year resolutions?
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI As we enter into our Archdiocese’s Third Pastoral Priority – Regenerating the Moral and Spiritual Values of our Society, let us reflect on how we can develop our spirituality during 2014. Today many people are using new technology to help them maintain their resolutions. There are many […]
Sacred Spaces
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Epiphany – when Christ was made manifest to the whole world. As we reflect on the adoration of baby Jesus by the Magi who came from the East, on the Baptism of Jesus, and on the first miracle he […]
The pathway to peace
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI As 2013 draws to a close and we take stock of where we are in T&T/the world, it is clear that, in many ways, our world is in a sorry state and desperately needs healing. We continue to close our hearts to the needs of millions of […]
Emmanuel – God is with us
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI During a recent discussion with my great-niece in London via Skype, we were speaking about how commercialised Christmas has become. As a 13-year-old Catholic, she is quite aware of the true meaning of Christmas, but admitted that she is often caught up in the hype about what […]
Preparing for the birth of Christ
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI As we prepare for the coming of the birth of Jesus, let us see Him in the faces of our “neighbours”. Amidst the splendour of the decorations in the malls and the “goodies” in our stores and supermarkets, spare a thought for Jesus who lives among us […]