A Grenada-based Roman Catholic priest has had his ministry immediately and indefinitely stopped due to statements he made on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, as well as his criticism of the church.
Father Gerard Paul was suspended effective April 4, 2024, following a spectacular and well-reported altercation with Clyde Harvey, the bishop of the Diocese of St George’s in Grenada.
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Regarding the suspension, Bishop Harvey stated in a recent statement, “The Church has rules, clear expectations, and protections for the People of God, enshrined in the Code of Canon Law and the ordinary teaching of Popes and bishops.” He added, “When Fr. Paul said, ‘I have no regrets and I will do it again’, he put himself beyond review and fraternal correction.”
After events in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on March 27, 2024, and Father Paul’s remarks on several media platforms, accusing the Grenadian church of failing to denounce the Gaza crisis, the debate erupted. He said that the matter was not even brought up or discussed during a recent clergy retreat.
“I call upon the Church today to get its freedom and to get its voice and speak up for justice,” He said this while denouncing the Gaza War as a “wholesale slaughter” of Muslims and Palestinians. “We cannot rightly ever preach the Gospel if we do not stand for justice. It’s time the Catholic Church stands for justice. It’s time we hear the voices of the pastors of the church, we hear the voices of the priests of the church, we hear the voices of the bishops, we hear the voices of the archbishops, we hear the voice of the pope standing for justice. When you stand in silence, when you sit in silence, you are part of this injustice in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
A Chrism Mass in St George’s was met with retaliation by Bishop Harvey, “I was inclined to say nothing because the Eucharist is not a place to divide us,” he remarked. “We all stand up for justice. How we stand up for justice depends on our insights, and how we see things. It is not true to say that the clergy of this diocese went on a retreat and did not think about Gaza. That is just not true and I want that to be made clear. I don’t hold Father Jerry accountable for what he does not know. He was not there every day, every hour, every Mass at the retreat as far as I remember.”
Bishop Harvey elaborated on the issue in a recent statement, stating that Father Paul’s words and deeds had offended and even terrified a lot of people.
“What was done, deliberately choreographed, seems to be an act of self-promotion more than a cry for justice,” he said. “The former is unworthy of Father Paul as a priest of Jesus Christ.”
While acknowledging that many people agreed with Father Paul’s assessment of the Gaza situation, the Diocese of George’s released a statement on Sunday denouncing Father Paul’s ongoing attacks on the Catholic Church and its leadership as “erroneous and divisive.”
It stated that his suspension stemmed from a “persistent pattern of behavior” that included false allegations and assaults against the Church, rather than just his comments on March 27.
Bishop Harvey claimed that such attitudes weaken the authority of the Church and are deceptive to everyone, and it was reported that Father Paul had been called upon to cease such behavior but had shown no intention of doing so.
According to Bishop Harvey’s statement, the action was required to remedy the harm done to the faithful and the diocese.
On October 3, 2023, Hamas, a violent Palestinian group that has been labeled a terrorist organization by several western nations and that has promised to completely destroy Israel, launched an unexpected attack on southern Israel, sparking the start of the Gaza War. The Israeli government claims that over 250 individuals were transported as hostages to Gaza and that almost 1,200 people were killed.
Israel has responded by declaring war on Gaza and threatening to destroy Hamas. Large tracts of the Gaza Strip have been turned to rubble, and Hamas claims that more than 33,000 Palestinians have died since then.
The Catholic Church’s hierarchy has consistently expressed opposition to the war.
On February 13, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the secretary of state of the Vatican, discussed the issue with the media in Rome.
“Israel’s right of self-defense, which has been invoked to justify this operation, must be proportional, and with thirty thousand dead, it certainly isn’t,” he stated.
This led to a statement from Israel’s embassy in the Vatican describing Parolin’s answer as “unfortunate.”
The day following the attack by Hamas, Pope Francis addressed the matter, stating, “Let the attacks and weapons cease, please, because it must be understood that terrorism and war do not lead to any resolutions, but only to the death and suffering of many innocent people.”
On October 29, 2023, at the Sunday prayer service, Francis demanded a cease-fire in Gaza, stating, “Stop, brothers and sisters: war is always a defeat—always, always!”
The Washington Post revealed in October of last year that Francis informed Israel’s President, Isaac Herzog, over the phone that it is “forbidden to respond to terror with terror.”
Pope Francis reiterated his plea for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and the release of all captives in his Easter address.
60,000 Catholics were gathered in Vatican Square on Easter Sunday as the Pope stated, “I appeal once again that access to humanitarian aid be ensured to Gaza and call once more for the prompt release of the hostages seized on last October 7 and for an immediate ceasefire in the Strip.” He further expresses how disheartening it is to see that children suffer because of a war that could have been avoided, “How much suffering we see in the eyes of children, the children have forgotten to smile in those war zones. With their eyes, children ask us: Why? Why all this death? Why all this destruction? War is always an absurdity and a defeat.”
