NCC Vs Council of Churches on Citizen’s Parade on a Sunday
On Thursday, the Belize Council of Churches issued a release expressing its disappointment with the September Tenth Citizen’s Parade being held on a Sunday. The council says that Sunday is recognised as a day of worship for churches and that “the proposed time and route of the parade will seriously disrupt the well-established and long-standing worship services of several churches.” Today, the media caught up with Senator Moses Benguche for the churches and Chair of the National Celebrations Commission, Francis Fonseca to get their perspectives on the matter. Senator Benguche says that these national and cultural holidays should bring the country together and not divide us as a people, but the tradition was not carried through and the church was not consulted. Minister Fonseca says that while he understands the position of the church, it’s a little too late.
Francis Fonseca
Francis Fonseca, Chair, National Celebrations Commission
“The citizen’s parade on the tenth is always planned and organized by the Loyal Patriotic Order of the Baymen. That’s a group that’s been around for many years; so they plan and organize the tenth. We simply put it in our calendar of events. And they have insisted on maintaining the integrity of the tenth. That’s something important for them. We consulted with them again today and their position is that they want to proceed with the citizen’s parade on the tenth, despite the fact that they have heard and listened to and respect the concerns of the church and we do as well. The national celebrations commission, we understand the position of the church, but we believe that the parade, as the patriotic group has said, can be done as they do every year in a very respectful celebratory manner that will not interfere at all with church services.”
Reporter
“But do you feel it is a little unreasonable of them to make such a request?”
Francis Fonseca
“Yeah, in my mind view, I understand as I said where they are coming from – of course, they have their own interests to protect – but in my view it is a little unreasonable, especially coming so late in the calendar. We planned this event for many months; the police have a plan in place for over a month – logistics in terms of who will work on that day and all these sorts of things. So it’s very unreasonable to come so late.”
Moses Benguche
Moses Benguche, Senator for Churches
“It would have been at least decent, insofar as the church is concern, to have at least had some kind of communication before the decision was taken. Or let’s say that the decision was taken, could we have sat down at some point in time to reflect on as to a strategy and way forward in which the churches, which meets primarily on a Sunday, would not be adversely affected, our worship would not be adversely affected. I think these are the things that we are extremely unhappy about. In the past, when functions would have been held on a Sunday, there was a level of communication with the church. Why is it that this time around, we were consulted or we found out after the fact? And this is the important point to note. We must not find out something, decisions such as this, after the fact. We must, perhaps as a church and the institution that it will affect the most, I think we should be around the table rather than be consulted after on things of this nature. And that is the thing that the church is concerned about.”
