The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Trinidad and Tobago Joseph Harris
helped launch a new shelter for at-risk children on Wednesday – one of four
operated in the Caribbean nation by the Holy Faith Sisters religious charity.
According to the Credo Center’s administrators, the shelter will
welcome children regardless of their sexual orientation and the same policy
exists for all the Holy Faith Sister’s children’s shelters in Trinidad and
Tobago.
‘Our doors are open to any boy or girl we feel are equipped to
help, irrespective of race, religion, sexual orientation, physical ability or
socio-economic status,’ the Credo Center said in a statement prior to the
launch event.
Archbishop Harris sprinkled holy water through the Credo Center
shelter to bless each room.
Asked about parents who abandoned their children when they learned
they were gay or lesbian, Harris condemned the practice.
‘I think that is the worst thing that you can do,’ the Archbishop
said, according
to Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.
‘People are people. All people have to be respected. All people,
whatever orientation, are made in the image and likeness of Almighty God. We
have to find God in them.’
‘May all who enter it be treated with respect and kindness,’ Harris
said in blessing the building, ‘May the spirit of love and affection touch all
who use the rooms of this house.’
‘Loving God, may you lovingly care for all who will live, work and
recreate here. Amen.’
The Credo Center will be able to accommodate up to 16 children at a
time.
The opening of the center was attended by both Minister of State in
the Ministry of Gender and Child Development Raziah Ahmed, and Opposition MP
Marlene McDonald, both of whom shared the Archbishop’s sentiments.
‘All children have the right to care, love, support and
interventions where needed in keeping with the rights of the child,’ Ahmed told
Newsday.
‘I don’t think that anybody should be thrown out because of their
sexual orientation,’ McDonald said, ‘Not at all.’
‘I do not subscribe to discrimination because of your sexual
orientation. And I say that with confidence.’
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