The complacent society in which we now live was violently rocked recently when Education Minister Tim Gopeesingh revealed that this little country of ours is haunted by more than 2,500 teen pregnancies annually.Within 24 hours everybody seemed to have realised that we have a serious problem in this country, since the matter of teenage pregnancies reflected the almost total breakdown of family life and its attendant values; and we are not, here, just talking only about Catholic families. The entire country is affected.The sudden and immediate reaction saw all the stakeholders–like the psychologists, medical practitioners, teachers, law enforcement people and of course the politicians–falling over each other trying to make statements and voice opinions relative to the scourge our young women face daily. Rape, incest and teenage pregnancies are not new to T&T. Where have we been all these years? These social ills have been with us for decades. It's just that it has become worse.
But when it is put in your face, as the goodly minister did, it looks very different.Unfortunately, all the pronouncements and special committees and task forces would not improve the sorry state in which we have found ourselves. We need much more than that.To add salt to the wound, Senator Faris Al Rawi told the Senate last week that the Minister of Health told him there were some 10,000 cases of abortions and still-births involving teenagers every year. This fact begs the question: Who performs these abortions? Are they professional, specialist medical doctors or are they done by backyard quacks?A large number of those 10,000 are probably carried out illegally, in makeshift clinics, which pose a number of hazards to young, ill-advised teenagers. But there are so many of these situations which are aided and abetted by consenting parents, who have failed miserably in carrying out their parental responsibilities in the first place.The statistic that is missing now to complete the chain is the number of single parent homes (more single mothers) there are in the country. That is a challenge that would hardly be taken up, since society today seems to be against marriage and the plethora of values which that institution brings to any society.
Another fact we cannot passively overlook is the high divorce rate in the country: it's one which the Catholic Church must face. Statistics from the judiciary reveal there are almost 3,000 divorces a year in the country, yet another contributing factor to many current problems.Couples seeking annulments of their marriages in the Catholic Church represent another serious situation. In the last seven years (2006-2013), there have been 348 petitions to the Metropolitan Tribunal of Declarations of Nullity of Marriage. And while the number of petitions is not indicative of the number of annulments granted, they do give cause for concern.As Roman Catholics, we have to take the lead in regenerating family values in homes. With these recent revelations, it has become even more necessary to effectively put in place strategies that could make the Third Pastoral Priority a most vital weapon in the thrust of the Church to "regenerate spiritual and moral values in the society," as mandated by Synod 2009.And while the Roman Catholic Church cannot fully embrace all the ills of our society, all leaders should do something to regain the traditional values of true family life.
�2 Vernon Khelawan is media relations officer of Catholic Media Services Limited (Camsel), the official communications arm of the Archdiocese of Port-of-Spain. Its offices are located at 31 Independence Square. Telephone: 623-7620.