(Now on vacation in his hometown Caramoan, Camarines Sur preparatory to his new assignment in Rome, Fr. Obias who is more fondly called Fr. Chulie, was assigned at the Carribean since August 1997. From September 2004 until last month he was Rector of the Pope John Paul II seminary, Archdiocese of Castries, Marisule, Gros Islet, St. Lucia, West Indies.)
 |
| Fr. Chulie Obias on a balcony with a panoramic view of a breathtaking Carribean coastline. |
 |
| Fr. Chulie officiates in a Carribean wedding ceremony. 88% of the children are born out of wedlock. |
The most prominent mark of Carribean history is its colonial past. It has to do with the European involvement in the region from the fifteenth century to early part of the twentieth century. It was practically five hundred of years exploration, exploitation and colonization of the New World by the Spanish, British, French and Dutch explorers. The earliest attempts of colonization and the quest for riches and power left the indigenous Amerindian population near extinction due to their exposure to unaccustomed working conditions and diseases.
This subsequently gave rise to the African slave trade, as the demand for the strong labor force was becoming increasingly necessary to support the then growing agricultural economy. Within the period 1452-1870, it is estimated that a total of about 9,566,000 African slaves were imported in the Americas.
The plantation became the main social institution known to the African slaves, and it formed an integral part of the social structure in which the planter class was on top and the black (slave) class was at the bottom. The abolition of slavery had far reaching social consequences. The slaves abandoned the sugar plantations. There was a labor problem for the planters. At first, a few European immigrants came to work on limited contracts, but this proved unsuccessful. The attention was turned towards the East. According to Mintz’s estimate over 135,000 Chinese, nearly a half million Indians and more than 33,000 Javanese reached the Caribbean. A small number of Jews, Lebanese, Irish and Syrians were recorded.
During the plantation period the Catholic Church made little progress with the mass of slaves because of the unwavering opposition of the planters and many of the government officials. The planters feared the consequence of religious instructions for slaves who might thereby get new ideas about their worth as humans and rebel against their servile conditions. With the conversion of many ex-slaves and indentured workers to Christianity the new Carribean Church entered the independence era with a membership of varied cultural backgrounds.
Caribbean culture is more a conglomeration of many cultures rather than a single culture. The dominant cultural features in each individual Carribean island is dependent on their relative powers, including the size of racial and ethnic groupings language dominance, traditional customs and religious prominence.
| The African and East Indian immigrants brought with them their religious beliefs to the Carribean. Because of their numerical clout the Africans have great infl uence in the way of life. |
The four official languages spoken in the Carribean are English, French, Spanish and Dutch. In most parts there are more than one dialects spoken as a result of the cross fertilization between the various languages, thus giving rise to the French Creole (patois) and Dutch Creole (Papiamento). In St. Lucia English is the main language and the French Creole is spoken.
Skin color determined one’s position in the social ladder. But his had gradually changed with the coming of the different ethnic groups into the Carribean. A further shift began to happen when the ex-slaves and their descendants began to own land and enter into the professional and business fi elds. The leaders of the church up to the last thirty years were foreigners, mostly Europeans. Even at present more than 70% of the clergy are expatriates. Here in St. Lucia, for example, only one third of the clergy is local.
While the Carribean was “Christianized” by Christian Europe, the African slaves, East Indian immigrants and others brought with them their individual religious beliefs, systems and cultural practices. The African population because of its numerical clout has untold influence in shaping the way of life in the Carribean. The presence of the “Shango cult” in Trinidad, “Pocomania” in Jamaica, “Vodum” in Haiti, “Santeria” in Cuba and “Obeah” in many of the territories has its effects on the Carribean world-view. They, no doubt, pose a challenge to authentic Christianity. Some common features of these cults are that they have the African Deities, small gods represented of colorful pictures, the animal sacrifices and African drumming, singing and dancing. In some islands people visit the fortune tellers. His/her job is to read the lives of the client, to prescribe remedies for a cure, or the course of action to be taken to prevent the predicted misfortunes. This practice has been prevalent since the period of slavery.
The Rastafarian movement (cult) was started in Jamaica in 1930 soon after the coronation of Ras Tafari – Haile Selassie as Emperor of Ethiopia. Haile Selasie believed himself to be the only true lineal descendant of King David and also the 225th of a line of Ethiopian kings stretching back to the queen of Sheba. Their religious belief is interwoven with their cultural, political and economic life-style. The movement points to Ethiopia (the promised land) as the prime reason for its existence.
The Rastafarian movement appeals to the needs of the lower class and the youth. Though much of the philosophy has created a fashion rather than a religion for many, the influences has been of a significant consequence. Dissatisfied youth and victims of oppressive situations and conditions fi nd an easy recourse in the movement by adopting the hair-style, the jargon and decor and proud to referred as “dread”. Others have little allegiance to the philosophy but capitalize on the drug trade that it engenders. However, those who are faithful to the philosophy pursue a life of peaceful union with nature free from sophistication of the Western society.
Families were largely extended-type families. In the plantation period marriage among slaves was not common and it was encouraged by the planters (owners) of the estates. For the black population in the Carribean, their historical experience of deracination and separation from their family and their inability to enter into marital relationships on the sugar plantations created a unique family situation subsequent to emancipation, the effects of which are still seen even today. The statistics in St. Lucia shows that almost 88% of the children are born out of wedlock.
The Carribean people, having a history of exploitation and colonization, were wounded in one way or another. Theirs was an experience of deracination followed by an experience of non-personhood through a process of negative reinforcements. It has affected the people’s way of seeing themselves and their way of being themselves. So the task of the missionary to the Carribean is not only to preach the Good News but to allow it to incarnate itself in a process of historical and cultural liberation.
The primary function of Jesus for the Carribean people as He is for every other people is that of a Savior. He came to the people of Israel as a people in need of a Savior. He came among them as the oppressed, one who was going to save his people from their oppression. And so the poor and oppressed were able to identify with him. Therefore, it is their experience of poverty, oppression and alienation as a people that the salvific quality of Jesus finds its true meaning: liberation, equality, justice, truth, love and unity.
