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Methodist church leader speaks on Gender Policy

HighlightsMethodist church leader speaks on Gender Policy

Last Wednesday, May 7, church leaders met with Prime Minister Dean Barrow to discuss the Gender Policy and other related issues, and while some believed that it would have been a heated, confrontational session, actually it wasn’t, and by all indications, it was a cordial session.

On Friday, those church leaders held a short briefing to inform the media that the Gender Policy discussion was on track and that both parties have agreed to meet again in July.

However, there still seemed to be some concern raised by the church leaders over an advertisement in relation to the Gender Policy which the President of Methodist Conference was a part of, and which drew some criticism because the leaders reportedly stated on the record that he was not authorized by the Catholic Church to do that, because that is not the position of the Church.

Today, though, we met the President of the Methodist Conference, Reverend Roosevelt Papouloute, and he gave us his response, accepting the position of the other churches, but clarifying that the positions of the other churches do not necessarily apply to him.

He said, “I think that’s a clear position because in no way can I be advised by the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has its own leader in the person of Bishop Dorick Wright, so the comment is correct; in no way can I speak on behalf of the Roman Catholic Church when it comes to the position of the Church, Dorick Wright, or whosoever he delegates is the person to do that.”

When prodded as to whether there was any division or dissent within the church in regards to its position toward the Gender Policy, Papouloute stated, “Well, there are different groups taking different positions, but as far as I know, the Belize Council of Churches and the Belize Evangelical Association have submitted recommendations to the Prime Minister; we have done so in collaboration, we have worked, we have looked at the documents and we have made our recommendations and those recommendations – I believe – represent the views and the positions of the Belize Council of Churches and the Belize Evangelical Association. Sometime in the not too distant future, the Prime Minister will sit with representatives of the churches to look at what has taken place since we have submitted the recommendations.”

Although he would not go into the details about the recommendations, citing that it would be difficult to go through them, Papouloute said that there are a number of them, some concerning the language of the document.

“We are simply recommending some changes and the Belize Council of Churches will issue the report”, he concluded, assuring that after everything is finalized, the document will be made public and become official.

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