She is the Church

By Angelo Kurbanali

Catholic theologian and member of the Seminary faculty

We traditionally refer to the Church in the feminine: She is the Bride of Christ. The Caribbean Church personifies this idea of she more than most places in the world. This is exceptionally true in a place we might least expect–our seminary.

The divine feminine is known by experiencing God through God’s feminine qualities e.g. the Shekinah–the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

At the May 19 graduation ceremony for the class of 2025 at the Regional Seminary of St John Vianney and the Uganda Martyrs (SJVUM), the divine feminine energy was palpable in the form of the Dean of Studies, Trinbagonian theologian, Dr Adanna James, and the many women supporting her. Together, they conducted the event as sweetly as the Seminarian Rhythm Section sounded that evening.

On any given day, you can enter the Academic Block of SJVUM and find a team of inspiring women working tirelessly at the mammoth mission of forming our future priests, lay ministers, and theologians. Adanna and her team have been doing incredible work and transformed SJVUM with their presence.

Their creativity and ambition have helped them to expand the direct impact that SJVUM has on our Archdiocese of Port of Spain. Their results, as administrators, librarians, and lecturers, can be measured in real time.

You might recall a story, roughly one year ago, on the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) delivering pipe-borne water to the community of Corosal Village, thanks largely to SJVUM.

Walking distance from the Academic Block is the SJVUM house. There you would meet more women who care for our Archdiocese in a Christ-like way. Most notably is Ann Davis who cultivated our seminarians and their formators. Ann showed the men what true service looks like through servant leadership. Also of special mention is Ava Moses, who makes a lasting impact on the men and visitors of SJVUM.

God continues to bless our Archdiocese with multitudes of women who make our Trinbagonian and Caribbean Church who we are. From heads of commissions to the Curia, to ecclesial communities, to schools, to parishes, to the road, our Church needs women of faith a lot more than we care to recognise.

Though the face of our Church is male, and women still suffer ecclesial injustice, I believe I speak truth when I say that if it were not for the women in our Church, there would be no thriving Catholic Church in Trinidad and Tobago.

Even The Catholic News would not exist if it were not for the zeal, dedication, and sacrifice that the women of the Catholic Media Services Ltd (Camsel) team produce every day.

We’re at a point in our national and archdiocesan history where we ought to be endlessly praising our unsung heroines. One of the ways we can honour their legacy, and the story of the divine feminine in our Church, is by facilitating opportunities for women—young women in particular—to develop in a happy, safe, and holy environment, in the form of our Church.

Another is through encouraging our secondary school girls to consider taking courses in theology after they graduate. In partnership with The University of the West Indies, SJVUM answers this call through its course offerings to anyone interested (not just seminarians), with an increasing number of female students and graduates. The dean is, herself, a graduate of SJVUM.

Supporting SJVUM is a powerful way to honour what God is doing in the Trinbagonian and Caribbean Church. God rests the Holy Spirit upon Caribbean women to “proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour” (Isa 61:2), this year and every year.

All of us can remember at least one woman in our lives who has humanised God’s love for us. Investing in women’s integral development is necessary for our Church’s health and mission for the remainder of the 21st century.

A graduate of another of our Caribbean’s seminaries, St Michael’s College & Seminary, Jamaica, was recently named the first UWI Professor of Theology in the University’s history. This honour was awarded to Jamaican theologian, Dr Anna Kasafi Perkins. She is a close friend and supporting figure of SJVUM. Imagine if we, one day, have graduates of SJVUM making history like Anna, even to the point of working on Vatican documents being written in service of the Church.

This is the takeaway: if it were not for the women in our Church, there would be no thriving Catholic Church. So, to Adanna, and all women who empty yourselves for the Church the way the Holy Spirit inspired Christ to do for God’s people: thank you.

A major issue the Universal Church confronts is the roles of women in the Church today in relation to traditional roles of women in the Church. The Caribbean Church is in the unique position of being able to offer substantial insight to Rome and the rest of the world.

Please consider supporting SJVUM financially:

Republic Bank Chequing Account

Seminary of SJVUM

A/C# 3501 4766 0501