Rooted in stability, open to all: Abbot reflects on Independence

As Trinidad and Tobago marked 63 years since hoisting the red, white, and black for the first time, Abbot John Pereira OSB of Mount St Benedict offers a thoughtful perspective on what independence has meant—and where the nation still has lessons to learn.

Speaking candidly, Abbot Pereira admitted to mixed feelings about the milestone. “I feel good, and I feel bad. There are two senses,” he explained. While independence symbolises self-assertion and the shedding of dependency, he cautioned that it must not lead to isolationism.

“In the world, which is now a global village, it is a dangerous path to walk if you put yourself first… we must always be open to the gifts that we can share, that we can offer, and that we can receive.”

He recalled the collapse of the West Indies Federation, once seen as a hope for regional unity, undone by insularity and division. Even cricket, so often regarded as the great unifier of the Caribbean, has not always escaped the tensions among islands that struggle to balance autonomy with togetherness. For the Abbot, independence cannot mean cutting oneself off from others, whether at a national or regional level.

The need for nurturing

Reflecting on the nation’s social challenges, especially crime and the struggles of young people, Abbot Pereira identified a lack of mentoring and community support. “It’s one thing to bring a child into the world, but a child without proper direction could be left independent as an individual and astray,” he observed.

He stressed that raising children is not solely the task of the nuclear family but requires a wider net of support. “We need that family support, even in a wider context, not merely in the family circle, but in the school, in the community, in the parish. One of the things we may have lacked is that nurturing dimension, that presence to these new offspring that we offer the world.”

It is here, he suggested, that the national conversation on independence and interdependence converges. Just as no nation can flourish in isolation, so too no young person thrives without a strong foundation of care, direction, and responsibility.

Independence and Interdependence

For the Abbot, the danger lies in confusing independence with self-sufficiency. “No man is an island. We are all interconnected,” he reminded. Too often, both nations and individuals celebrate freedom without the maturity to sustain it. “Sometimes we give our children so much freedom so they have that taste of independence, but they don’t have the substance to use the independence in a way that would sustain them.”

The result, he warned, is a society where freedom becomes fragile, and where the promise of independence can crumble under the weight of unpreparedness. The challenge, therefore, is to rediscover interdependence—the bonds of solidarity and mutual responsibility that give independence its true strength.

The role of the monastery

Mount St Benedict, affectionately known simply as ‘the Mount’, has stood as a beacon of welcome and stability for generations. Its monks live by a vow that, according to Abbot Pereira, speaks directly to the heart of Trinidad and Tobago’s journey.

“One of the vows that the monks at Mount St Benedict take is the vow of stability… we are rooted in a particular place, in a particular culture, in a particular geography, in a particular history.”

That rootedness has made the monastery a haven for people of every background. “When people visit the monastery, they feel a sense of welcome, and that has sustained. We have had it from all the races,” he recalled.

He pointed to the many pilgrimages by East Indian indentured labourers and their descendants, who found there a place to root their spirituality. In fact, so committed was the monastery to hospitality that one monk was tasked with learning Hindi to communicate with newcomers who spoke no English. Africans, too, have long found in the monastery a place of belonging and prayer. “Hospitality has been a key to the monastic spirituality, where we are welcome to all,” he emphasised.

In this sense, the monastery reflects a model of what the wider society might strive for—a rooted openness, a stability that is not exclusionary but generous, extending welcome across boundaries of race, class, or creed.

A prayer for the nation

As the nation paused this year for reflection rather than parade, Abbot Pereira turned to Scripture for his prayer. Quoting Micah 6:8, he said: “You have been told, man, what the Lord wants—to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God.”

His hope for the country is simple yet profound: “My prayer for the nation at this particular time would be for us to rediscover the quality of humility, both within and as a nation.”

For the Abbot, independence cannot be reduced to self-assertion alone. It must be lived out with humility, openness, and rootedness in community—the very values that Mount St Benedict continues to embody as ‘The Abbey of Our Lady of Exile’, a place where all are welcomed and all may find peace.

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