Suspended Grenada Priest Takes His Sermons to the Calypso Stage

A suspended Catholic priest in Grenada has found a new pulpit in the calypso music of the Caribbean. Father Gerard Paul, 64, who was indefinitely suspended from priestly duties in April 2024, is now competing in the finals of his country's biggest carnival, Spicemas, using the genre's satirical edge to deliver his messages.

Paul, a priest for 32 years, was barred from officiating masses, funerals, weddings, and baptisms after repeated criticism of the church and its clergy. His suspension followed a March 2024 sermon in which he criticized Israel's actions in Gaza, a stance that drew sharp rebuke from then-Bishop Clyde Harvey.

While the bishop said the suspension was not for his Gaza comments but for a persistent lack of respect for church authority, Paul has embraced calypso as a new medium. He debuted at Spicemas this year, reaching the finals with songs like "Oh Gaza," a commentary on the Israeli military offensive, and "Ah Want Ah Radar."

The latter song is a riff on a real-life U.S. request to install a radar at Grenada's airport. In it, Paul sings of asking U.S. President Donald Trump for a radar to expose sexual abuse within the church, with lyrics that explicitly reference clergy misconduct.

Paul, who first tried calypso in a seminary competition in 1988, says the music allows him to reach a wider audience than his former parish. "When you're in a small world, you feel that's the whole world," he said. "As a much bigger world opens to you, you can't go back."

He is scheduled to compete against 10 other singers this weekend, performing under the name "Father Paul." Despite the suspension, which is not a dismissal from the priesthood, Paul remains active, using the carnival stage to preach on justice and accountability.