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The Parliament of St. Vincent and the Grenadines has unanimously passed legislation declaring May 21 a public holiday in observance of Spiritual Baptists Day.
While piloting the Public Holidays (Amendment) Bill 2024 (National Spiritual Baptist Day), Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves said St. Vincent and the Grenadines is only the second country in the world to have such a holiday.
He noted that Trinidad and Tobago has a similar festival, but on a different date.
“This bill is very short, but it’s very significant,” Gonsalves said. Opposition Senator Israel Bruce, a Spiritual Baptist, said the bill was the “most important” he had debated since becoming a member of parliament in 2019.
“I have participated in debates on many bills before this House. I have participated in debates on the budget of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Today, I will begin my participation in one of the most important bills before this House,” Bruce said.
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Gonsalves said that on March 28, 2002, Congress enacted a two-article law that came into effect on April 16 of that year, declaring May 21 as the official Religious Freedom Day for the Spiritual Baptist Church.
“Today, with this request, in fact, urging that sometimes goes beyond the request, the Spiritual Baptist community is asking that May 21, National Spiritual Baptist Day, be declared a public holiday,” Gonsalves told lawmakers.
He said that the debate on 28 March 2002 had clearly set out the Government’s position.
The Prime Minister traced the history of official persecution of Baptists to an act passed by the colonial legislature in 1912.
The Shaker Act prohibited the denomination now known as Spirit Baptists (formerly known as Shakers or Shouters) from expressing their religious freedom.
“Of course, the colonial authorities did not consider the Baptists’ worship as a religion. They considered it something else,” Gonsalves said, noting that the second major milestone in the legislative journey was on March 22, 1965, when then Chief Minister Ebenezer Theodore Joshua led his government in repealing the 1912 ordinance.
“The bill he introduced was called the Shaker Repeal Act of 1965 and it was debated on March 22, 1965,” Gonsalves said, adding that some people would ask why March 22 is not a public holiday.
“The Baptist community has long considered May 21 to be their recognized Emancipation Day. They say that date was actually the last day for court prosecutions under the 1912 law, and importantly, May 22 is when records show that Blessed McDonald Williams established a formal national organization of Baptists, but nominally the Christian Pilgrims,” Gonsalves said.
Prime Minister Gonsalves, who is a Roman Catholic, said he had a long association with the Baptists and “can attest that they consider May 21 a day of religious freedom and liberation.
“Once they recognize that, we have a responsibility in this case to acknowledge that,” he said, pointing to research on the history of Spirit Baptist faith and the contributions of various people to their religious freedom.
He told the veteran lawmakers that the 2012 census found that 9 percent of the population identified themselves as Baptist.
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