AG agrees with Archbishop:

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The Attorney General has endorsed Archbishop Jason Gordon’s position that offering Communion wine to people of all ages is constitutionally protected, dismissing the controversy surrounding the new alcohol legislation as a “storm in a teacup.”

Responding to questions on whether he agreed with Gordon’s interpretation that the religious practice required no exemption under the legislation, and whether clergy or worshippers could face prosecution, AG John Jeremie said, “It’s obviously correct. And a refreshingly measured and informed response to what was a storm in a teacup non-issue.”

Asked whether the Government would consider issuing formal guidance to churches or introducing an express statutory exemption, Jeremie said, “The latter is quite obviously, as the Archbishop notes, absolutely unnecessary.”

He did not address whether formal guidance would be issued.

However, speaking at yesterday’s People’s National Movement media briefing, Opposition MP Colm Imbert called for a specific legislative amendment to protect the practice, arguing that constitutional protection should be reinforced by an express provision in law.

“As a Catholic myself, I totally agree that it is constitutionally protected. But you don’t know what a police officer who is not a Catholic or Christian would do,” Imbert said.

He argued that other countries had introduced amendments rather than relying on religious beliefs to guide enforcement.

“They don’t rely on a belief system because they know that police officers will come from every creed and race and so on,” Imbert said.

“So that’s why other countries have made an amendment and I would strongly recommend that this is done in Trinidad and Tobago.”

The Archbishop had instructed Catholic priests to continue offering consecrated wine during Holy Communion regardless of a person’s age, saying the practice was protected by the Constitution.

His comments followed concerns about the Miscellaneous Provisions (Alcohol, Cannabis, Dangerous Drugs, Gambling and Tobacco) Bill, 2026, which raises the legal drinking age from 18 to 21.

Speaking in the Senate on October 6, Senator Vishnu Dhanpaul raised the absence of an exemption for Communion wine and expressed concern about communicants under 21.

During that exchange, Government Senator Dr Kennedy Swaratsingh interjected, “When it is communion, it is no longer wine, it is the blood of Christ.”

Speaking during his Archbishop’s Chapel Mass recently, Gordon had said the church had offered the chalice to children preparing for First Communion and Confirmation when the legal drinking age was 18.

He maintained that constitutional protection for religious practice meant the church did not need to seek an exception, and argued that legislation passed by a simple parliamentary majority could not change the Constitution.

Anglican Bishop Claude Berkley had previously indicated that Christian churches were examining the legislation and considering whether an express exemption was necessary.