Leaders of the Catholic Church last night threw their weight behind the Bishop of Bermuda’s Anglican Church warning that spiralling poverty and over-development is leading to “spiritual death”.

Earlier this week, The Royal Gazette reported that the Bishop Ewan Ratteray believed that failing to address key social issues, such as housing and poverty, would lead to “destructive relationships affecting families, marriages and eventually the wider community”.

Last night Jerry Kroetsch, Vicar General of the Catholic Church, said he supported the Anglican Bishop and also raised concerns about public education and drugs and their effects on the family. “I fully support Rev. Ratteray’s concerns,” Fr. Kroetsch said. “I think we also need to focus on public education, sustainable development and homelessness.

“I think homelessness is due to drugs and that leads to the breakdown of the family. Supporting the family is important, but everything has become so expensive.

“It takes two salaries now to own a home and keep it going. And people who do not get a good education cannot get good jobs and that leads to difficulty owning a home.”

Fr. Kroetsch, who was speaking in the absence of Bishop Robert J. Kurtz, said Bermuda has people living in “horrible conditions” and the church continues to see influx of the elderly and people seeking help.

Bishop Ratteray highlighted similar concerns in this month’s Bermuda Diocesan, writing that he has difficulty understanding how Government could spend $11m on the Island’s cricket team and $15m on football while people were squatting in Club Med. Bermuda is ranked the third wealthiest country in the world, he pointed out, yet living conditions continue to worsen for the poor while the rich get richer.

While the Catholic Church has not seen an increase in requests for social services, Mr. Kroetsch said nothing has lessened either.

“We do have people who come to us for food especially to the churches in Hamilton,” he said. “Men and women of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, through the support of the church, try to help the elderly and needy with food vouchers.”

Leaders of both churches said members of the public must raise these concerns with their publicly elected representatives.

“We need to involve the Government more and make them more sensitive to these issues,” Mr. Kroetsch said. “Other people need to get more involved in what the church is already doing.

“I would encourage the Government to readdress those issues.”