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INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PORT OF SPAIN 000602 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR WHA/CAR, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KIRF TD
SUBJECT:  PASTOR HINN'S SECOND COMING TESTS T&T'S 
RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Controversial Pentecostal Pastor Benny 
Hinn is scheduled for a second trip to Trinidad and 
Tobago in May.  His "Miracle Mission" has occasioned 
significant dispute in the press, with Hindu leader Sat 
Maharaj using his media outlets to question Hinn's 
ministry as a sort of revenge for comments Hinn made in 
¶1999.  The Inter-Religious Organization, which serves 
as an ecumenical council that operates based on 
consensus did not support Maharaj's demand that Hinn be 
barred from coming, but did suggest that Hinn should 
avoid casting aspersions on other faiths.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  Controversial Pentecostal Pastor Benny Hinn, based 
in Dallas, TX, is slated for a second mission to 
Trinidad and Tobago on May 19-21.  His well-publicized 
trip has generated quite some controversy, primarily 
originating with the outspoken head of the Hindu 
community, Sat Maharaj.  Hinn first came to T&T in 
1999, likewise on a three-day "Miracle Mission," which 
involved large public assemblies in the central Queen's 
Park Savannah at which Hinn performed his trademark 
(and much disputed) miracle healings.  Hinn attracted 
the ire of the Hindu community when he reportedly said 
in 1999 that T&T was a "Voodoo country," "full of 
demons" and equated adherents of Hinduism with pagans. 
Maharaj writes a weekly editorial in one of the daily 
newspapers, has his hands in at least two of the weekly 
papers, and has used these journalistic platforms to 
exact his vengeance by generating bad press for Hinn. 
 
¶3.  Hinn is coming at the invitation of the Pentecostal 
Assemblies of the West Indies, T&T branch.  Once they 
announced the dates for Hinn's mission, Maharaj mounted 
a campaign to discredit Him.  Maharaj published 
excerpts from the transcript of a December 27, 2002 
"Dateline NBC" expose, highlighting Hinn's dubious 
accounting practices and questioning claims of miracle 
healings attributed to Hinn.  Further, Maharaj has 
called for Hinn's arrest upon arrival under the Summary 
Offenses Act for his previously divisive and offensive 
language [NOTE:  This Act has reportedly been used in 
the past to handle offensive stage performers, but we 
have been unable to track down the specific legal 
precedent.  END NOTE].  To this end, Maharaj wrote a 
letter to the Prime Minister and to the Minister of 
National Security, and published his letters in the 
papers. 
 
¶4.  Maharaj took his case to the Inter-Religious 
Organization (IRO), arguing that Hinn should not be 
allowed to come to T&T because he will exacerbate 
tensions among religions.  The IRO, which has 
representatives from some 20 different faiths in T&T, 
including Muslims, Christians and Hindus, did not come 
to consensus on the issue.  Instead, the IRO suggested 
that Hinn, and the mission's local organizers, be 
sensitized to the religious diversity in the country 
and requested that Hinn refrain from making derogatory 
remarks about any of the other religions.  Brother 
Noble Khan, an Independent Senator and Secretary of the 
IRO by way of his affiliation with the Trinidad Muslim 
League, sympathized with Maharaj, and quipped that if 
Hinn had said those things about Muslims, they would be 
equally put out.  However, Khan maintained that T&T is 
a tolerant country overall, and that Hinn should be 
given an opportunity to speak here, as should any other 
missionary.  Spiritual Baptist Archbishop Barbara Gray- 
Burke stated that she felt hurt by Hinn's comments, 
since the "voodoo" remark could refer to her faith as 
well, but that he should come and follow guidelines set 
out by the IRO so as to avoid insulting other religions 
and to not sow division among the different faiths in 
the country.  The organizers are proceeding with their 
plans, and have largely stayed out of discussions about 
Hinn's previous statements. 
 
¶5.  COMMENT:  Composed as it is of some strong 
personalities, the IRO has the unenviable task of 
maintaining T&T's interfaith concord.  Its policy of 
taking decisions only by consensus allows the different 
confessions to have their own positions in most issues, 
and emphasizes that any decisions taken by the IRO 
affect all religions.  The IRO maintained a difficult 
balance by articulating the values of openness and 
tolerance while not granting carte blanche for 
missionaries to denigrate other religions.  Hinn will 
undoubtedly be on notice that any untoward comments on 
this trip could exacerbate religious tensions in 
Trinidad and Tobago.  END COMMENT. 
 
 
PORT OF SP 00000602  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
AUSTIN