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ANGLICAN Archbishop of the West Indies Howard Gregory on Sunday asked the nation to guard against the erosion of democracy as the system of governance across the region and wider world, charging that there is danger when the Church avoids or is excluded from public discourse.He was speaking at the local service to commemorate the life of late advocate Desmond Tutu, retired archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, at Kingston Parish Church .Tutu died on December 26, 2021, but the service to mark his ministry was delayed in keeping with gathering restrictions in effect on the island.Said Gregory: "We live in a world in which democracy has been hailed as the highest form of governance...and we in Jamaica can be proud of our history of the exercise of this form of governance since the inception of universal adult suffrage... Nevertheless, as we reflect on the legacy of Desmond Tutu and his contribution to the fall of...apartheid, we must awaken to the fact that there are ominous signs emerging in our world today, indicating how the democratic system of governance can be manipulated by individual leaders and power interests to undermine democratic rule."Gregory said Jamaican and Caribbean people must not assume they are immune to the emerging threats to democracy across the globe and suggested the Church must see part of its role as being an advocate and crusader for justice.He said those in society who believe that the Church is about "entertainment, emotional highs, and prosperity, better go back again and engage the Scriptures", adding that the Judeo-Christian tradition bears involvement in matters of State, including politics, economics, social justice, and freedom.Gregory, who is also lord bishop of the Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, charged that the growing disenchantment with the electoral process poses a particular risk for society."We will need to be particularly vigilant," he said, "and ask ourselves at what point is our democracy threatened and undermined by the rule of a minority, even by default".He said the history of South Africa, and the struggle in which Tutu was involved with his people, is a clear demonstration of what governance by a minority can do."As was the case with the ANC [African National Congress] when it came to power and was supposed to be expressive of the liberation ideals of the people, but soon displayed the temptations of all political systems which exercise power and had to be challenged by Tutu in a forthright manner, so, too, we must speak truth to power when it loses its way and becomes arrogant, oppressive and corrupt," said the archbishop in his sermon.Referencing the ministry of Tutu as a voice in the fight against the system of apartheid in South Africa, he said the religious are called as the mission of Jeremiah in the Bible, "to engage, challenge and confront rulers, institutions, and power structures, and the assumptions which underlay their modus operandi".He said this was the nature of grass roots movements for change as nations guard against the wielding of public power by those with wealth, who control the supply of money, and who influence political power and legislation."We must never be naïve to the potential power of counter arrangements of power from the masses who are silenced or marginalised in the conduct of the affairs of this nation."Addressing the congregation of representatives of the Government and diplomatic corps, the cleric stated that to honour the legacy of Tutu the Jamaican State ought to engage "with lenses that are able to see those within our nation who live in poverty, who are marginalised and alienated, and whose experience is not one of a sense belonging".He stated that there is a segment of society that is angry, feels abused and ignored, which comes to the fore in their treatment when dealing with public institutions, private sector institutions, particularly financial institutions."The maintenance of the current trajectory," he said, "lays the foundation for a groundswell from voices and the people from below who will not tolerate this situation forever."Against this background, Gregory said Jamaica cannot just look back at Desmond Tutu's ministry with nostalgia, but must follow in his footsteps and engage in the same analysis of life in the country as he did for his."We must speak of the unabated culture of corruption which is creating a deepening spirit of malaise and indifference among many citizens who believe that they can have no confidence in the system of governance to change and make things better," declared the archbishop."So, people of faith do not live in the past, celebrating the struggles and victories of yesterday's outstanding leaders and prophets, but are always engaging the present through a process of discernment and looking towards the alternative future to CORRECT unjust and oppressive systems of governance in the strength of which we have been assured by God in Jesus Christ," said Gregory.