Archbishop sees more good than evil in TT

DESPITE unprecedented levels of crime in Trinidad and Tobago in 2005, Roman Catholic Archbishop Edward Gilbert declared there are more good people than evil people in this country and the soul of the nation has not been lost to the criminals. Speaking with Newsday at an annual luncheon at the Nazareth House in Port-of-Spain yesterday, His Grace said it was time for people to speak openly with each other about burning issues such as crime and poverty and to begin healing the nation. “It seems to me that it’s time for a national conversation on these things that rises above race, religion, ethnicity and politics. That the people have to reclaim the country. The reason that I think this is important is because there are many, many more good people in TT than evil,” Gilbert declared. His Grace said it was ridiculous that “the minority of these people was dictating the agenda of the country.” Gilbert said that while Government and the Police Service “are doing their best to fight the criminals, the people have to come forward and say this is not how we want to live our lives.”

In his New Year’s message to the nation, Prime Minister Patrick Manning paid tribute to the “vast majority of law-abiding and industrious citizens” for their contribution to national development in 2005 and vowed that Government would not rest until it significantly reduces the level of crime in TT. On the issue of poverty and specifically vagrancy, the Archbishop said he wholeheartedly endorsed views of the Social Justice Commission and other social activists that call for a balanced and humane approach towards treating with the homeless in society. Gilbert said he did not support the removal of vagrants from the Riverside carpark, not because they should not be removed, but because there was no place to put them where they would be properly cared for. Stating that this was not a point of judgment on his part, His Grace explained, “We have to take care of people who have either themselves or been broken by life can’t take care of themselves anymore.”