Fr Harvey: Money the new God

In an interview with Newsday, he urged people who said they were looking for the gunmen, not to seek vengeance. Asked how he was doing, Harvey said, “Today, physically I feel just a little damage to my knee. But I am feeling okay. I felt bad at the time for the two young men and the third guy who came in afterwards who was obviously manipulating them.” On the public outrage and dismay over his being held up, robbed, gagged and hog-tied, Fr Harvey said, “If my neighbour who is a little old lady, get tied up and robbed...the papers would not report it. Yes, I am a national figure, but every citizen is important.” Harvey advised that people should prepare themselves for the worst, “in terms of what people would do to get money”, given the current economic climate.

“Money is the new God. Money is not only the God among the poor bandit but the God among the class of those who would do anything to make a profit,” Harvey observed.

Harvey added that the country needed a kind of leadership that challenged that perception. People also need leadership that demonstrates that they are not ripping people off. “As long as people think their leaders are doing certain things, then they will feel justified (to do likewise).” Harvey called for people to lead simpler lives as well as to have “ordinary citizens” appointed to the National Security Council. This was because “both political parties know what is going on, both political parties have the information, yet nothing is being done. I suspect that both political parties are beholden and therefore cannot touch certain elements in society.” Harvey said he considered the two young men who committed the act to be ignorant and victims of, “The journey we have made as a nation over the last 25 years. We have done very little if anything, to really confront that. I have been very clear in my own mind that we lost a generation, and there is a new generation now.” Asked if he felt the church needs security, Harvey said while it has been looking into security for a while, he hopes that public places of worship do not become fortresses, because now more than ever, they need to be more open and accessible to people. Yesterday, there were unconfirmed reports of three men being arrested, but police sources said that no arrest had been made.