Priest calls on Catholics to abandon Carnival

Roman Catholic priest of Moruga, Fr Ian Taylor, has called on Catholics to abandon Carnival due to the rapid decline in morals and behaviour at the national festival.

In a letter issued yesterday Fr Taylor said it would take a man, both blind and deaf to deny the degeneracy which he said was symptomatic of a national moral decline which is greatly intensified and widely multiplied at carnival time. “Already we are experiencing serious acts of violence at Carnival fetes — even stabbings and murder itself. One has only to view the TV performances of calypsonians and artistes, with their entourage of supporting bands and singers, to capture the gross vulgarity, aggression and barbarity as they whip their audiences into a mad frenzy, Fr Taylor wrote. He described such behaviour as nothing less than pagan, and questioned what business does a Catholic have with such an event?  He dismissed the idea that the excuse expressed so often is that it is our culture and we must be part of it. 

He said another excuse that Jesus mixed with sinners, so must we, was wrong because His purpose was to convert them. “They were drawn to Him because of his holiness and his Good News of Salvation,” said Taylor. “He brought sinners out of sin into righteousness, and out of darkness into light.  The myth is still common among Catholics that we must be “lights in the darkness of Carnival. Many a sermon is preached on this.  Yet, how many Catholics ever attempt to do this at Carnival fetes and on Carnival Mondays and Tuesdays?  And even so, who would pay attention, with the seductive music booming, alcohol flowing, and the many bodies jamming and wining?”

He described this as a flawed theology combined with a secret desire to enjoy the forbidden fruit. He said the hard facts are that thousands of Catholics participate in Carnival and dress, dance and (mis)behave the same as all other revellers do. Secondly, many promoters, calypsonians and performers who are guilty of promoting licentious, immoral and lawless behaviour, are Catholics. He asked: “How can a ‘Carnival” Catholic consider himself/ herself a serious Christian, a true disciple of Jesus?  Is this not a mixture of light and darkness prohibited by Jesus and the Holy Scriptures? (cf. 2 Corinthians 6:14). And to think that Ash Wednesday and Lent will wash all sins away is itself the sin of presumption addressed in Ecclesiasticus 5: 6-9.”

He said the future of our nation hangs precariously in the balance and God’s word remains eternally true: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. For too long have we Catholics participated in and supported the wanton sins of the nation, especially at Carnival time, helping the nation to incur the wrath of God.
“Now is the time to break with sin and abandon Carnival.  This act itself, by the Catholic participants, would be enough to gain the saving intervention of Almighty God and serve as a powerful witness — a light to the nation. He said it was time to give up self-deception.  “Let every priest preach the truth of God’s Word to his congregation until it brings deep conviction and conversion.  And, let every right thinking, God-fearing, Jesus following Catholic decide today to faithfully serve the Lord.  “Catholics, abandon the myth, abandon the lie, abandon Carnival!”