Fr Taylor wrong about

Kenny de Silva, Chairman, National Carnival Commission (NCC)  said yesterday he did not understand the call by Roman Catholic priest Fr Ian Taylor for Catholics to abandon Carnival because of its vulgarity. “I do not understand Taylor’s reasoning and there is nothing wrong with enjoying one’s self in the realm of decency”.

De Silva said Carnival was the one time when all people of Trinidad and Tobago come together and regard the national festival as the country’s main uniting force. He added that for this reason, it would be wrong to abandon Carnival. The NCC chairman said the Commission has been taking steps to increase security at all Carnival events and all arrangements will be in place for Carnival Monday and Tuesday. In a letter issued to the media last Monday, Fr Taylor, who is parish priest of Moruga, said Catholics should abandon the national festival because of the rapid decline in morals and behaviour which occurs at Carnival time and also because of the high levels of crime during the season.

Pat Arnold, President of Pan Trinbago said: “Oh Lord, I’m hiding from that. But the problem I have with that is, for what reason? I don’t think the banning of Carnival will solve his problems in the first place and he has his work to do. “I find the churches are very quiet all the time and when things happen, you do not hear anything. They wait until somebody mentions something like the Catholic name and then they jump on that issue but there were other degrading songs before and they did not say anything. So when they react to just the Catholic thing, this I have a problem with. We need to deal with morality in general and not because they call your name”. He added that the call for the abandonment of Carnival did not affect Pan Trinbago or anybody for that matter. “He ought to rethink that statement and deal with the issues as they come along and not wait till last minute and make statements like that. How is he talking about abandoning Carnival at this time? Next week is Carnival!  He should reconsider that”. A Catholic mas player, who did not wish to be named, criticised those who get on bad at Carnival and are then seen going to church on Ash Wednesday for ashes. The problem is Catholic apathy and hypocrisy,” she said.