Roman Catholic Bishop Robert Llanos said yesterday that people, not crime, are the biggest problem facing the country. He urged hundreds of pilgrims gathered at La Divina Pastora RC Church, Siparia, for the Feast of La Divina Pastora to use their blessings from Christ to free the nation from its state of indiscipline. Speaking to a congregation which included President Anthony Carmona and his family, Llanos warned that if people do not change their attitude to wrongdoing, the crime situation will get worse.
“I hear people say or refer to crime in Trinidad and Tobago as a problem. Crime is not a problem, crime is the consequence. Crime is a symptom of the problem and that is why every time we try to do something about crime, we are dealing only with the symptom,” he said.
“You know what happens when you don’t treat the cause? It keeps coming back over and over, and guess what, it gets worse each time. Crime is not the problem, crime is the symptom. Do you want to know what the problem is? The problem is you and I because we are afraid to stand up as a new creation in this land and proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ, not only to ourselves, but to others.” Llanos said he did not want to single out Government or anyone in particular, but he felt too many people were turning a blind eye to wrongdoing.
“That is why all those who want power in this life recognise that one way they can access, received, get and preserved that power is by telling lies. I don’t blame them, I blame me because I have gotten comfortable with deception, lies and darkness. He added: “Once we start lying to ourselves and lying to others, the currency of our nation becomes darkness, deception and lies. You know when you’re selling in the market and you fix the scale and you cheat people on what they were supposed to get, you are the problem.
“In Trinidad and Tobago, when I see a child going the wrong way, my neighbour’s child and I say that is not my business, I am part of the problem. When I say let the children be raised by the teachers in the school and the parish church, I am the problem.”