Archbishop: Don’t ditch morals at Carnival

SEAN DOUGLAS

RC Archbishop the Most Rev Jason Gordon urged people not to ditch their morals at Carnival, in his first-ever Ask the Archbishop interview, broadcast on Facebook yesterday. He said he will be viewing Carnival to learn where it has gone, including its joys and its concerns. Saying he’ll watch Dimanche Gras show, he said, “It’s going to be a lovely time.”

Asked if it is hypocritical for Catholics to engage in Carnival and then go to church for ashes on Ash Wednesday, he smiled and promised his own full expose in this weekend’s Catholic News. “It’s a big one that people keep asking but I’m settling it this time.”

“Carnival is a festival that is intrinsically good with incredible energy, creativity and vibrancy which is all part of the Spirit and a way that God brings renewal to people.” However, he said Carnival has challenges in the moral behaviour of people and how people “reveal” themselves and practise wining and other activities.

“Carnival has become a whipping boy, I think, for a deeper ailment in our society.

The real challenge is not the Carnival itself but that we have a shifting morality in our society and nobody wants to deal with that one.

“We’ve lost our way morally and spiritually. Unless we’re willing to deal with that, we can’t really deal with Carnival. Carnival is a reflection of the society. It’s not the problem. It’s really a symptom of what the real problems are.” Gordon said the church offers the same moral code for people to live by for 365 days a year, with no different code for Carnival. Urging people to maintain this moral code for Carnival, he said if everyone did this, overall there would be a better Carnival and a better society.

Gordon saw Lent as a wonderful time for reflection, especially on God. Asked about self-glorification by people videotaping their charitable acts for upload onto Facebook, he said, “Maybe we should ask people this year to ‘fast’ from posting about the good deeds they did. So not only do the good deed, but ‘fast’ from promoting yourself, so we might actually find more spiritual benefit from the good deed we are doing.

“When we promote ourselves by the good deed we are doing, we lose the spiritual energy that we should be harnessing for the inner transformation.”

He said such restraint it is in line with Christ’s teachings. “You know you want to take this one more selfie? No, let’s not take that selfie. You’ve got this incredibly cute picture you want to put up? Well, today I”ll fast from putting it up for everyone to see.

Comments

"Archbishop: Don’t ditch morals at Carnival"

More in this section