Statements made by Roman Catholic priest Fr Ian Taylor urging for the death penalty to be reinstated have been denounced by Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph Harris. During mass on Saturday night at the St Charles RC Church, Tunapuna, Taylor urged that killers be hanged, given the horrendous spate of violent crimes that continue to grip the country.
He had made particular mention of the brazen killings of Dana Seetahal, SC and bank employee Shannon Banfield, whose deaths had gripped the nation.
Interviewed yesterday, Harris said the death penalty could never be an answer to solve crime, adding that a Roman Catholic priest must also preach the doctrine of the church, not his own.
Harris said even if the State was to resume hangings, the perpetrators first had to be caught.
"What was said goes totally against what the church stands for. How do we deal with these serious crimes. Number one you have to find the criminals.
"If our conviction rate is three per cent...five per cent who yuh hanging. And do we want to run the risk of hanging people for crimes they didn't do so that it would look good?" Harris asked.
Principal of Fatima College and Roman Catholic priest Fr Gregory Augustine, who said he knew Taylor well, added that he was taken aback by Taylor's comments.
"The church is an institution that does not believe in capital punishment.
"They have to pay for their deeds but it is not a question of stringing them up," Augustine said.
He said as a principal he taught students that violence was not the answer and called on parents to take greater control of their children as the majority of criminal activities stemmed from the break down of family life.
"Clearly the nation is concerned but the response can't be to seek vengeance because it is really not helpful in the long run.
"Statistics have shown that hangings clearly are not a deterrent. This is a very puerile and myopic approach," Augustine added.
He said serious crimes ought to be fully explored so as to determine the root cause because these were not natural.
"We as a society have to spend more time developing that human aspect.," Augustine said.
Anglican Bishop Claude Berkley also disagreed that hangings would solve the worrying crime situation, adding that this country's detection rate was woefully low and much more was needed to be done on the part of the police.
"What we have to look at is our detection rate and we have to improve that and we have to look at law enforcement and we have to improve that. We also have to look at parenting and social condition and we have got to return to being our brother's keeper.
"But even if we have to implement the death penalty we first have to apprehend the people because there is a certain impunity because people know that they would not be caught," Berkley added.
Head of the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO) Br Harripersad Maharaj said while he would not comment on Taylor's views, the death penalty was law and the State has the right to enforce the law.