SOMETHING TO REMEMBER
While Republicans across the world were commemorating the victory of ‘liberty, equality and fraternity’ on 14th July 1979, the people of Guyana were engaged in a struggle for this ideal against a ‘constitutional dictatorship’ which was to show its worst side with the murder of the priest-photographer, Fr Bernard Darke SJ, just about one hundred yards from the Central Police Station in Georgetown. Fr Darke was not directly involved in the people’s struggle against the dictatorship, but he certainly wanted to use his love for photography to help capture on film - both for them and for posterity - highlights of their struggle. So he left the college where he was Senior Master, and ventured to take some photographs of a popular demonstration demanding a fair and free trial for Walter Rodney and four others accused of arson involving a hybrid-institution of government ministry and party mobilisation. This was to be a fatal intervention, as a member of the notorious House of Israel, a gang of thugs under government control, was to stab him in the lung with a bayonet obtained on requisition from the Guyana Defence Force. Fr Darke died that same evening on the 14th July 1979, in hospital after an operation failed to save his life. His funeral, about a week later, was to be both a proclamation of the goodness of God and the people, whom he served, and a denouncement of the evil of those who would sell their souls for more power and money.
Learning the lessons
Annually members of the Society of Jesus, well-wishers, students and the scout troop of St Stanislaus College gather at the spot, where Fr Darke fell, to pray, reflect and learn the lessons of the peoples’ struggle, including the price the priest paid for his attempted contribution to the struggle. He not only lost his life, but his camera was also stolen - we never saw what he captured on film on that occasion. One such lesson that came home to many was that justice does not recognise neutrality, but rather demands a firm commitment either for or against it.
Fr Darke sought, during his years in Guyana, to put at the disposal of the Guyanese people himself and his talents, including his teaching and scouting ability and his photography. He never once envisioned that his camera would be seen as a dangerous weapon, which was to cost him his life. We often prayed that his death would be the cause of hope in the hearts of many others, so that the struggle for justice and peace in the country would increase. Fr Darke was not well known in the Society of Jesus, but his murder sent shock-waves throughout the length and breadth of the country, reminding us that no-one was safe in our troubled land. That lesson we learned, as less than one year later on 13th June 1980, Dr Walter Rodney was assassinated not far from the place where Fr Bernard was killed. We often longed to make the spot, where he fell, a place of pilgrimage, a public reminder of both love and forgiveness. But since the then government was clearly involved in his murder, we had to wait until a change occurred to get permission to erect a cross at the spot and we had a plaque placed within a huge stone with the inscription: ‘Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends.’ His blood may have dried up on the spot where he was killed, but his spirit has led to a greater commitment of many Guyanese to the struggle for justice and a blossoming of the scout movement in many parishes, both in town and in the rural areas. As a Jesuit, Fr Darke was called to be a ‘contemplative in action’ and those who knew him as a teacher at St Stanislaus College saw more of the contemplative in him, rather than the man of action. It is thus perplexing to many that his single public action for justice on 14th July should have cost him his life. But, as people of faith, we know that it is not the quantity of actions for justice that is relevant, but rather the quality of our commitment in the struggle for justice. Perhaps that single action of Fr Darke with his camera posed a greater threat to those who refuse to respect the rights of others rather than daily demonstrations in the streets.
May the spirit of Fr Darke continue to inspire others to make their talents available to their brothers and sisters, especially the most needy, even if such actions may lead to some losses.