Well known Jesuit priest and social activist, Fr Malcolm Rodrigues passed away last evening at the St Joseph Mercy Hospital after a period of illness.
Catholic Media Guyana announced his passing and gave an insight into his life and activism
“Father Malcolm Rodrigues was a Jesuit priest ordained in 1973. Over the years he (had) been active in various ministries. He completed his M.A (Oxon) in Physics in 1972 and was later posted at the University of Guyana, serving as Head of the Physics Department (1976-1984) and then Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences (1986-1989). Fr. Rodrigues later became deputy Vice Chancellor of UG and held the post from 1991 to 1993,” it informed.
“He was also Director of Environmental Studies from 1995 to 1998. Fr. Rodrigues … served Iwokrama for many years as a member of the Iwokrama Committee from 1989 to 1990, then member of the interim Board as well as government nominee on the International Board from its inception. He also served as Chairman of Guyana’s Environmental Protection Agency and sat on several related tribunals. He served as a member of Guyana’s Indigenous People’s Commission and a Committee Member of the Guyana Media Proprietors Association as the Catholic Standard Representative. He is also known for his Human Rights activism in the 70s and 80s. He was a recipient of the Cacique Crown of Honour,” it added.
Rodrigues is also remembered for his decades of human rights struggle. Under the Forbes Burnham governments in the 1970s and early 1980s he was vocal in calling out injustices to citizens.
A defender of the freedom of the press and access to information, he led a petition presented to the National Assembly in protest at the then PPP/C government’s withdrawal of advertisements from Stabroek News in 2007.
Tributes poured in last night from not only Catholic parishioners but many whose lives he touched or who remembered him for his fight against injustice.
“One of the fairest minded Jesuit priests I know…would always stand up for injustice,” parishioner Jason Thomas wrote in a tribute.
“May his soul rest in peace? Father’s contribution will be remembered. It was an honour to have known him and served under his stewardship,” Church member Mona Roopsind wrote.
