Dear Editor,
Father Malcolm Rodrigues had an indomitable smile, a smile that endeared him to those of us overburdened with the serious task of confronting a dictatorship. His ability to do so, facing the murderous assault of the Burnham dictatorship on the leading members of the Catholic Church was nothing short of miraculous.
My interactions with Father Malcolm was very limited, yet significant. I was, in the 1978 – 80 period a political novice, overawed by the presence of the leading personalities singled out for the Burnham regime’s “sharper sword.” Father Darke’s murder presaged the assassination of Dr. Walter Rodney. Father Morrison’s book, “Justice” portrayed the monumental struggle of the Catholic Church against the Burnham dictatorship. The weekly organ of the church, “The Catholic Standard “ proved to be an effective counter to the government’s news media, bringing down upon its head the wrath of the Burnham regime. Father Morrison, Father Rodrigues and reporter Mike James became the political targets of the regime.
I saw Father Rodrigues as a practitioner of liberation theology. I was also aware of efforts on his part to emulate Father Camilo Torres within the Guyana context, in my limited understanding of his role of a freedom fighter. I may be exaggerating his role, political novice I was. But he certainly went way beyond the accepted priestly norms, this being to his credit. He was committed to “bearing his cross,” fully aware of the consequences, wearing that indomitable smile.
Father Rodrigues was a physicist, and wrote a paper examining the relationship of the “dialectics of nature” and quantum mechanics. His mind was probing deeply into philosophical issues raised by modern science in the face of political struggle, in an attempt to reconcile theory and practice. This paradox leads to the Free Will vs Determinism debate, a subject that would have engaged him in his role of an activist priest. I did meet him again on one occasion when he visited the US, this being a marker of my relationship with him. I would have liked to know more of his thinking than just these fleeting moments of engagement and enlightenment.
Yours faithfully,
Rohit Kanhai
