Murder of Bernard Darke

On 14 July 1979 Bernard Darke, a British-born, Guyana-based Jesuit priest and photographer for the Catholic Standard, was stabbed to death by members of the House of Israel, a religious cult closely tied to the People's National Congress, while photographing Working People's Alliance demonstrations of the PNC.[1][2][3] Guyana's Stabroek News described the murder as "the low point of democracy in Guyana" and, for those in the media, "perhaps the most traumatic event of the [Forbes] Burnham regime."[4]

Bernard Darke

Darke was born in 1925.[5] He attended St Peter's College in Southbourne. Darke served in the Royal Navy during the World War II, then became a Jesuit in 1946.[5] He was reported to have been involved in scouting and to have developed an interest in photography while in formation at Heythrop.[5] During the 1950s, Darke taught at Wimbledon College.[5] He was ordained in 1958.[5]

Darke went to British Guiana in 1960 and became a lecturer teaching scripture and math at St. Stanislaus College in Georgetown.[5][6] There, he continued his interests in photography and scouting, where he was scout leader from 1962 until his death.[5][7]

Murder

Members of the House of Israel pursue Bernard Darke on the morning of 14 July 1979.

In 1979, Darke was a photographer for the Catholic Standard, a tabloid paper described as being "extremely critical" of the People's National Congress.[2] The House of Israel was a cult founded by David Hill, an American fugitive known as Rabbi Edward Washington.[8] Opponents of Forbes Burnham's government said that the House of Israel was a private army for the People's National Congress, and the group was reported to be a "brutal force in street demonstrations".[8] On behalf of the PNC, the House of Israel also engaged in strike breaking activities and the disruption of public meetings.[8]

On 14 July 1979 Walter Rodney and two supporters within his Working People's Alliance were charged with arson for the firebombings of a government and PNC offices three days earlier, resulting in a violent clash between political factions.[6] During the incident, Darke was stabbed to death.[6]

Darke was killed by a group of Burnham supporters which attacked bystanders in which he was one of them.[9][10] According to Jesuit author Malachi Martin, Darke was stabbed to death by a faction of Forbes Burnham partisans.[11] Darke was working part-time as a photographer for the Catholic Standard newspaper of Georgetown, Guyana at the moment he was attacked and killed.[12] According to a 2013 article in Kaieteur News, the target of the assassins may have been Father Andrew Morrison, Editor of the Catholic Standard..[13] Kaieteur News describes Morrison and the Catholic Standard in the 1980s as, "fighting against corruption and freedom of the press" that were "muffled" by the Burnham government.[13]

In July 1986 Washington and some of his key associates were charged with the murder of Darke.[2] After pleading guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter, Washington received a fifteen-year prison sentence.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Thirty Years Since Guyana-Based Priest`s Murder". Bahamas Spectator. The Caribbean World News Network. July 14, 2009. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Rose, Euclid A. (2002). "Guyana: The Adoption of Cooperative Socialism". Dependency and Socialism in the Modern Caribbean: Superpower Intervention in Guyana, Jamaica, and Grenada, 1970-1985. Lanham, Massachusetts: Lexington Books. p. 210. ISBN 9780739104484.
  3. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=YmSqCinu9aQC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA17#v=onepage&q&f=false
  4. ↑ "The Murder of Father Darke". Stabroek News. 8 (163). Georgetown, Guyana. July 17, 1993. p. 6. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Bernard Darke SJ". http://www.jesuit.org.uk. Jesuits in Britain. Retrieved May 14, 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  6. 1 2 3 "British Priest Dies In Guyana". Observer-Reporter. Washington, Pennsylvania. AP. July 16, 1979. p. D3. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  7. ↑ http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/features/08/16/scouting-in-guyana-1909-to-2009/
  8. 1 2 3 Vidal, Silvia; Whitehead, Neil L. (2004). "Dark Shamans and the Shamanic State". In Whitehead, Neil L.; Wright, Robin. In Darkness and Secrecy: The Anthropology of Assault Sorcery and Witchcraft in Amazonia. Duke University Press. pp. 74–75. ISBN 9780822333456. Retrieved May 14, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Jesuits remember priest murdered in Guyana". ICN. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2013.
  10. ↑ Oakland, Ross (10 December 1980). "The volatile battle to enter Guyana's halls of power". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  11. ↑ Martin, Malachi (2013). Jesuits. Simon and Schuster. p. 315. ISBN 1476751889.
  12. ↑ Horgan, Denys (29 August 1980). "Don't send newsprint to Guyana, editor urges". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  13. 1 2 Rooplall, Dwijendra (25 December 2013). "A closer look at 'The Catholic Standard'". Kaieteur News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.

Further reading

External links

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