Modern English martyr remembered

ENGLISH JESUIT Fr Bernard Darke, killed in Guyana in 1979 while on a photography assignment for a local Catholic newspaper, has been honoured by the Caribbean Publishing and Broadcasting Association.
In ceremonies in Barbados in late October Fr Darke was cited "for outstanding bravery and courage" on the day he died.
FR Darke was killed on July 14, 1979, while covering an anti-government demonstration in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana, on assignment for The Catholic Standard, the Georgetown diocesan newspaper. He and a Catholic Standard reporter were attacked by people opposed to the demonstrators. He was beaten and then stabbed after he turned his camera on the people attacking the reporter. Michael James, the paper's assistant editor, who received head wounds in the attack. Fr ' Darke died in hosp l few hou et. t 'assault.
Guyana's government under President Forbes Burnham frequently has been criticised for its
repressive policies and The Catholic Standard has been attacked for its human rights reporting and advocacy.
The posthumous citation, presented to Jesuit Fr Andrew Morrison, editor of The Catholic Standard, commends . Fr Darke "for outstanding bravery and courage displayed in the performance (of) his attempt to cover the disturbances of July 14, 1979, on which day he was tragically and brutally murdered in full view of a police station, the magistrates' court and the Parliament building in Georgetown, Guyana.'
Retired Bishop Guilly of Georgetown, present at the ceremonies, paid tribute to Fr Darke in a speech which noted that "despite its horror, Fr Darke's death has not been without fruit."
The bishop added: "His death, too, identified
vi! for ' it was and his sacrifice pleads at the
• si that the day be advanced when Guyanese may come to enjoy that justice, peace and happiness for which so many long."