Father Andrew Morrison…The Jesuit priest who pioneered investigative journalism in Guyana

Apr 03, 2017 News

By Freddie Kissoon

I got a telephone call from Michael Jordan, one of the senior editors at this newspaper. He said: “Freddie, how many of our journalists at Kaieteur News know about Father Andrew Morrison; you know we have to do something about him.” Thus was born this article. Michael Jordan is right. Do the young people of Guyana know who this great Guyanese is? I hope this article is a small contribution to keeping this man’s legacy alive.
One of the things that is completely unacceptable about Guyana is that we do not keep the legacies of our great nationalists alive. Since he died in January 2014, there has not been anything named after him, no scholarship in his name, no annual symposium, just nothing. Here are some brief notes on a great Guyanese. A Jesuit Priest in the Catholic Church, Father Morrison pioneered investigative journalism in this country.

Fr. Andrew Morrison

His little paper was the only outlet for critical commentary and news reporting in the late seventies and the eighties because there were no independent media in the eighties; only the state-owned Chronicle. Father literally became a one man crusade against the authoritarian state under President Burnham. If any newspaper was eagerly awaited every Friday morning by the entire nation of Guyana, it was the Catholic Standard. He made it into a Goliath of a little newspaper.
All the conspiracies, immoralities and violations of the Burnham Government he exposed at the cost of being killed. When his enemies decided that it was time for him to die, Lady Luck was there to protect him. On July 14, 1979, House of Israel thugs saw a white priest during a WPA led demonstration on Brickdam outside the Saint Stanislaus School and thought it was Father Morrison; in fact, it was fellow Jesuit, Bernard Darke. On the front cover of Father’s book, which he wrote before he died of natural illness,is a photograph of the killers chasing Father Darke. They stabbed him to death. The intended victim was the fearless Father Andrew Morrison

The cover of Fr. Morrison’s book, with a photograph of the murder of Fr. Bernard Darke

Fr. Morrison selling the Catholic Standard outside the Stabroek Market

His book is entitled, “Justice: The Struggle for Democracy in Guyana, 1952-1992. It is a priceless piece of history and all Guyanese who believe this country can be saved would be wiser in reading it. There is so much that I can say about this great Guyanese, but I want to hold back the ocean of memories so they can fit into many articles to come, but most importantly, there has to be an effort to keep his legacy alive. I end with an extract from a letter I wrote in the Kaieteur News when I heard about his death, days after I had visited him at Saint Joseph Mercy Hospital.
Here are my thoughts back in January 2014 on this journalist who stands tall in the eyes of this nation; “Father Andrew Morrison, Jesuit priest, journalist and human rights activist should and must be remembered for his phenomenal struggle to free Guyanese from its ingrained autocracy. As editor of the indomitable Catholic Standard, he pioneered fearless investigative journalism in this land. One of the superb moments of my life was to have the priceless opportunity of being his columnist from 1974 to 1989. It was a rare privilege for me to have worked with a human so modest, so humble, so honest. One of the things said about the Portuguese middle class in this country is that they never hid their class arrogance. I have seen the display of such arrogance among that class. But Father was an exception. He never made me feel that I was a dark-skinned nobody. His effect on me will never wane. I hope from next year, I am given the chance to participate in Guyana’s yearly recognition of one of its truly admirable sons.”
Fr. Morrison was awarded the Pedro Joachim Chamorro Award for Freedom of the Press by the Inter-American Press Assoc. (IAPA) for “outstanding journalism. He is also a recipient of the Arrow of Achievement.