President Dame Sandra Mason joined the Catholic community at the St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church on Monday for a joyful celebration of the life of Bishop Emeritus the Most Reverend Anthony Hampden Dickson.
The first Roman Catholic Bishop of Bridgetown, who died on November 29, at the age of 87, at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital where he was warded after suffering a stroke, was described as an “ambassador for Christ” and a “true prophet” during the mass of thanksgiving.
The Jamaican-born clergyman who was ordained in 1962, appointed Bishop in 1975 and resigned in 1995, was also touted as a man who had a passion for the environment and social justice and a golden heart that was always open to the poor.
It was also acknowledged that Bishop Dickson was a prophetic figure among the bishops of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC).
Bishop of Bridgetown Neil Scantlebury, Archbishop of Port of Spain Jason Gordon, Bishop of Kingstown Gerald County, Bishop of St George’s in Grenada Clyde Harvey, and Archbishop Emeritus of Port of Spain Reverend Joseph Harris, attended the service which lasted just over an hour. Minister of Labour, Social Security and the Third Sector Colin Jordan was also in attendance.
In his message, Bishop Scantlebury said he had the privilege of knowing Bishop Dickson – who ordained his late father as one of the first Deacons in the Diocese of Bridgetown – from a young age.
“I served at many Masses which he celebrated. He was a patient and gentle shepherd and I will miss him. Later in life, he attended my priestly ordination in the US Virgin Islands and it meant a lot to me to have him there with my parents and siblings.
“As you might appreciate, it was an awesome experience when I was appointed Bishop of Bridgetown but more so to be welcomed by Bishop Dickson, my bishop who was now to be my brother bishop.
“He spoke of how he had known me as a little boy serving at the altar at Our Lady of Sorrows and how proud he was to be able to welcome me as a full-fledged Bajan bishop. I love him so much and I thank God for his life, for his service and the guidance he offered me,” Bishop Scantlebury said.
Archbishop Gordon said that even though small in stature, Bishop Dickson was ten feet tall in many ways and had a “wicked sense of humour” and a hearty laugh to accompany it.
He recalled conversations with Dickson over lunch on several occasions at which the Bishop told him that once he was able to help at least one person he was satisfied that he was doing something right.
“The real burning passion of Bishop Dickson was the environment and social justice. So you know how many times I got a lecture on social justice or on the environment, or on how long I keep my tap running before I go to bathe? And that was the genius of the man.
“He pushed us as a church into frontiers that many of us were shy to enter into, or shy to promote, certainly shy to be a champion of. As a Catholic Bishop, he had more children than I could count – not biologically please, spiritually – and I see some are here today who he really took as his children and who he mentored and provided for and nurtured and walked with. That’s the heart of the man, he had a golden heart,” Archbishop Gordon said, adding that Bishop Dickson also committed his life to ensuring the church was working towards a common good.
Vice General, Diocese of Bridgetown, Father Clement Paul, who delivered the sermon according to Bishop Dickson’s wishes, said he would be remembered as a virtuous, righteous human being.
Saying he was hurting over the loss, he recalled: “Actually I felt more pain when he was ill and when they took him out of that room that Sunday night. And you should see Bishop Neil. Honestly, I thought ‘my God we have to get a stretcher for Bishop Neil too’.
“You could see the brokenness in all of us when they took him out of that room. By that time, he was losing recognition of us. I was angry with God. I said ‘God, here is a man who loves life, who loves you, who suffered for you. God, this is the way?’”
Father Paul said the biggest tribute those mourning could pay to Bishop Dickson who loved the church despite his pain and challenges would be to “love God”.
