One of
a Jamaican Kind: Fr. Bertram Chin, C.P.
by Lucian
Clark, C.P.
"Mas'
Alfred" was a seventy-year old parishioner of Santa Cruz, Jamaica, West
Indies. For income he attentively maintained the parish church and grounds,
traveling from home to church on his trusty bicycle. Coming home from
work one afternoon on one of those narrow and winding Jamaican roads,
 Mas'
Alfred was hit and knocked from his bike by a careless and speeding
driver. His injuries were such that he had to be taken to the public
hospital in Kingston. There he lay recuperating for three long months.
(Kingston Public Hospital, at right)
His pastor,
Passionist Father Bertram Chin (below, right), regularly made
the long trip from Santa Cruz to visit "Freddy", his faithful parishioner
and trusted worker. What Fr. Bertram found in these visits continues
to haunt him as a vivid "memory of the Passion". The hospital conditions
were terrible. "Cockroaches literally crawling on Freddy, even in his
food!" he says. A distinctive part of this Passion memory, the pastor
tells us, "was his look, whenever I came to visit. It was the 'look
of life'. It said, 'I'm not alone. You care for me. I'm going to make
it!'"
 The
only native-born
In the
beautiful island of Jamaica, West Indies, the Passionist charism is
alive and bearing fruit. For Fr. Bertram Chin, C.P., the island is not
only his place of mission, it is his home. Truly, he is what we might
call "one of a kind", because he is the only native-born Passionist
in Jamaica. He was born in Kingston 38 years ago, the first of three
children, and baptized in the St. Elizabeth Passionist Parish where
he now serves as pastor.
In this
beautiful but troubled land, Fr. Bertram sees a great need for the charism
of the Passion. Because there is such poverty, the people here listen
closely for those who will cry out for justice. Because of so much violence,
born of pervasive poverty, the people listen for the voices that call
out a way to peace.
The Catholic
people of Jamaica welcomed the Passionists in 1955 when the Holy See
asked the Eastern Province United States Passionists to take up the
challenge of this new mission. As a people who delight in the Ministry
of the Word, Jamaican Catholics embraced the Passionists unreservedly
and took immediately to the special human touch of their preaching.
A
Missionary Looks at Jamaica •
One
of a Jamaican Kind: Fr Bertram Chin, C.P.
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Editor's Note •
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