Orville Taylor | The Pope and North Street

Vere, Franciscus mortus est, “Truly, Francisco is dead,” or is he? What timing? Pope Francisco left us as the Kingston College (KC) centennial came to a close and right at the beginning of those related to the north side of North Street, St George’s College (STGC), the pulse and habitus of the order of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Without the Jesuits neither of these two institutions would have existed; yes, the Catholic Church and in particular the Jesuits, founded by Ignacio Loyola, and based adjacent to the imposing Holy Trinity Cathedral

For all the travesties of the Church, historically and in recent times, including stories of abuse and sexual impropriety, the debt to this institution is inviolable for all men who graduated from these two places.

For the uninitiated, KC’s founder, Percival Gibson, was one of the minority highly melanised boys from humble backgrounds, who because of their intellectual potential and ambition, were afforded a free first-class education.

Georgian teachers were mostly Jesuits, with the equivalent of doctorates, and many of those who completed the academic gauntlet of STGC, were so well-honed, that the only degrees they needed after their stint, was on their thermometers.

Up to when the class of 1975 were collecting their oversized diplomas 50 years ago, many a young man could walk into workplaces and build solid careers.

Yet, some went on to higher things, and Gibson was among those who not only excelled, but made indelible contributions to the nation and world at large.

A great man, and given the impact of KC among the other institutions he either founded or influenced, we have to say an enormous thank you to the Catholic Church and the Jesuits. Indeed, Pope Francisco, is the first Jesuit, after centuries of succession.

NOT COINCIDENTAL

This is not coincidental. In many ways, the Jesuits, who, by the way, started our credit union movement, are perhaps the most self-effacing of all the orders within the church. Already distinguished from Anglican priests and other clergymen by their oaths of chastity, an amazing burden, the Jesuits own no personal property and live by their vow of poverty.

It Is at this juncture that with the Jesuit paradox of self-deprecation and pride mixed with some degree of embarrassment, that this writer makes a Georgian Jesuit confession.

This current generation is accustomed to having very ostentatious entrances to their high schools. While it might be a source of pride to look at the palatial structures; in a country where we still have high schools on the shift system and a shortage of classrooms spaces in some of the very schools that boast of showy gates, this is not necessarily good spending.

So here is the irony. In 1979 in an era when it was not the norm for schools to have their insignias on the outside walls, typically, facing with an aluminium sign on the inside, as a sixth form art student at STGC, I approached the Jesuit principal Father Lawrence Burke, with the idea of painting the school’s crest and name on the wall on the right side of the entrance. On the surface, it could easily be seen as showing off, because this was not the sort of thing that schools did.

Certainly, it was not consistent with the norm of simple service without drawing attention to it.

In a move which would have been baulked at by his predecessor, Maurice Feres, Burke said yes and started a chain reaction which began right across the road, STGC saw its first emblem painted on its external wall.

Alvin Anderson, my ‘brother’ then a sixth former at KC, followed the example and approached his headmaster to do the same. Yes, a Georgian co-painted the first crest on the wall for those who entered KC for the first time; something designed to generate a sense of pride among current and future students of KC. Importantly, it was done without fanfare; because only a small number of Georgians knew that this was being done, because the motto Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, “To the greater glory of God” is inconsistent with chest-beating and bragging rights, even if one is the best.

BEYOND ONE’S INTERESTS

The Catholic norm of self-sacrifice and service beyond one’s own immediate interests, is something which is deep in the DNA of not only Georgians but should be discovered by those members of the purple tribe. This is especially important for those who believe that their attendance at KC is something that they should simply reprise annually, rather than trying to serve a greater good, the uplift of one’s fellow men and in particular one’s country.

As the world navigates the mourning of Pope Francisco, who is the first from the Americas, as well as the first Jesuit, and therefore at least geographically is very close to us, there are those among us, who dare to hope that somehow, we will finally get a West Indian or even Jamaican Pope.

If one visits the Cathedral, one will see how many of the images actually look like most Jamaicans, and I proudly salute our Archbishop Kenneth Richards, under whose leadership the righting of the images to reflect the accurate Afrocentricity, took place. After all, Jesus logically looked more like Jah Jah, Haile Selassie I than Leonardo da Vinci’s partner.

True, among the frontrunners to succeed Francisco is at least one African. But getting an African would not be a novelty, because we already had three. Victor reigned from 189 to 199, Gelasius, from 492 to 496 and Miltiades, who led Emperor Constantine to make Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.

And by the way, inasmuch as the Pope is generally chosen from among the Cardinals, the high-ranking members of the church, the qualification is simply that one must be a baptised Catholic male, who after accepting election, becomes a bishop.

Thus, it could be many of us on Jamrock, but ignoring one’s election might be too hard for us.

Blessings upon the class of 1975.

Dr Orville Taylor is senior lecturer at the Department of Sociology at The University of the West Indies, a radio talk-show host, and author of ‘Broken Promises, Hearts and Pockets’. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com.