No greater love

In Memory of Fr. Art MacKinnon

By Fr. Lionel Walsh, S.F.M.
November/December 2008

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Every year on June 22 the parish of Monte Plata in the Dominican Republic commemorates the death of Scarboro missionary Father Arthur MacKinnon. Padre Arturo, as the young missionary priest is known to the Dominican people, died tragically in 1965 during the Dominican civil war. His efforts to help his parishioners during that difficult time led to the sacrifice of his life. “A man can have no greater love,” said Jesus, “than to lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

June 22, 1985, being the 20th anniversary of Padre Arturo’s assassination, was of special importance. Preparations for the event that year included the printing of a booklet giving an account of the circumstances surrounding his death, as well as posters and remembrance cards with a picture of Fr. MacKinnon under the inscription in Spanish: ‘’Padre Arturo, martyr for the cause of justice.”

Different groups, chiefly of young people, prepared artistic presentations to be given on the day of the celebration. One boy wrote a poem about Padre Arturo. Another, a high school student, wrote of his appreciation for Fr. Art in a short essay that he dedicated to Fr. Art’s mother and to the other members of the MacKinnon family. A committee was formed to raise funds for the construction of a monument to be erected at the site of the assassination. Fittingly, the architect who designed the monument was one of the young men whose release from a military prison Fr. MacKinnon had secured a few days before his death.

On the day of the anniversary, the celebrations began with Mass in the parish church, followed by a procession to the cemetery where Fr. Art is buried. After prayer at the graveside and the presentation of floral wreaths, the procession continued a short distance up the highway for the inauguration of the monument. Afterwards, we went to the parish centre which bears the name “Padre Arturo”. Here, groups of young men and women from different communities in the parish offered the presentations of drama and poetry which they had prepared and dedicated to the deceased priest. In the background was a picture of Fr. MacKinnon and beneath it the inscription in Spanish, “We thank you, Arturo, we will follow your example.”

It was a moving experience for me to listen to these young people as they sang of their respect and admiration for Fr. MacKinnon: of how he would live on among them, of how they valued his sacrifice, of how they would follow his example. Many of them had not been born at the time of his death, but now Padre Arturo had found a place in their hearts. He had become for them an example of devotion to duty, of love and concern for others. Generations to come would learn of him, hear his story and be inspired by his example. His sacrifice had not been in vain. “Unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies,” said Jesus, “it remains only a single grain; but if it dies it yields a rich harvest” (John 12: 24).

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