Text: Jesuit Provincial at Stan Swamy vigil outside Indian High Commission

Image: ICN/JS

Jesuit Provincial Fr Damian Howard SJ gave following reflection and prayer yesterday (21st June) at a vigil outside the Indian High Commission in London.

This event has been in my diary for some months. And if I'm very honest I didn't really look forward Ito it. Partly that's because I'm not Nature's best protester and a shy individual - like quite a lot of you - and walking around the city with placards is not my idea of a comfortable experience. But I notice this morning that more than that, I really hate the idea of protesting outside the Indian High Commission because I I love India. Its a beautiful country full of wonderful people and I have enormous respect for the country and I think back to people like Gandhi who led peaceful resistance to colonial rule, led India to freedom, as a wonderful example of exactly how to give liberation to people. And how sad it is that we, in our little group today, find ourselves protesting in our very modest way, against a massive injustice done to Stan Swamy some two years ago and still being perpetrated against some of his friends and colleagues. So to stand in solidarity with them is really important.

But it really does cost us I think outside this particular embassy. There are other embassies in the world which I would rather stand outside and protest. So I just want to register that. Because I think is an important part of what we're doing today. Not just other embassies but other issues I think would also draw us out today. We could be protesting about a whole host of things wrong with the world at the moment: pollution, climate change, fossil fuels - obviously a huge issue which so many of us feel passionately about. The standards in public life which we've been so aware of, seen being debased just in the past few days. And all sort of other issues which Jesuit Missions work so hard to protest about.

And yet here we are, remembering in a very modest way, the death of a man who most of us didn't know and hadn't even heard of until he was arrested - Fr Stan Swamy. Why is it that we feel so strongly that we come out today to remember him, to remember his work and to remember his very very tragic death? Well the answer in one way is, well he is our brother. As a Jesuit I feel that in a particularly strong way, he is my Jesuit brother. But I know all of us stand in solidarity with him because of what he meant as a brother to us. But more than that was a brother who knew how to be a brother to people who desperately needed solidarity - from anybody. He stood with the indigenous people in India - in a most remarkable and persistent way. He broke through the barrier of embarrassment and discomfort that some of us feel today. He did that many many years ago when he first took up this cause, and first got into the habit of opening his heart to people who needed his love and his solidarity.

And I think what we want to remember today is not just him - because I think he'd be very embarrassed by that - but what he stood for. The people he stood in solidarity with. The values that he struggled to uphold. And the memory, the dangerous memory of love which was at the centre of his life - the love of Jesus Christ for the world. That's what really unites us today. It's the love of Jesus Christ extended to everyone. And in our own very small but significant way I hope we've shown something of that love in everything that we've done today. By walking through the streets. Remembering Stan. Remembering the people he cared for. But also showing a little bit of love in the way we've dealt with the people who've met us, who've asked us questions, and also policed us. All ways of showing respect for human dignity which was very core of Stan's mission and his work.

So thank you very much indeed for coming and expressing your solidarity, his friends. Let's pray for a moment that this little ripple of loving action will have effect well beyond this small part of London, reaching out the world and contributing to the kingdom which Jesus Christ came to build up. In the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Heavenly Father we stand today in solidarity with our brother Stan. Lord welcome him into your kingdom of love and justice. Be with all those who suffer oppression. Whose dignity is denied and who are marginalised in today's world, especially those who Stan knew and loved. Lord we pray in particular for those wrongfully imprisoned by the Indian government. And we ask that through peaceful means, loving resistance, through defiance of violence and injustice, your kingdom may be built up slowly but surely in the world so that everyone will come to know the power of your love. We ask all this in the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and our brother. Amen.

After giving his blessing Fr Damian thanked all those present for coming.

LINKS

Watch a recording of Fr Damian's address on Youtube - www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPdXGfRfx3g

London: Vigil for Fr Stan Swamy - www.indcatholicnews.com/news/47421