By Petulia Clarke, Staff Reporter
Mourners file past the body of Archbishop Emeritus Samuel Carter which lay in state at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, North Street yesterday. A vigil followed last night and tributes and the burial will be held today. Archbishop Carter died last Tuesday. - Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer
BASIL BROOKS, former altar server to Roman Catholic Archbishop Emeritus Samuel Carter, spent much of yesterday at the Holy Trinity Cathedral guiding visitors to his beloved mentor's side.
He said he had been there since 12:25 and at 4:00 p.m. was gearing up for the mass that was to be held last night.
Mr. Brooks had come all the way from Old Harbour and wasn't sure if he'd make it to the burial today. So he made the journey just in case.
He didn't cry when he heard the news of the Archbishop's death. Archbishop Carter wasn't the type whose death you mourn over, he was the type whose life you celebrate, Mr. Brooks said.
Kaydean Powell and her son were just passing by on her way from work. She was there representing her mother who had fond memories of the Archbishop when he was headmaster at Campion College. She'd heard good things about the man, she said. She didn't expect that so many other people had heard the same.
Mr. Brooks said that since he'd been at the Cathedral, more than a thousand people including "lots of schoolchildren" had filed in to view the body at the Cathedral on North Street. There were few tears, if any, for the man who lay, as if sleeping.
Persons looked, persons sat and prayed. It was probably the last chance they would get to be so close to him, Mr. Brooks said.
"He was very good to me," he said. "I kind of feel it. He was a big influence in everybody's life no matter which church you join," he said.
He remembered once when Archbishop Carter and others went into Tivoli near to elections and the area don said they couldn't enter. "He just went through to deal with the people," Mr. Brooks said.
He remembered once when they were at the Holy Cross Church and someone came in to ask the Archbishop for a pair of shoes. "He just took off the shoes he had on and gave them to him," Mr. Brooks said.
Roman Catholic Archbishop Emeritus Samuel Carter died after a battle with cancer at the University Hospital of the West Indies at 83-years-old. He was the first Jamaican to be appointed a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church, was the founding president of the Caribbean Conference of Churches and, on the local scene, served as president and treasurer of the Jamaica Council of Churches, holding the latter position for many years. He founded and served as the first headmaster of Campion College, St. Andrew. He became auxiliary bishop of Kingston in 1966 and then archbishop in 1970.
There will be a period of tributes and the burial today. Condolence books have been opened at the chancery, at 21 Hopefield Avenue; Holy Cross Church, 77 Half-Way-Tree Road; and the Holy Trinity Cathedral Rectory, George Headley Drive.
