BOBIE-LEE DIXON
(bobie-lee.dixon@guardian.co.tt)
Between the pages of his biography, lies the life of retired archbishop Joseph Harris. A telling of heart-warming true stories, penned by former Guardian Media sports editor, author, and award-winning journalist Valentino Singh, it unveils the struggles, at times fear, vulnerabilities, battles won and lost and the overwhelming courage to pursuit servanthood as a priest in the face of severe adversity.
"I was ordained by then-archbishop Pantin at the time, but Paraguay made me a priest," Harris tells Guardian Media.
He said the pressures faced in Paraguay showed him what was important in life and what was important for the priesthood.
As a young priest, Harris was sent to Paraguay in 1969 during the period of great tribulation for men of the cloth, under the regime of dictator Alfredo Stroessner. Per the autobiography, "Stroessner's regime was known for extensive abuse. Political opponents were being singled out for torture and death while the church was being targeted after speaking out against the many ills in society," Singh wrote.
Harris would have appeared to have all the odds stacked against him in Paraguay—he was black, a priest, and stammered uncontrollably—a speech disorder he developed as a child. There are some conflicting stories about his stammering and shaking which refers to him being born a "left-hander".
Amid these challenges, Harris managed to find his way and make an impact in two poverty-stricken towns—Lima and Villa Mora. However, his time evangelising in Lima was cut short due to an illness he contracted because of contaminated water. But record it as making history if you may, Harris turned things around in Villa Mora. In a town where the word of God was hardly preached and church was practically a shell-structured building, where very few frequented, Harris, wasted no time in getting the Lord's work done.
In the book, Singh talks about Harris immediately embarking on a campaign to restore the people's confidence in Christ and his servant man (Harris). House to house he went introducing himself as the new parish priest and extended invitations to each family to attend Mass.
"Every family I spoke to was surprised to see me in front of their door. Most of them were living in the village for years and had never been visited by a priest nor had they ever received an invitation from anyone to attend mass," Harris is quoted as saying in his autobiography.
Soon Harris had a strong following and by collaborative hands, each person contributed to the rebuilding of the once run-down shack called the church house, where parishioners had to walk with their own seats.
But his goodwill in doing "God's will" offended Stroessner and his officials and soon Harris was advised to leave Paraguay for some time or else he could face expulsion. He later found himself hiding as a search was on for the 'holy man'. Be that as it may, Father Harris could not be found; in the very house they came searching, he was hidden in a private room taking confession.
Persecution in Paraguay was not the only trial for Harris, Singh also gives an account of his experience with overt racism in Chicago.
The autobiography titled God's Will has 18 chapters and its cover—a portrait of Harris—was the art work of Alladin Mohammed and Leslie Huggins, inmates at the T&T prison.
Speaking to Guardian Media, Singh described writing the autobiography as the 'legacy' of his career that he would leave behind.
"Before writing this book, I saw Father Harris as a very simple man, but as I began gathering the information and learning more about his life, I saw a man of incredible strength," he says.
In 2011, Harris who knew of Singh's work as an author, approached him about writing the book. Though at first, Singh found it strange that Harris would want to have a book written on himself, he subsequently agreed and began the process of interviewing friends, family, and fellow servant men to write the autobiography. However, he had to bring work to a halt when it was announced that Harris would be ordained as the tenth archbishop of Port-of-Spain. He felt it would be wise to await the completion of Harris's tenure.
In 2017 he resumed work on the autobiography which will be officially launched with a special limited edition on Wednesday at the Nalis, Port-of-Spain. The book would then be available at bookstores nationwide.