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Bishop
Donal
R. Lamont,
O.Carm.
1911 - 2003
Biography
Most Rev Donal
Lamont, M.A., S.T.L., was born on July 27, 1911, in Ballycastle, Co Antrim.
He was educated in
Northern Ireland, Terenure College, Dublin, University College Dublin, and Collegio Sant' Alberto, Rome.
Bishop Lamont was Professed in the Order of Carmelites 1930 and
Ordained Priest in Rome in 1937. One of the first three to go to Rhodesia
(now Zimbabw), he was appointed Superior of the Carmelite Mission
in Rhodesia in 1946, and Prefect Apostolic of Umtali (now Mutare) in 1953.
He served as Bishop of Umtali from 1957 to 1982. Bishop Lamont attended the Second Vatican Council
(1962-65), and was a member of the Vatican Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity
from 1962 until 1975. As President of the Rhodesia Catholic Bishops' Conference 1970-72,
he represented the Conference at Roman Synods in 1969, 1971, and 1974.
Bishop Lamont was sentenced to
prison for opposition to the regime in Rhodesia and deported from Rhodesia
in March 1977. Returned to Umtali Diocese after Independence in 1980 and
resigned as Bishop of the Diocese in 1982, becoming the Emeritus Bishop of Mutare.
In recognition of his work he received an honorary LL.D from the University
of Notre Dame, Indiana; Seton Hall, New Jersey; Mount St Mary's, Maryland; and Marymount, New York. A
postage stamp was issued in his honour by the Government of Kenya in 1979.
He was given the People of God Award by the Washington Theological Union and
was asked
to be a nominator for the Templeton Prize for Progress in 1976. Bishop
Lamont was
nominated for the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1978 (which was awarded jointly
to President Mohamed Anwar al-Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of Israel).
He retired to the Carmelite Community, Terenure College, where he passed
away in August, 2003.
“Purchased People” 1959
Pastoral Letter by Dr Lamont.
An open letter to the Rhodesian Government.
August 11, 1976.
On
October 11, 1978, Dr Lamont gave a press conference in Washington DC during
the controversial to the United States of Mr Ian Smith, then Prime Minister
of Rhodesia. The full text of the speech is available
here.
Ad Gentes: A Missionary Bishop Remembers
- Bishop Lamont recalls his intervention at the Second Vatican Council on
the Decree Ad Gentes.
Sermon given at the Funeral Mass of Bishop Donal R. Lamont,
O.Carm. August 18, 2003
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