Sunday Times 2
Louis: A people’s journalist, unsung humanitarian and peace activist
View(s):A mass and memorial service were held at St. Benedict’s College hall on May 23 to celebrate the life of the veteran journalist and social justice activist, the late Louis Benedict. Fr. Noel Dias and Fr. Lasantha de Abrew conducted the service, accompanied by the college choir.
Mr. Benedict’s long-time friend and journalistic colleague, Ameen Izzadeen, delivered the following eulogy at the service:
When Marie, Louis’s angelic wife, invited me to speak at this service, I accepted the invitation with some hesitation. I wondered whether it was appropriate for a Muslim friend to deliver a speech at a Catholic service honoring the life and legacy of the late Louis Benedict, the veteran journalist, deputy editor of the Sunday Times, president of the People’s Movement for Patients’ Rights and a true servant of Christ. Yet, the thought that immediately came to mind was that nothing could be a better and more powerful testament to Louis’ commitment to interfaith and inter-communal harmony than my presence here.
Louis believed in inter-faith activism. Many were the meetings Louis had organised and attended, particularly at the Centre for Society and Religion at the Deans Road Fatima Church, to assert and promote the belief that true peace in Sri Lanka could only emerge through interfaith and inter-communal harmony. He believed that peace was not merely the absence of war but rather the convergence of hearts.
During the height of the separatist war, Louis and a few journalists, including me, were part of a peace corps. We wholeheartedly supported all efforts aimed at ending the war through peace talks and reconciliation. Peace is not surrender; it requires courage, and Louis had that courage in abundance. Louis dreamt of a world order based on peace and justice—a world order where nations would beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Thoroughly inspired by Isaiah 11:6, he did his best and urged others to do their best to bring about a peace-driven world order where ‘The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat.’
Louis not only worked hard for inter-communal harmony but also advocated for interdenominational unity within Christianity. Endorsing Pope Francis’ call for Christian unity, ecumenism, and inter-denominational harmony, Louis through his writing consistently promoted dialogue between different Christian schools of thought. It was not coincidence that he passed away hours after Pope Francis passed away a day after Easter.
Such an unsung humanitarian and peace activist certainly embodies the biblical verse, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
As followers of the Abrahamic faiths, we believe Louis must surely be in an exalted place in the kingdom of God. After all, he was a profoundly humble man, far removed from and far alien to vainglorious arrogance. Does not the Bible itself declare that those who humble themselves will be exalted?
Louis’ life, especially after his transformation from misery to spiritual awakening some 37 years ago, reflected the kind of life Christ calls his followers to lead. I would not go into the details of the multiple crises he faced. His family members and close friends are well aware of them. Virtually, the sky came crashing down on him when he was turning forty. Thankfully, he experience a spiritual transformation. It also touched and enriched his journalism, which he firmly believed should give voice to the voiceless. Social justice and global justice were the common threads binding together every article, editorial, and column he wrote for the Sun, the Sunday Times, the Daily Mirror, the Messenger published by the Catholic Church, and the social justice magazine Footprint, which he edited. For several consecutive years, Louis and I wrote full-page year-end review for the Sunday Times, emphasizing the urgent need for a global order founded on peace and justice and condemning and criticizing the imperialistic agendas of Western powers.
I saw Christ in him. He was the Good Samaritan. He would give his coat also when someone asked for his shirt. Unknown to others, he often helped those in need.
He advocated the liberation theology—God-centred socialism as has been advocated and practised by renowned Latin American priests father Gustavo Gutiérrez of Peru and El SalvadorAs Archbishop Óscar Romero. He never considered the blindness he was afflicted with a shortcoming. Rather, he turned his blindness into a strength to bring light into the lives of the poor, the marginalized and the downtrodden.
He was an inspiration to the blind fraternity. As his sister-in-law Pat Benedict, wife of Louis’s brother Rienzie, who was also vision impaired noted, Louis uplifted the lives of those living in darkness by ensuring their needs and aspirations were met.
A recipient of the Sri Lanka Press Institute’s Lifetime Achievment award, Louis would say Journalism is not a profession; it is a vocation. He would emphasise the importance of activism in journalism. And he did exactly that. He carried out a campaign for patients’ rights and exposed the medical mafia’s rackets. In his writings, he called for a National Medicinal Drug Policy based on the revered Professor Senaka Bibile’s essential medicines concept whereby quality drugs could be made available to all people at affordable prices. The National Medicinal Drug Authority was the fruit of his relentless campaign. Until his death, he remained the president of the People’s Movement for Patients’ Rights.
In journalism, Louis was my shepherd and many other journalists who now live in several countries across the world and also in Sri Lanka. Louis started his journalism as a teenager in the now defunct Sun/Weekend newspapers. He honed his skills first at the sports desk and moved to the sub editors’ desk where he became a pillar of strength in a career that saw him rising to the position of deputy editor of the Sun newspaper. He could see then. While at the Sun, he became the recipient of a prestigious journalism scholarship offered by the Cardiff-based Thomson Foundation.
I joined the Sun in 1986 when Louis’ eyesight was beginning to deteriorate due to a condition called retinitis pigmentosa, a rare genetic disorder that affects the retina. We even went to see movies together. Decades later, he told my office colleagues that he had seen me and began to describe me exactly how I was in 1986. In his memory, I have not aged.
Ours was a nearly 40-year friendship. Today I am what I am in journalism largely because of him. I knew nothing about journalism. Louis, the journalistic brilliance, taught me the basics. He took me under his wings and guided me throughout my career. He infused in me journalistic courage and shared with me the finer points. Though he is not with me today, as long as I am in journalism, I will see him in every sentence I edit and write.
Some time back, he wrote a testament and appropriately headlined it “I was blind, but I can now see” It was a testament to God’s Amazing Grace that transformed his life, lifestyle, attitudes, vision and goals. He concluded this testimony with his favourite song – the Galilee Song — which he said calls on all of us to go beyond our comfort zones such as merely taking part in religious services or rituals and leap with God into the deep:
“Deep within my heart, I feel voices whispering to me.
Words that I can’t understand; meanings I must clearly hear!
Calling me to follow close, lest I leave myself behind!
Calling me to walk into evening shadows one more time!
So I leave my boats behind!
Leave them on familiar shores!
Set my heart upon the deep!
Follow you again, my Lord!