Was I afraid?

Fr Don Hornsey SSC washing the feet. Photo: St Columbans Mission Society

The other day someone asked me if I had ever been afraid during my 10 years in Chile during the time of the military dictatorship. There certainly were some very scary times.

One that I particularly remember is when I went to the jail in Arica in northern Chile to visit a political prisoner whose family I was helping while he was imprisoned. The system was that when you entered the prison you had to hand over your identification card and when the visiting time was over your name was called out, your identification card was returned, and you were free to leave. That day there were about 30 visitors and one by one their names were called, and they left.

Then I was the only one left. Was this the military government's plan I thought as I waited. They would not arrest me while I was outside, but perhaps, they would not let me go.

During the wait, I had time to say quite a few prayers which worked because after an hour my name was eventually called out. It was a real relief to get my identification card back and I was finally free to go. My first task when I was released was to obtain supplies to take to the family of the political prisoner whom I had just visited in the jail.

Several other Columban colleagues in Santiago were not so lucky and after time spent in prison, they were all deported from the country.

Fr Don Hornsey lives and works in Aotearoa/New Zealand