Exhumed remains of Bishop relocated to sacred resting place inside Brickdam Cathedral

Aug 13, 2023 Features / Columnists, News, Waterfalls Magazine

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120 years after death…

By Rehanna Ramsay

Waterfalls Magazine – Almost two weeks ago, a post circulated on social media about the exhumation of the remains of Bishop Anthony Butler (a senior priest) who died 120 years ago, from the compound of the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception located at Brickdam.

The post generated many comments and questions from concerned viewers as to the reason for “digging up,” the bones of a dead Bishop more than a century after he was “peacefully laid to rest,” to now place them within the walls of the church building.

Several commentators condemned the act as disrespectful to the dead while others raised concerns about the way in which the exhumation was done.

Last week, The Waterfalls spoke to the Administrator of the Cathedral, Father Joel Rathna who explained the reasoning behind the act was to move the remains of the dead Bishop and place it under the main altar of the church.

According to Father Rathna, the move was done in keeping with preservation of a century’s Old Catholic tradition.

According to him, it is customary for Bishops to be buried in crypts (chambers) below the cathedrals they served.  This crypt is at least six feet below the base of the main altar inside the Cathedral (principal church building of the diocese) and acts a burial site for the heads of the church.  Father Rathna noted that crypts are built to honour the practice of the Catholic Church.

“This is a traditional practice done all over the world. Only bishops who served in that particular cathedral are worthy of being buried in its crypt. In fact, the word cathedral comes from a Latin term which means the seat of the Bishop,” he said.

He noted that while many people viewed the exhumation as disturbing the rest of the dearly departed Bishop, “For us in the catholic tradition, it is an act of honour, to have his remains placed in the crypt alongside his other fellow Bishops who served the church faithfully as well.”

The priest explained too that the honorary burial was long overdue since the Bishop died in 1901, long before the new Cathedral was built at the Brickdam location.

“The old church did not have a crypt so the Bishop was buried under a tower in the churchyard, then in 1913 when the old church burned down and the new more modern cathedral was later erected one which contained a crypt, the tradition of having the gravesite of the Bishops inside the church building began here,” Father Rathna said.

He explained that since then only two Bishops, Benedict Singh and Compton Galton have been buried in the crypt.

Father Rathna explained that about three years ago, it was brought to his attention that Bishop Butler’s gravesite was not located in the church and the decision was taken by the hierarchy of the catholic diocese to have Bishop Butler’s remains exhumed and placed within “his rightful final resting place.”

There were a series of consultations with the administrative arm of the catholic diocese headed by Bishop Francis Alleyne. Bishop Alleyne has since lauded the efforts of those who played a role in bringing the exercise to fruition

“The relocation of Bishop Butler to the crypt has been talked about for some years now…  I am grateful to Father Joel Rathna for getting things in train for it to happen,” Bishop Alleyne commented.

However, the process to achieve their end goal was not as straightforward as one might think.

The priest explained that the approval had to first be granted by the Ministry of Health Environmental Unit, the Mayor and City Council (M&CC), and the office of the Commissioner of Police before the exhumation could take place.

“When we started the process, we were not able to move forward because we needed the approval of the relevant authorities to have the body exhumed that took us a while. Then we had to find someone to conduct the exercise which was another challenge,” Father Rathna said.

“It was difficulty finding someone who could do the exhumation, so we were searching for some time before we got in contact with these fellas who said that they could do it,” he explained.

As a result, the exhumation exercise which took place earlier this month was scheduled.

Father Rathna said that it took approximately two hours for the gravediggers to retrieve the remains of Bishop Butler.

He said, “The exercise was conducted in the presence of the representatives of the Ministry of Health and the City Council.”

According to the priest, no concerns were raised over the safety measures used by the persons doing the exercise until after the exercise was done.

“They were asked by the health officer who came to supervise the exercise if they were not using protective gear but there was no insistence as on the issue of protective gear, they were allowed to do it just as they were,” he said.

Following the successful exhumation, Father Rathna said the remains of the Bishop were placed in a small box where it remained until it is placed in the crypt of the cathedral.  “At such time, a small ceremony will be held in honour of the Bishop before he is laid to rest,” the priest said.

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• Bishop Anthony Butler, Bishop Francis Alleyne, Brickdam Cathedral, Father Joel Rathna, Rehanna Ramsay

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