Guyana’s oldest Jesuit priest dies

Last Updated on Sunday, 19 July 2015, 23:12 by GxMedia

The oldest Jesuit Priest in Guyana died Sunday at the Georgetown-based residence of that Roman Catholic Order.

He is 96-year old Father Peter Britt-Compton.

Former Jesuit Superior in Guyana, Father Malcolm Rodrigues said his colleague succumbed to cancer for which he was diagnosed about four years ago.

Britt-Compton, who hailed from the United Kingdom, spent more than 50 years working in Guyana’s interior- mainly in the Rupununi- where he walked for several hours in the hot sun.

Fr. Rodrigues said that as a result of Britt-Compton’s prolonged exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays, he developed cancer on his nose. “He contracted a serious nose cancer that spread to his ears and throat and later his stomach,” said  Rodrigues.

The nose cancer was initially diagnosed about four years ago when he was brought out to be treated for dengue fever. Rodrigues said at first, doctors believed that the cancer was topical but eventually realized that it was internal.

Fr. Britt-Compton eventually could not  eat or drink and eventually he succumbed at the Jesuits home in Queenstown, Georgetown. “We remember him as being real good pastor to the Amerindian people,” said Rodrigues of his long-time colleague.