An Irish Catholic bishop who was deported from the former Rhodesia in 1977 because of his criticism of the Ian Smith regime died yesterday in Dublin.
Bishop Donal Lamont (92) was an outspoken critic of the Smith regime in the African state, now Zimbabwe, and was nominated for the Nobel peace prize in 1978.
Dr Lamont was born in 1911 in Ballycastle, Co Antrim and joined the Order of Carmelites in 1930.
Ordained a priest in Rome in 1937, he was appointed superior of the Carmelite Mission in Rhodesia in 1946 and became Prefect Apostolic of Umtali (now Mutare) in 1953. He was Bishop of Umtali from 1957 to 1982. He resigned as bishop of the diocese in 1982. Dr Lamont attended the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) and was president of the Rhodesia Catholic Bishops' Conference ( 1970-72).
In the late 1970s, he was sentenced under the Ian Smith regime to 10 years in prison with hard labour for aiding terrorists who sought food and medical attention from his priests and nuns. He was deported from Rhodesia in March 1977 after an appeal.
In 1965, Mr Smith had led 250,000 white Rhodesians in a unilateral declaration of independence from Britain rather than accept black majority rule.
He fought an increasingly bloody seven-year war against guerrillas led by Mr Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's current ruler, and other black leaders, until a ceasefire and political settlement in 1979.
Dr Lamont returned to Umtali diocese after the country gained independence in 1980. He received honorary degrees from two US universities and a postage stamp was issued in his honour by the Kenyan government in 1979.
He was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1978. This was subsequently awarded jointly to President Mohamed Anwar al-Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of Israel.
Since his retirement, Dr Lamont lived in the Carmelite Community in Terenure College, Dublin.
His remains will repose in the Lady Chapel in Terenure College from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. His funeral mass will be held in Terenure College at 10 a.m. on Monday, August 18th. He will be buried in Ballycastle, Co Antrim on Tuesday, August 19th.