Haynes Baptiste has died: 'A prophetic figure' in community relations

Haynes with Bishop Howard Tripp in 2009

Haynes Baptiste, a leading figure in the Catholic Association for Racial Justice (CARJ) died on Thursday 26 May 2016 at St George's Hospital. He had been suffering with serious heart problems for some time. He was 83 years old. His funeral will take place at 11am on Tuesday 7 June, at St Gregory's Catholic Church, 306 Garratt Lane, Earlsfield, London SW18 4EH

Haynes Baptiste was born 20 June 1932 in the village of Vieille Case - a village in the northeast area of the island of Dominica in the eastern Caribbean. His parents were Simon George Baptiste and Hyacinth Baptiste who had themselves grown up in the village. Vieille Case was one of the areas demolished by the earthquake in 2004 and later rebuilt (CARJ contributed to the fund to rebuild).

Baptised Haynes Sylvester Baptiste, in the parish church of St Andrews, a few weeks after his birth, Haynes attended the local government school until the age of 17, when he took a school leaving exam and became a student teacher. He taught in the school he had attended for a year, and then spent two years attending the Teacher Training College in Roseau, the capital of Dominica. After completing his teacher training, Haynes went back to the village school in Vieille Case as a teacher; and from there he went to teach at Penville Government School nearby.

Haynes came to England in August 1956, and initially worked on the railways, in a mental hospital and later as a postman. After two years working as a postman, he took an exam which enabled him to move into British Telecom, where he held a variety of jobs (administration, personnel, pensions, etc) for more than 25 years..

In August 1967, Haynes married Juanita Murdock at Holy Trinity Church in Brook Green. Two years later, in 1969, the couple moved to Earlsfield where they have lived and attended St Gregory's parish church for the past 44 years. During that time they brought up four children; and Haynes served as Chair of the Parish Council and Chair of the Parish Club. For many years, he has also played an important role preparing and leading a music group for Sunday Mass at St Gregory's.

From 1974, Haynes became active in the Southwark Diocesan West Indian Chaplaincy and with others worked closely with the Chaplain, Fr Charles Walker. From his position in the Chaplaincy, Haynes became active in the Southwest London Catholic Caribbean Council and was invited to give talks on racial justice to local parishes.

When the Catholic Association for Racial Justice (CARJ) was established in 1984, Haynes was one of the group who planned and organised the new Association. At the first AGM, he was elected Vice Chair of CARJ - a position he held from 1984 until 1996, when he became Chair of CARJ and served in that position until 2002. He has continued to be involved as Vice Chair and then as an ordinary Trustee of CARJ to the present day.

During the past 30 years - when Haynes has been a central figure in CARJ, he has also had a number of other involvements which were linked to CARJ and expressions of his commitment as a Catholic to justice and peace.

From 1984, for almost 20 years, Haynes was a member of the Committee for Community Relations of the Catholic Bishops Conference of England & Wales.

In 1980, he was a delegate from the Caribbean Chaplaincy to the National Pastoral Congress in Liverpool.

Over the years 1984 until the present, he has for periods worked closely with a number of Bishops, including: Bishop Howard Tripp, Bishop Philip Pargeter, Bishop Ambrose Griffiths, Bishop Kieran Conry, Bishop Patrick Lynch (current President of CARJ) and Archbishop Bernard Longley.

In 1988, after British Telecom was privatised, Haynes left that job and took a reduced salary to become Director of the Methodist Leadership Racism Awareness Workshops (MELRAW) - a Methodist sponsored organisation that offered racism awareness training to individuals and groups across the churches. He became known as a gifted trainer, with a strong commitment to justice and a deeply Christian vision, which combined with insight and empathy made him particularly effective. During his time with MELRAW, Haynes and MELRAW worked closely with the Committee for Community Relations of the Catholic Bishops Conference, organising training workshops for the Catholic community in England and Wales (for Bishops, priests, seminarians, religious and laypeople working for the Church). The fact that Haynes was known to be a committed Catholic, working with a Methodist sponsored organisation, gave him additional credibility. It also gave those around him hope, seeing that the churches could work effectively together in this highly sensitive area. Haynes served as Director of MELRAW until his retirement in 1997.

Haynes was awarded a Papal Honour in 2013. Yogi Sutton, Chair of Trustees of CARJ, said at the time: "It is appropriate, and very meaningful in the wider context of church and society, for Haynes to receive a papal honour at this time. Haynes was a prophetic figure over half a century when the UK and the Catholic community within UK society were going through a transition - coming to terms with growing ethnic diversity and learning how to become a more just, more equal and more accepting community. Haynes worked collaboratively with colleagues, across ethnic, class and religious differences to support that process of peaceful integration, always proud to be a Catholic, always an articulate visionary and always accepting others while challenging them to live up to their best ideals.

It is a symbolic and meaningful moment, when a black Catholic leader is publicly honoured for his role in changing society for the better. It brings to the attention of society, for reflection and inspiration, not just Haynes's efforts but the sustained involvement of many Christians, alongside those of other beliefs, in the process of building community during a period of increasing diversity. "