Preparing for the Columban Centenary 2018
Padre Lino’s parishioners remember him
In the March issue of The Far East, Christian Brother, Brother Regional Whitely shared his memories of his brother, Columban Fr Lynn Whitely (Padre Lino), who died in Chile from Hepatitis in 1971 at the age of 31. We now publish the memories of some of his former parishioners.
A young boy ran through the parish neighbourhood shouting, “The fire brigade priest has died”. It was January 14, 1971. Columban Fr Lynn Whitely, known to the parishioners of San Marcos parish, Santiago, Chile, as Padre Lino, had just died. Padre Lino had been the chaplain and fire engine driver for the local fire brigade, located next to the parish church.
Recently I was in Chile and spoke to several parishioners who worked closely with him. They share their memories of him.
Jorge Pinto and wife Miriam
Jorge and Miriam have recently celebrated their 50th anniversary of marriage. Padre Lino spent a lot of time at
their home.
"Padre Lino was the type of priest who cared about the parishioners. He was not one of these priests shut up in his home that one rarely sees. He spent his time visiting families, visiting the sick and visiting those in need.
We were parish catechists. At our meetings he would challenge us to read more, study more, to get informed, to educate ourselves better in the faith and what was happening in society.
We came to know Christ as real in our lives thanks to the Columbans and in a special way to Padre Lino. He always said, “Go out from the Church and bring Christ to those most removed from him.”"
Edgardo Contreras
Edgardo Contreras and wife Susana Alvarez were married by Padre Lino in 1969. One of their sons is named Lino after him.
"The Second Vatican Council along with the Medellin and Puebla Conferences of the Latin American Bishop’s Conference, made a big difference in our lives. We, in San Marcos parish, wanted to live out and help implement these changes in the Church. In the midst of these changes, several priests arrived in the parish that inspired us to promote these necessary changes that the times were calling for.
One priest in particular who made a huge impact on my life and that of many others was Padre Lino. By his example he modelled for us the way to be consequent with our faith commitment. He challenged us to be more involved and committed. Along with fellow parishioner Gustavo Lastra, I participated in an Archdiocesan course on the Social Doctrine of the Church. We went on to organize the parish fraternity group that reached out and supported the most needy of the parish.
The end of the 1960’s and the beginning of the 1970’s was a time of great social change in Chile and in the Church. New movements such as 'Christians for Socialism' sprang up in the Church. Then on September 4, 1970, the socialist Salvador Allende was elected president of Chile. Hope had now triumphed. The Proletariat was now in power. Yet, from that moment onwards, our enemies began conspiring to bring down the new government. They could not stand the idea that we, the workers, were now in power.
Then on January 14, 1971, we lost a great, sincere and wonderful friend, Padre Lino. He left a great legacy of living out the consequences of one’s Christian faith. Even Pastor Zurita, a local Evangelical pastor, spoke at the cemetery with great affection of Padre Lino when we were burying him. He spoke of his strong commitment and his great altruism and finished by saying, “My brother Lino, I am not saying Adios but rather, until we meet again.”
The profound human quality of this priest and his apostolate, I believe, has profoundly marked every one of us who knew him. His leaving us was an irreparable loss for the parish. Maybe it was a prelude to the tragedy that we were about to live."
Susana Alvarez
"Padre Lino did all his own shopping, cooking, cleaning, washing and ironing. He tried to live as close to the people as possible. With all the demands of parish work on top of this, it was probably too much for him and made him very tired at times. Sometimes he would bring me some shirts to iron and say he could never really get the hang of ironing shirts correctly.
In this sense, he did not really look after himself sufficiently. He gave too much of himself. He sacrificed himself too much without a break. We believe that this probably contributed to making his illness worse and to his early and sudden death.
Padre Lino always celebrated his feast day, September 23, with my family. I remember the last celebration in 1970. Little did we know he would be dead in a few months time. We still pray for him every year on the Feast Day of San Lino (St Linus)."
Gustavo Lastra
Gustavo Lastra is now deceased. At the time of the Military Coup on September 11, 1973, Gustavo was arrested for his political involvement. He spent two years in prison. In 1975, Gustavo, wife Ana and children were accepted to go into exile in England. In 1983, on the twentieth anniversary of the formation of the parish of San Marcos, Gustavo wrote from exile in Sheffield, England, a letter congratulating the parish on its anniversary and made a special mention of Padre Lino.
"Without diminishing all the great virtues and goodness of the other Columban priests, I especially want to mention my beloved Padre Lino, who died at 12:15pm on January 14, 1971. He was a deeply missed friend, a brother, a son and a spiritual father.
In our family, he had become an elder son. Truly he was a messenger sent by God - loving, meek, valiant, humble, serious about his commitments and dedicated 24 hours of the day. He managed to reach the very heart of the people of the parish of San Marcos, leaving many profound teachings and thousands of wonderful memories. He left us with so much love, our beloved Padre Lino."
Petition to the Municipal Council of the City of San Bernardo
In recent years, this faithful group of parishioners has successfully petitioned the local municipal council for a local street to be renamed after Padre Lino. They concluded the letter by saying, “Padre Lino’s journey with us in San Marcos Parish deeply touched all of our lives".
Columban Fr Daniel Harding is the Editor of The Far East magazine.
Related Links
- Read more from The Far East - April 2017
