Twenty-five years on, memories of what has come to be known as the New Year’s Eve Massacre in Saint Lucia remain vivid and painful for many.
On the morning of Sunday, December 31, 2000, worshippers gathered at the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Castries for the Holy Eucharist. Their celebration was shattered when attackers armed with machetes, gasoline and firebombs stormed the sanctuary, hacking worshippers and setting both the altar and congregants ablaze.
Sr. Theresa Egan was killed at the western entrance of the Cathedral, while Fr. Charles Gaillard suffered severe burns and succumbed days later.
Several others were gravely injured, among them Sr. Mel Kenny, Victor Reyes, Mark Beaubrun, Celsus Merville, Mary Bynoe, Agnes Biscette, Gregory Biscette, Desmond Devaux, Gwendolyn Winters, Victor Darius, Edison Elcock and Richard St. Omer.
Six of the injured endured first, second, and third-degree burns. Fr. Gaillard and Mary Bynoe were airlifted to Martinique’s La Meynard Hospital, while others – including Reyes, Beaubrun, Biscette, and Merville – were flown to New York’s Cornell Burn Unit. Gregory Biscette and Desmond Devaux, suffering head injuries, were transferred to Barbados for CT scans.
Two men, Kim John, then 20, and Francis Philip, 34, later pleaded guilty and were sentenced to life imprisonment. Both identified as Rastafarians, though leaders of the faith denounced the attack and called for religious tolerance.
This year, the Roman Catholic Church has marked its Jubilee Year under the theme Pilgrims of Hope, a time of renewal, forgiveness, and pilgrimage. As part of the commemoration, the Church has launched an initiative honouring those who perished in the Cathedral attack as martyrs of Saint Lucia.
“As the candle for each martyr is lit from the Jubilee Candle, may devotion to our martyrs become a legacy of Jubilee 2025,” the Church declared.
