The compelling story of how Irish diplomacy saved the life of a man of courage

Professor Dermot Keogh looks back at the case of Patrick Rice, an Irishman who faced torture and hardship in his desire to help the people of Argentina oppressed by poverty and a right-wing military dictatorship.

ON MARCH 24, 1976, the Argentine military staged a coup d’etat, overthrowing a civilian government, and setting in train an internal war which determined to eliminate all opposition — including opposition from sections of the Catholic Church identified with progressive thinking.

Patrick Rice was one such target. After coming to the country in 1970 as a Divine Word Missionary, he joined the Little Brothers of Charles de Foucauld and made his living as a carpenter on a building site while working and living as a priest in a shanty town, Villa Soldati, in Buenos Aires. He was also the leader of his congregation in the country.