[1] Bennett passed his General Ordination Examination (GOE) in 1949, and returned to British Guiana shortly afterwards.
[7] He was made a Deacon on 24 June 1949, and was ordained into the priesthood on 18 September of the same year at St George's Cathedral in Georgetown.
[8] After being ordained, Bennett served in the parishes of New Amsterdam (1949–53), Berbice River (1949–53), Rupununi (1950–56), Port Mourant (1953), Bartica (1953–57), Waramuri (1957–67) and Kabakaburi (1967–2011).
[10] Bennett wrote, "People were made to feel that speaking their own language was something sinful almost, certainly something bad which should be discouraged.
"[11]On 20 June 1965, Richard Hart, a Jamaican historian undertaking research into Arawakan history and culture in the Caribbean, wrote to Bennett to ask for assistance.
Hart responded, saying he was "thrilled" to discover that the priest shared his concern about the language and was "so well qualified to arrest its disappearance.
Their letters were collected by Janette Forte and published as a book entitled Kabethechino (1991) (Arawak for "close friends").
[21] Along with Bennett's other works on the Arawak language, the Arawak-English Dictionary is widely recognized as an invaluable contribution to the preservation of Arawakan.