children: "Missionaries have been waiting, quite literally for years, for permission from the State to open the most elementary kind of village schools which the African people require and demand and are willing to erect at their own expense; and the applications, detailed and in writing, are still ungranted." UDI The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was broken up at the end of December 1963. Southern Rhodesia reverted to being a self-governing Crown colony in its own right when the Federation ended. When Ian Smith came to power in Salisbury and declared Southern Rhodesia's independence as Rhodesia in November 1965, Bishop Lamont was horrified. He had been a long-time critic of the policies of both the Government of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland and the Government of Southern Rhodesia, claiming they were racist. Amongst his criticism, Lamont wrote an open letter to Ian Smith, then Prime Minister of Rhodesia, saying: "Far from your policies defending Christianity and Western civilization, as you claim, they mock the law of Christ and make communism attractive to the African people." In other writings he declared Rhodesia's constitution and land apportionment laws to be segregationist, unfair and "a direct contradiction of the New Testament's teaching". He denounced the white people in power in the country as a colonial-style clique while praising black leaders and their guerrillas as freedom fighters. He continued to be highly critical of the Rhodesian Government, speaking out against their segregationist policies and also accusing them of responsibility for atrocities carried out by the armed forces. He had no criticism to make of the guerillas' activities. Trial and deportation Bishop Lamont was tried in 1976, accused of permitting nuns within his diocese to give medical aid to black guerrillas and advising the nuns not to report this to the authorities, for their own safety. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to ten years imprisonment with hard labour, which was reduced to four years on appeal. He was detained in Salisbury Hospital, where he received treatment for injuries caused in a car accident, while the Rhodesian Government quietly made arrangements to just have him deported. His Rhodesian citizenship was revoked and he was deported to Ireland in 1977. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978. After the fall of the Smith government, he returned to his diocese, but later resigned and his place was taken by an African bishop,