PRESS RELEASE 30 August 2010 Bishop Edward Daly's Irish News opinion article on the NI Police Ombudsman's report into the 1972 Claudy bombing

I retired from public life 17 years ago but recently have felt obliged to come out of retirement temporarily to deal with media demands arising out of the Saville Report and, now, the Police Ombudsman’s Report on the Claudy Bombings.

As a curate and bishop in Derry during some of the worst episodes of the ‘Troubles’ I got to know many journalists who came to report on many sensitive issues.

I see a less challenging style of journalism at work now. Maybe it is just that many of the reporters have no experience of the exacting pressures that their professional predecessors faced as they foraged for truth here in the 1970s.

Journalists then soared above the pressures of spin from government and combatants on all sides. They had exacting standards as they scrutinised and recorded controversial events. They asked awkward questions. Papers and broadcast networks took independent lines on stories.  They did not sheepishly follow Establishment or State.  In contrast, I find media coverage of the Claudy Report very disquieting.  Media have not questioned key aspects of the Ombudsman’s Report in relation to allegations that Fr James Chesney was a senior IRA figure directly linked to the bombings.

Everyone takes the same unquestioning line and competes to write the most lurid headline. The once sacrosanct presumption of innocence has been dispensed with and replaced with a presumption of guilt.  I am not at all convinced that Father Chesney was involved in the Claudy bombings. I may be mistaken, but I do not think so.  I was a contemporary of his at school.  I did not know him very well but knew him reasonably well.

Personal involvement in several major miscarriage of justice cases, for example the Birmingham Six, has bred in me constructive scepticism. I have seen convictions based on signed admissions and forensic evidence completely overturned years later.  Fr Chesney was never arrested, questioned, charged or convicted.  He cannot answer for himself.  He has been dead 30 years.

The Report aired suspicions about him that were based solely on intelligence reports.  But intelligence and evidence are completely different things.  Why was the Ombudsman unable to find evidence against him after years of investigation?  He found only these ‘intelligence reports’, and 1972-type RUC intelligence at that.

In the 1970s there was widespread scepticism about RUC Special Branch intelligence.  Hundreds were interned on such intelligence.

Now, media portray as fact unsubstantiated claims emanating from agencies whose history is anything but clean.  Where have all the campaigners for justice gone?  The Claudy dead and wounded and their relatives deserve both truth and justice.  They were victims of evil acts of violence.  They were also cruelly deceived by senior RUC figures and the Northern Ireland Secretary in the failure to ensure that the bombing was thoroughly investigated.

If police suspected Fr Chesney in the atrocity, they should have arrested him rather than closing the case, thus allowing all the perpetrators to go free.  Can anyone believe that just because ‘Man A’, whom the RUC suspected of involvement in major horrendous terrorist crime, gave another major suspect (Fr Chesney) in the same crime as an alibi, that police could allow them both walk free?

How did security forces became so coy whenever Fr Chesney came on their radar – even when they alleged that a dog detected explosives in his car?  That was not my experience in South Derry then, when I was often terrified and humiliated by the treatment and delays I experienced at security force checkpoints as I returned from Confirmations and other pastoral duties late at night.

Other aspects of the Report are strange.  For example, an NIO note of 6 December 1972 attributes to Cardinal Conway an uncorroborated description of Fr Chesney as being “a very bad man” – a very mild commentary on someone alleged to be a mass murderer.  I knew Cardinal Conway quite well during 1974-77.  That was not a phrase he would use.  It appears to me it was Northern Ireland Secretary William Whitelaw’s version of what the cardinal did or did not say.  Does anyone sincerely believe that if Cardinal Conway and my predecessor Bishop Farren believed a mass murderer was in the Church’s ranks they would have permitted him to continue in the active priesthood?  I cannot believe they would have omitted to tell me when I was appointed as Bishop of Derry in 1974 if they had for a moment believed one of the priests in my future diocese was a mass murderer.

Mass murder cannot be compared with any other sin or crime.  It is the foulest and most obscene of deeds.  I witnessed mass murder at first hand in 1972.   I am more aware than most of how appalling and grotesque it is and the enormity of it.  It is a huge insult to suggest I would knowingly allow someone whom I knew to be a mass murderer to serve as a priest in my diocese.  I do not accept theories – voiced by several people in the aftermath of the Report - about priests being endangered and a possible subsequent fall-out in society if Fr Chesney had been arrested.

Two priests were murdered by the British Army in Belfast just months earlier that year and there wasn’t exactly community uproar.  Did anyone believe the mere arrest of an obscure priest in County Derry would worsen the already chaotic N. Ireland climate?  Northern Ireland was a war zone in 1972.  Some 500 people were killed.

I do not accept the Ombudsman’s suggestion to reporters that Fr Chesney continued his republican activities when he was in Donegal.  As bishop at that time,  I was aware of his previous espousal of views, and he knew I was having him observed.  There was a never a complaint about him. I believe it possible that the RUC wanted Fr Chesney out of South Derry because of his publicly proclaimed republican sympathies and a fear of the influence these might exert on young people in the area.

The IRA was seeking recruits and Fr Chesney’s public views were seen, perhaps rightly, as dangerous.  Police wanted him out of a potential powder keg and used William Whitelaw to persuade Cardinal Conway into facilitating this. Of course it would have been preferable if the cardinal had told Whitelaw “to get lost” and to arrest Fr Chesney if there was evidence.  I can reach that conclusion in the comparatively peaceful climate of today. Thank God I was not in the cardinal’s position in the mayhem of 1972.

Perhaps Fr Chesney’s conduct did spark suspicion that he was involved with the IRA.  The pertinent questions must be, however; was he or was he not a member of the IRA and, if so, was he involved in the Claudy bombing?  I don’t know.  The Ombudsman’s report and the subsequent media reporting do not offer any evidence to help answer these questions.

Claudy has at last received its legitimate and long overdue recognition as one of Northern Ireland’s the most despicable acts of terror. I will continue to pray “the truth will out”.  The families, the community and Fr Chesney’s relatives need to hear it.  I hope the Claudy families launch a campaign that achieves justice and truth.  I hope that clergy will continue to offer pastoral and spiritual support.  I am pleased to hear that the Bloody Sunday families, with all their years of expertise, have offered to assist the Claudy families.

I hope journalists will assist them, too.

I now plan to return once more to private life.  I hope that justice will finally be done to the dead of Claudy as well as the dead of Bloody Sunday.

ENDS

Bishop Edward Daly was Bishop of Derry from 1974 to 1993.  Bishop Daly's opinion article was published in today's Irish News. The Public statement by the Police Ombudsman under Section 62 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 Relating to the RUC investigation of the alleged involvement of the late Father James Chesney in the bombing of Claudy on 31 July 1972 was published on 24 August 2010.

Further information:

Martin Long, Director of Communications 086 172 7678

Brenda Drumm, Communications Officer 087 310 4444

PRESS RELEASE
24 August 2010

Address of Archbishop Diarmuid Martin at the "Popoli" meeting, Rimini JOHN HENRY NEWMAN – FAITH AND REASON The Ireland of Newman – the Ireland of today

The forthcoming beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman is an opportunity for me as Archbishop of Dublin and for the Catholic community in Dublin, to reflect not only on the period and the work of Newman in Dublin, but also on the lessons which we can learn for Irish Catholicism today from Newman's thought and activity.

Newman was invited to be rector of the Catholic university of Ireland by my predecessor, Cardinal Paul Cullen. Cullen was — from the time when he was rector of the Irish College in Rome — an enthusiastic supporter of the idea of a Catholic university of Ireland, modelled on the University of Louvain. Subsequently, he became Archbishop of Armagh and then Archbishop of Dublin, and was the real leader of the project to establish a Catholic university in Ireland. Not all his brother bishops were as committed as he. Some of those who called themselves supporters were less active when it came down to getting the financial resources urgently needed for the project to be carried out..

Maybe Ireland was not ready for Newman’s university. The predecessor of Cardinal Cullen, Archbishop Daniel Murray was one of the few bishops strongly opposed to the Catholic university project because he considered it unfeasible. Murray regarded — with less difficulty than his brother bishops and Rome itself —the British Government’s project, that Catholics could attend the Queen's colleges, state universities which Cullen considered "godless colleges".

Newman’s university was not exactly a success. The number of university students was very small. His degrees were not recognised. The British authorities were not prepared to approve licenses granted by private establishments. There was a shortage of Irish Catholics with a university education capable of becoming lecturers. Only a few Irish students, and some English, attended the university until its degrees in medicine were finally approved, but for a short period.

After the establishment of the university and Newman’s installation there, the Irish bishops were even more divided. Archbishop MacHale continually put obstacles in Newman’s path. It is interesting to note that the Irish bishops have a long history of a lack of unity, despite Rome’s attempts to impose it. On the question of the Catholic university, Archbishop Murray of Dublin, recognised by all as a saintly person, had no difficulty in publicly disagreeing with the decisions of Rome or, at least, in interpreting the decisions of Rome in a very personalised manner.

Although Cullen was a strong supporter both of the university and of Newman, he was a complex figure and frequently left Newman waiting for answers to urgent questions which had been asked of him. The personal rapport between Newman and Cullen was difficult. For his part, Newman was not a good administrator and was continually absent from Dublin — often on Oratory business in Birmingham — even at crucial moments for the university. In November 1858, Newman resigned his position as rector.

It should be noted that the university project was launched in a dramatic moment in the history of Ireland. Ireland had suffered a traumatic period because of the Famine which had lasted three full years, and effectively had continued in the fifties of the nineteenth century, the period when the creation of the university was proposed. The Great Famine was one of the major world catastrophes of the nineteenth century and became a veritable watershed in the history of Ireland. Its effects changed forever the demographic landscape of Ireland, with consequences for its social and political structure. For most nineteenth century, Irish Catholics food and survival had priority over the issue of education.

It is hard for us today to imagine the immense trauma which almost all families in Ireland endured for generations after the Great Famine. In the middle of the nineteenth century, famine was not something out of the history books, but an experience lived by the greater part of the population. The country's population decreased drastically. The number of emigrants rose to 250,000 in a single year. Millions of young people full of hope died or were forced to emigrate. Inevitably, the sense of loss in families lasted for generations. The fear that this could happen again must have persecuted those who had passed through this devastating experience for the rest of their lives.

This was the climate in which Newman was appointed rector in November 1851. Three more years of indecision were to pass before the doors of the university were opened. However, in 1852, he wrote his publication “Idea of a University”. It was not only a work on the concept of university or the value of a liberal education, but also on the relationship between reason and faith.

In presenting the nature of his university, Newman tried to sensitise the authorities of Church and State in Ireland, as well as the general public on the importance which the development of intellectual life had for the welfare of both individuals and of the Catholic Church.

This had to be stated in a cultural climate in which, on the one hand certain versions of free thinking challenged the very foundations of revelation, and on the other hand, there was a religious climate which was suspicious of free thought. In the Catholic university Gazette of 9 February 1855, Newman quotes from an earlier speech: "One of the greatest disasters of modern times is the separation between religion and science, and the perfection of knowledge is a combination of both ... which makes men not only educated but good Christians."

The question of relationship between faith and reason was  particularly delicate at that time — maybe less in Ireland than the rest of the United Kingdom and continental Europe — with the increase of the sceptical attitude toward religion. Newman wanted to show his contemporaries that faith and reason do not conflict, but also that “reason could not be the sole arbiter of all truth”.

Many parallels can be found between Newman’s reflections then and those of Pope Benedict XVI today, just as one can find parallels between the cultural context in which Newman found himself and the cultural context in which Ireland lives today.

Ireland is undergoing a veritable revolution of its religious culture. Many outside of Ireland still believe that Ireland is a bastion of traditional Catholicism. They are surprised to discover that there are many parishes in Dublin where the presence of persons at Sunday Mass is some 5 per cent and, in some cases, even below 2 per cent. The problem is that many in Ireland and in the Church in Ireland have not yet understood the full extent of the cultural change taking place and continue to act as if we were still simply living in a culture with a Catholic majority.

Most certainly, there are still many vestiges of popular mass Catholic culture. The Marian Shrine at Knock is the second most visited tourist site in Ireland — second only to the Guinness Factory! This year on the last Sunday in July around 20,000 people climbed Croagh Patrick, a difficult mountain, in a penitential pilgrimage in honour of St Patrick. The majority of Irish people want their children to be baptised and they also want to have a Christian burial. However, the number of non-religious marriages is visibly increasing.

The commitment of priests, such as those in Dublin, must not be overlooked. They are generous, close to the people, respected, supported, and loved by the faithful.  They exercise their ministry in a climate in which the debate on the role of faith in Irish society too often tends to be polemical or ideological. The more sensational mass media concentrate on the scandalous and on the bizarre. The media in general — with some notable exceptions — focus insistently on the sins of the Church and the scandal of sexual abuse of children by priests.

However, it is to be unequivocally highlighted that the scandal of sexual abuse of children by priests and religious in Ireland is a true scandal and not a media invention. There are faithful of all ages who are offended by the fact of abuse but above all by the manner in which the horrific abuse of children and adolescents was handled by Church authorities. The victims were robbed of the God they seek, as President McAleese said in her presentation the other day, but the faithful also often feel robbed of their Church and feel betrayed by their Church.

Ireland, therefore, becomes or has already become a laicised society. In some ways, some expressions of Irish secularism have features which are still adolescent. It is a conflicting and reactionary secularism. This can be seen, for example, in the public debate on the theme of education. Catholic schools have played an important role in social integration on a vast scale. They played a vital role in the integration of social classes, as well as integrating a vast number of immigrants. And yet, there are people who state that because of the very fact of being religious, these schools are a factor of separation in society and should be abolished or deprived of public funds. There is the impression that a pluralist Ireland must necessarily be a secularist Ireland.

However, within the Church, there are those who want to keep the Church's control over education to a level which does not reflect reality. Ireland needs pluralism in its school system. In the middle, we frequently find many parents whose interest in education rests  more on exam results and job opportunities than on one type of ethos over another.

As Ireland becomes secularised, a culture still steeped in formal religious values inevitably degenerates into a form of civil religion, where there will always be a difficulty in developing a true debate on the relationship between faith and reason. People develop a love/hate relationship with civil religion. The Church provides a unique space in which people, even though secularised, can share the events of their lives and find a ritual to express the more profound human experiences of joy, sorrow or fear. However, if the Church becomes just a place where lay persons gather to celebrate human experiences without a deep reference to God, then this civil religion ends up by being empty and does not respond to the search for God who is missing in the lives of many.

When people turn to a Church from which they are in reality alienated, they tend to desire that the Church becomes "their" Church, rather than the place where Christ addresses them and invites them to meet Him and be challenged by His love.

I have the impression that when many people say "We are the Church" they actually want to say "I am the Church", meaning "I am creating a Church according to my needs and my lifestyle." There is a danger that when some say that the Church is the "People of God", they really want to say that it is up to the people to determine who God is and how God is useful. But, whoever encounters only their own God does not encounter the God revealed in Jesus Christ.

Newman saw faith as based on rational grounds but not as something solely based on reason. Faith is more than an intellectual assent to doctrinal propositions or submission to moral rules. Faith always contains an element of risk and the certainty of faith does not remove that element of risk.

For Newman, the act of faith is something which affects the whole person, heart and mind. It is an impetus to make faith a life-changing event and is constitutive of one’s own actions. The truly Christian act is something very different to a vaguely religious attitude which is just full of civic virtue. Newman does not deny that such an attitude can result in many good things, but still acting just like this does not fully deserve the title of Christian.

After the failure of the Catholic university project in Ireland, Catholicism in Ireland has not found its proper place in the cultural life of Ireland. This is due to a non-intellectual streak in the religious culture of Ireland, often located within a narrow clericalist frame. In particular, in the years following independence of Ireland in the mid-twentieth century, there developed a flourishing and fruitful collaboration between Church and State in social and education fields, which due to clericalism has often led to the creation of confusion as to boundaries of the roles of Church and State. Today, there is a need for the transformation of that culture for the sake of pluralism, but also to highlight the true meaning of Christian charity which has no desire to dominate but to serve. Where Church-State, Church-Society and faith-politics relationships are not correctly understood, it will be increasingly harder to grasp in a fair manner the relationship between faith and reason, and vice-versa. In this context, the pages of Deus caritas est[1] should be re-read.

Ireland needs both mature secularists and atheists and mature Christians with a solid intellectual formation. Strangely, the secular culture often calls aloud for a new Church, but a Church of its own design, and hopes that somehow the official Church will come into its own frame. Exponents of Catholic culture have difficulty in recognising that Catholic culture in Ireland does not have the prominence which it had in the past and must live as salt of the earth in a new way.

Recently, a leader of one of the Protestant Churches in Dublin said to me that all our Churches were now wearing clothes which had been tailored for us when we were fatter. The answer to today’s real religious challenges is not to seek more fashionable clothes to make us look better, or to follow the trends of the moment. We need functional clothes of the right fit for the current realities which we have to face.

While a traditionally Catholic country, Ireland does not have a proportionate level of theological research. School catechesis, despite the goodwill of teachers, does not produce young Catholics prepared to join in the Christian community. Sometimes, after 15 years of catechesis, young people remain theologically illiterate. There are no forums for reflection on the relationship between faith and life, like for example the Catholic academies in many German dioceses. There is a not a serious Catholic press, at the level of Catholic newspapers in France and Italy. There are few writers who would present themselves as Catholic. We do have many people ready to comment on Church events, not infrequently in a sensationalist manner with little knowledge of the nature of the Church. I do not deny the right to criticise the conduct of the Church and of the clergy, and I am not speaking here only of people critical of the Church.

There is a tendency on the part of Catholic commentators to sensationalism, to underestimating the depth of the crisis of faith, and to thinking that everything can be solved by simple media strategies. If the crisis in the Irish Church were only a crisis of media strategies, then it would be enough to turn to some guru or other. If the solution to the crisis in the Church in Ireland were only of structural reform, then it would be enough to turn a group of management consultants. If however the crisis of the Church in Ireland is a crisis of faith, it is necessary to turn to the word of God and to persons of true and mature faith.

Newman's idea was to form, in a Catholic university, Catholics capable of living and witnessing their faith in life, even in a world not always favourable to the concept of faith.

Newman’s attempt having failed, the Church in Ireland resorted to a project which lacked the sense of urgency of a rigorous encounter between faith and reason, and which placed its hope above all on the strength of an inherited Catholic culture. Seen nowadays, the fundamental presuppositions of such a project are fragile. It is necessary to revert to Newman’s ideas and to create in young people a new sense of Catholic faith.

I see here a role for Catholic movements, especially those which form the young in the true dimensions of personal and ecclesial faith, through the integration of prayer, of a personal knowledge of Jesus through the Sacred Scriptures, and of critical reflection on personal and professional life as a service to society.

The challenge is great, but also urgent. This year alone, I have circulated 250,000 copies of the Gospel of St. Luke to families. It is an attempt to renew Biblical pastoral life in the diocese. The initiative was well received, but has not yet had the desired success, because the ability to make a meditative reading of the Gospels has been lost between clergy and laity, and indeed teachers of this type of spirituality are lacking.

I do not wish be too negative in my assessment of the situation in Ireland. I have already referred to good priests. There are religious men and women who give notable witness of faith and charity. Among the laity, there is a thirst for faith formation. However, very often the vision of Church reform is seen through a secularised lens.

Newman hoped that the university would generate Catholics not only with a passion for science, but also with a passion for truth — those "educated people, but also good Christians”. He dreamed of a generation of Irish Catholics who could take their place in public without being ashamed of their belief in the value of the contribution of their own faith to society. Ireland today — and not just Ireland — needs people so inspired by Newman’s vision on the relationship between faith and reason.

ENDS

Notes to editors:
[1] First encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI (2006)

Further information:
Communications Office tel 01 8360723, email communications@dublindiocese.ie, web www.dublindiocese.ie

 

PRESS RELEASE 29 August 2010

Episcopal Ordination of Mgr Kieran O’Reilly SMA as Bishop of Killaloe

• See below homily of Fr Tim Cullinane for today's Episcopal Ordination Mass and remarks of the Bishop of Killaloe, Bishop Kieran O'Reilly

The Episcopal Ordination of Monsignor Kieran O’Reilly SMA takes place at 3:00pm today Sunday 29 August 2010, in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Ennis, Co Clare.  The consecrating bishops at the ordination ceremony will be Archbishop Dermot Clifford, Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, Bishop William Walsh, Bishop Emeritus of Killaloe and Bishop Noel O’Regan SMA, Bishop Emeritus of Ndola, Zambia.  Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland will preside. The homily for the Ordination Mass will be preached by Father Tim Cullinane SMA, Regional Superior of the Society of African Missions in Nigeria South.  The Mandate from the Holy See will be read by Fr Seamus Gardiner, Vicar General of the Diocese of Killaloe.  Please see below:

1) the homily of Father Tim Cullinane SMA; and,

2) the concluding remarks of the Bishop of Killaloe, Bishop Kieran O'Reilly

Homily of Father Tim Cullinane SMA for the Ordination Mass of Monsignor Kieran O'Reilly as Bishop of Killaloe

Brothers and Sisters in Christ

We have just heard the mandate from the Holy See appointing Fr Kieran O’Reilly as the new bishop of Killaloe to which you have given your warm assent. As a member of the SMA, on this special occasion, I feel a bit like the father of the bride. Fr Kieran has been a member of our family for nearly forty years. After Ordination he worked first in Liberia and after his Biblical Studies he taught in the Major Seminary in Ibadan, Nigeria. Since 2001 he has been our Superior General leading an international group of over 1000 members from Europe, America, Asia and now in increasing numbers from Africa. Today, with the Church, we are giving him in marriage to a new family, the Diocese of Killaloe. While he will always be a member of our family, the relationship will now be different as he becomes part of a new family. When the news of his appointment came, we were certainly surprised. Fr Kieran himself was surprised and I am sure the diocese of Killaloe was also surprised. However, I am not surprised that Kieran chose, for this occasion, the prayer of St Paul in the Letter to the Ephesians, which is today’s second reading. There is a wonderful old lady in Ibadan, Nigeria, now over 90 years of age – we call her Auntie Katie. She told me that when Fr Kieran was teaching in the Major Seminary that he led a small scripture group of lay people, of which she was a member. One day, she asked him if there was one piece of Scripture that she should read what would it be? And he gave her this prayer of St Paul, “that Christ may live in our hearts through faith and that we may live lives built on love,” and she told me that this passage, which she quotes by heart, has made a big difference to her life ever since.

Today the passage may be seen as a mission statement for the bishop-elect Fr Kieran and the diocese of Killaloe as they begin a new life together because the purpose of the Church is to help people  encounter the Christ that St Paul talks about in the reading.   In his recent letter to the Church in Ireland, Pope Benedict said, “a young person’s experience of Church should always bear fruit in a personal and life giving encounter with Jesus Christ within a loving community.” Of his own encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus, Paul later wrote, “I believe that nothing can happen that will outweigh the supreme knowledge of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. For Him I have accepted the loss of everything and look on everything else as so much rubbish, if only I can have Christ… All I want is to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.”  Being a member of the Church is about having a similar encounter as Paul had. Everything else is secondary. While we can meet Christ anywhere, the Church is meant to be a special meeting place with him. It is meant to be our road to Damascus, the place where we meet him as Paul did. That is why Christ founded the Church. Through the Church he has given us the Mass, the sacraments, the word of God and a Spirit  guided leadership, who as the instruction for the ordination of a bishop puts it,” have been entrusted with the task of witnessing to the truth of the gospel and fostering a spirit of justice and holiness.” Unfortunately, at the moment in Ireland, we know that some people’s experience of Church and the way the Good News of Jesus Christ was at times presented did not lead to a life-giving encounter with him.  In one of his poems, Brendan Keneally, gives a disturbing picture of the way that what should have been the good news of Jesus Christ was sometimes transmitted:

I stood with a catechismal God In the gravelled yard of the National School In Religion Class, Mulcahy taught us God Testing with his fingers the sally rod Explain the Immaculate Conception, Maguire And tell us about the Mystical Body Maguire failed…Mulcahy shoved him stuttering across the desks You can guess what came next.

Having encountered not this God of Mulcahy, but the God of love, made visible in the person of Jesus Christ, we will be moved to love and to form a community of love which the Church is meant to be.   We do this, as a Church and as individuals by who we are as much as by what we say. Pope Paul VI in one of his letters said, “modern man is more impressed by witnesses than by preachers and will only listen to preachers if they witness to what they preach.” St Francis made the same point when he said to his followers, “preach at all times, if necessary use words.” In his letter to the Philippians Paul says, “have that mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus”. We are called to have the mind of Jesus and to act as He would act if he were in our situation. There is a story of a parish priest who had always been on his own and then got a curate, something he was not too happy about. When the curate arrived he decided to take a month’s holidays but went away worried about how the curate would manage in the parish in his absence. When he returned he asked the curate how he had got on. He was happy to hear from the curate that things had gone well and you could see the relief in his face but then the curate said, “there was just one thing, while you were away there was funeral in the parish and a Protestant in the town, a Mr Montgomery, came for the funeral Mass. When I was giving out communion I could see in the distance Mr Montgomery kneeling at the altar rails.  I did not know what to do and I prayed that the ground would open under my feet but then an inspiration came to me, ‘what would Jesus do in this situation?”  You could see the change in the parish priest’s face as he said, “Oh no, you didn’t, did you? ”  Now I am not saying what the curate did or even what Jesus would have done but what I am saying is that as a Church and as individuals whose mission it is to be the face, the eyes, the mouth, the heart of Jesus to the world we should be always asking this question, what would Jesus do in this situation? All the failures in the Church are because we have not always asked that question and we have not always done, what Christ would have done and would want us to do.

In the same letter to the Philippians, St Paul says that Jesus emptied himself taking the form of a servant and he did not just say it, he did it. At the Last Supper, he knelt down, took a towel and a basin of water and washed the feet of the apostles and afterwards said to them, “if I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you surely ought to wash one another’s feet.”  In the instruction, I mentioned earlier, the bishop-elect is reminded that, “the title of bishop is not one of honour but of function, and therefore a bishop should strive to serve rather than to rule.  Such is the counsel of the master: the greater should behave as if he were the least and the leader as if he were the one to serve.”

Having encountered Christ, he wants us to be part of His mission to the world as St Paul was. What was that mission? Christ set it out very clearly in the synagogue in his home town of Nazareth at the beginning of his ministry using the words of the prophet Isaiah which we heard in the first reading. This too is the mission of the Church today and by Church, I do not mean just bishops and priests but all the baptized. Empowered by the Spirit of Christ,  we are called to bring the good news of God’s love to the poor who have never even seen the tail of the Celtic Tiger.  Christ comes to us today not just in Holy Communion but in the distressing disguise of the poor. Mother Theresa said, on one occasion, that when she went to Mass in the morning she met Christ under the appearance of bread and wine and that when she went out during the day to the slums of Calcutta she met Christ under the appearance of the poor. I was once in a church where the bronze doors of the tabernacle were covered with tiny faces – the faces of men and women of all ages and conditions but mostly poor and sick, symbolizing Jesus in the Eucharist looking out through their tiny eyes and faces at the worshipping community. Material poverty is a bad thing but Mother Theresa said on another occasion that the poorest people of all are those who have not experienced love, the love of God or of other people. The Church is also to bring liberty to captives, to those imprisoned by sin, hatred, addiction, prejudice and discrimination. It has a mission to bring sight to the blind, to those who have lost their way in life and for whom life has lost its meaning and lead them to Christ, the way, the truth and the life.

There is, especially in the aftermath of the Celtic tiger, a restlessness in people today as they search for happiness and a meaning and purpose in life. There is a stall in a market in Nigeria which purports to sell everything you would need to make you happy. Over it is a sign saying, “if shopping does not make you happy, you have been shopping in the wrong places.” Today many people are shopping in the wrong places for happiness and for a meaning and purpose in life, which only Christ can give.  St Augustine discovered this a long time ago. After shopping in many places for happiness he at last found it in Christ and wrote, “you have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” When people were leaving Jesus because they found his teaching too difficult, Jesus asked his disciples, ‘will you also go away also?’, Peter replied for all of them: “to whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life”  or as Fr Kieran’s Episcopal motto puts it, “your words are truth.”

In his letter to the Irish Church, Pope Benedict asks us “to remember the rock from which we are hewn.” That rock is Christ, coming to us, in a special way, through our own faith tradition passed on from our forefathers and going right back to St Patrick. Examples of this long tradition in the diocese of Killaloe are very well illustrated in the brochure for today’s celebration. This faith tradition is the rock from which we are hewn and the reservoir of faith that we are called to drink from in a world where there are many attractive but polluted pools of water. Fr Kieran is fortunate to be entering a diocese with this long tradition of faith and following a Bishop, Bishop Willie Walsh, who has a special gift of showing forth the compassionate face of Christ to the poor and marginalised.

As I said earlier, the Church is all of us: lay people, priests, religious and bishops. To make Christ and his Church come alive in ourselves in our diocese, in our parish, in our pastoral areas and clusters we all need to work together. The Instruction calls for a listening Church.  It calls on the people to listen to the bishop and to remember the words of Christ to the apostles, “whoever listens to you listens to me,” but also calls on the bishop to, “encourage the faithful to work with him in his apostolic task and to “listen willingly  to what they have to say.” Speaking of the role of the laity, Cardinal Newman who lived for a time in Ireland and who is to be beatified next month when the Pope visits Britain, said on one occasion, “I want a laity who know their religion, who enter into it, who know where they stand, who know what they hold and what they do not, who know their creed so well that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history that they can defend it. I want an intelligent well instructed laity.” For this to happen, all of us laity, priests, religious and bishops need first of all to listen to God in prayer.

For the Church to grow, most of all we need the help of Christ and his power is available to us. The gospel chosen for today’s ceremony is the prayer of Jesus for the apostles at the Last Supper. It is also a prayer for Bishops, as successors of the apostles. In the context of today’s celebration it is in a special way a prayer for Fr Kieran. It should be very encouraging for Kieran that Christ is praying for him and through the laying on of hands of the bishops Christ is laying his hands on him and giving him the same Holy Spirit that he gave to the apostles. I would ask you too pray for him not just today but also into the future as he is entering the Irish Church at a time when the Church is having a Good Friday experience. However, as a Church, we do need, especially at the moment, to remember that after Good Friday came Easter Sunday and new life with Christ rising, wounded but glorious.

There is a small book called “The Practice of the Presence of God” written by a 17th century Carmelite brother, Brother Lawrence who spent most of his time washing dishes in the monastery kitchen. One day in the middle of winter he was very sad and depressed and looking out the window he saw the ground covered with snow and frost, the trees dead with no leaves on them or birds singing on their branches; everything seemed dead reflecting exactly how he felt, and perhaps that is how some people feel about the Irish Church  at the moment, but then it struck him that in a few months time it would be spring and there would be new life, the days would be getting longer, the trees would put out buds and leaves and birds would be singing on their branches and this lifted his spirit. At the moment it may be winter in the Irish Church and in the country at many levels but spring will come because Christ our hope has risen and is always with us. Indeed, the first green shoots are already visible, in the Church and in the country as a whole, for those who wish to see them.

The Church, as Vatican II tells us, is missionary by it very nature and towards the end of the instruction that we quoted from earlier, the new bishop is reminded that he is being incorporated into the College of Bishops and should therefore have “a constant care for all the churches and gladly come to the aid and support of churches in need”. This concern is already being expressed by the diocese of Killaloe with personnel from the diocese working in South America and formerly in Zimbabwe. It is also being expressed over the years by your support through prayer, money and personnel for the SMA and other missionary congregations. On this day, I am very conscious of one SMA priest from this diocese who was with me in the seminary, Fr John Hannon from near Newmarket-on-Fergus, who has made a difference to the lives of many people in Africa. With his passion for justice for the poor and marginalised, he certainly lived out the first reading of today and like Christ before him suffered the consequences by being brutally murdered in Nairobi in November 2004. May he rest in peace.

I began by comparing today’s ordination celebration to a wedding. A wedding is a very joyful occasion and with the Psalmist we are called to “sing a new song to the Lord and ring out our joy.” This should be easy here in Ennis for Clare is noted for its music and singing. It is good to see so many people, lay and clerical, with different ministries in the Church and in the nation answering the invitation to be present and to join in this celebration. The occasion is unique because of the presence of such a large contingent both of Fr Kieran’s SMA brothers from all parts of the world, including our new Superior General, Fr Jean-Marie Guillaume and a large number representing the Church in Africa, including colleagues and former students of Fr Kieran led by Archbishop Job, the President of the Nigerian Episcopal Conference. Africa often gets a bad press in the western media but those of us who have lived for an extended period in Africa have a different story. One cannot but be enriched by the welcome of the people, their sense of hospitality, their sense of community, their active involvement in the Church which is at the moment undergoing a springtime, but most of all by their zest for life, their sense that God is good and very near to us, that life is good and should be celebrated, sung and danced about. The presence of so many of you here today, shows your high regard for Kieran who has also been part of your family and gives the occasion an African flavour, though we cannot promise that the ceremony will go on for over four hours as it most certainly would in Africa.

The occasion is also special because of the presence of Fr Kieran’s family, especially his father Seán and his mother Theresa. We thank God that they have lived to see this day. It was they who gave Kieran the gift of life and the faith that he brought to Africa and the work of the SMA. Now they are giving him to the diocese of Killaloe to be their bishop. You have blessed us with Kieran. May God bless you a hundredfold in return.

Finally, as a Church and a nation with a long tradition of faith going back to St Patrick, let us end on a note of hope with these words from the letter to the Hebrews, “with so many witnesses in a great cloud on every side of us,” including Sts Peter and Paul, St Flannan and St Kieran, “let us throw off everything that hinders us, especially the sin that clings so easily and keep running in the race we have started. Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our faith and brings it to perfection.”

Concluding remarks of the Bishop of Killaloe, Bishop Kieran O'Reilly

Your Eminence Cardinal Seán Brady, Your Excellency Archbishop Dermot Clifford, My brother Bishops and Archbishops, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr.  Micéal Martin Minister of  Defence, Mr. Tony Killeen Representatives of An Uachtarán and An Taoiseach Distinguished guests, Brother Priests, Sisters, Brothers, My parents, family and friends.

1.     I would like, once again, to say a sincere thank you to all who have gathered here today. In a special way to those who have travelled from different parts of the world.  Inside the cover of your booklet I have detailed my thanks to the many who have contributed to this day. On behalf of all I extend a special word of gratitude to the magnificent massed Choirs and all who have laboured for weeks to prepare today’s liturgical and other celebrations.

2.     Today, present in the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul are members of the Society of African Missions led by Fr Jean-Marie Guillaume who now takes over as Superior General of the SMA, from different parts of the world – Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. From Nigeria Archbishop Felix Alaba Job of Ibadan, Nigeria, President of the Nigerian Episcopal Conference, with  Bishops Alfred and Gabriel from Nigeria, Michel from Niger, Jean from France and Bishops Noel and Tim from Ireland. I know the people of the diocese of Killaloe are honoured that you have travelled here to be present for this occasion

3.     Bishop Willie, it is not possible for me to express adequately the gratitude that is due to you for your ministry as priest and bishop. You have shepherded the flock of Killaloe since 1994. I know you are held in high esteem by the people of the Diocese and, indeed, well beyond the Diocese, not only for your public presence but also for your quiet ministry of kindness and compassion to so many people. Your leadership and commitment to the development of the church in the Diocese, to ensure that it is alive and relevant to our times, through the reorganisation of  pastoral areas of the Diocese, will be, I believe, your lasting and enduring  legacy. I hope over the coming months and years to build on what is now in place and with the collaboration of all the faithful to ensure that the gifts and the talents, very often hidden, of the members of our communities are brought to the fore for the good of our faith communities. Thank you Bishop Willie for your kindness and welcome to me over the past months since my appointment was announced.

4.     To Bishop Trevor Williams, Bishop of Limerick and Killaloe, and to members of other Christian Churches, your presence with us today is welcome and much appreciated. I hope and pray that the work of ecumenism will continue. I will be particularly interested in working closely with the members of the different churches in areas of common concern and witness.

5.     To my parents, here present: Seán and Theresa, my many family members, relatives, friends, teachers, classmates, neighbours, and fellow missionaries. In particular, I would like to recall those whose who have sown the seed of faith in my life and who have inspired and loved me, those here present and those already with the Lord.

6.     Irish Missionaries, from the earliest times, have left our island for different parts of the world where they were welcomed and made feel at home. The most recent missionary movement which began over 100 years ago saw Irish missionaries travelling to the remotest regions of the world bringing the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ. Their witness contributed and continues to contribute in a significant ways to the growth of the Church and in the areas of  education and health care to many.

7.     This is a proud missionary tradition and, in this context, I would like to remember all the missionaries from the Diocese of Killaloe who are working in foreign lands. In particular, the priests of the Diocese who are on mission in Peru and Ecuador. I greet them and wish them and their faith communities, in the name of all of us, God’s blessing on their work. I look forward to meeting you in your mission stations.

8.     I welcome to our celebration those who come from cultures very different from our own.  The Church in Ireland has been particularly blessed by your presence.  You come to Ireland to build a future for yourselves and your families - you come from Africa and Asia; the Americas and countries of the new Europe. You bring a rich liturgical background from your home faith communities. I hope that our Church in Ireland, not only here in Killaloe, will be continually enriched by your presence.  In time, I believe that one of the legacies of the recent years in Ireland will be the presence of people from other cultures in our faith communities. As our missionaries were warmly received and welcomed in many of your countries, I hope that you, too, will experience a similar warm welcome here in the Church and be fully involved in all aspects of our Church life.

9.     In his well known work, the poet Robert Frost speaks about choosing the "Road less travelled.  Perhaps that is the road that we, members of the Church are asked to travel into the future, a pilgrim road.  A road that offers us opportunities and challenges in preaching the message of love and hope brought by Jesus Christ. While it may be the road less travelled - without prestige and power, different from what we have known in the past, for us, disciples of the Risen Lord, it is the road to Emmaus where we journey together with our Lord as he unfolds the mystery of life and love that we have received though his life, death and resurrection.

10. To the priests of the diocese and their many co-workers I thank you for your steadfastness and witness in these times through your devotion to your ministry and to the people with whom you live and work.  St Paul asks that we “fan into a flame” the gift we have received from the Holy Spirit. I pray that together we will journey forward in hope to make the Lord more present in our world and fan into a flame the gift of  faith we have received.

11.  I would like to express my sincere thanks to all who have joined in prayer throughout the Diocese in preparation for this day and who have extended a warm welcome to me since my appointment was announced.  I look forward to working closely with you and please continue to pray for me.

Glóir don Athair, don Mhac agus don Spiorad Naomh, mar a bhí ar dtús, mar atá anois agus mar a bheas go brách tré shaol na saol. Amen.  Go raibh maith agaigh.  Mile Buiochais.

Notes to Editors

• On 16 May 2010 the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, announced Fr Kieran O’Reilly SMA as Bishop of Killaloe to succeed Bishop William Walsh who had retired on completing his seventy fifth year in accordance with canon 401.1 of the Code of Canon Law.
• Fr O’Reilly was born in Cork on 8 August 1952 to Seán and Theresa O’Reilly.  Educated at Presentation Brothers and Scoil Chríost Rí, he entered the Society of African Missions in Wilton, Cork in 1970.  Fr O'Reilly was ordained for the Society on 17 June 1978 and he served in Liberia for two years before studying for a licentiate in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome.  From 1984 to 1989 Fr Kieran lectured in Scripture at the major seminary in Ibadan, Nigeria.  Since 1990 he has served on the Irish and International Councils of the Society of African Missions.  At the time of the announcement of his appointment as the next bishop for the Diocese of Killaloe Fr Kieran was serving his second term as Superior General of the Society.  As a member of the Union of Superiors General Fr O'Reilly has attended and contributed to two Synods of Bishops in Rome.
• At 2.30pm an Honour Guard will be provided for the Bishop-Elect by members of the Army Reserve under the command of Brigadier-General Paul Pakenham, General Officer Commanding 1 Southern Brigade.

• The ordination will be attended by Fr Kieran’s parents; Seán and Theresa O’Reilly; his brother Joseph; his sisters Therese and Deirdre and their families.
• During the ordination Fr Kieran will receive Pontifical Insignia that will include: a pectoral cross that was worn by Bishop Michael Peter McMahon OP who was Bishop of Killaloe from 1765 to 1807; the crozier (shepherd’s staff) was given to Bishop Michael Flannery in 1861 by the Director and Professors of the Catholic University of Ireland; the Episcopal Ring is a gift to the new Bishop from his parents.
• Fr Kieran’s vestments and Mitre were designed and made by Sr Gabrielle Murphy of the Poor Clare Community in Ennis and Maureen Sanders of the Killaloe Apostolic Work Society.
• Concelebrants at today's Episcopal Ordination Mass will include members of the Irish Episcopal Conference, members of the Nigerian and Liberian Episcopal Conferences along with clergy from the Diocese of Killaloe and the Society of African Missions.
• Among those attending from other Christian traditions will be; Rt Rev Trevor Williams, Church of Ireland Bishop of Limerick and Killaloe and Rev Brian Griffin, Methodist District Superintendant.
• Civic representatives in attendance will include: Colonel Mick McMahon, Aide de Camp to President Mary McAleese; Commandant Michael Treacy, Aide de Camp to An Taoiseach, Mr Brian Cowen TD; the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Micheál Martin TD; The Minister for Defence, Mr Tony Killeen TD, Mr Timmy Dooley TD along with other public representatives including local mayors from the diocese.
• The ordination ceremony will be streamed live on the Ennis Parish website: www.ennisparish.com at a link on the Homepage.  Clare FM radio will also broadcast the ceremony live on 96.4FM and on its website www.clare.fm
• All photography inside the Cathedral will be pooled.  No other photography is permitted inside the Cathedral.
• To access still photography contact Louise Brooks on +353 (0) 65 6821666 or brooksphotography@eircom.net [pictures will be emailed].
• After the Ordination there will be photo opportunities in the Holy Family School Hall with the new bishop greeting the people.
• Having already given a press conference in June, Fr Kieran will not be available for individual interviews on the ordination day. Requests for interview at a future date should be directed to the Diocesan Communications Officer, Fr Brendan Quinlivan.
• Media wishing to gain access to Cathedral please contact Fr Brendan Quinlivan for registration.

Further information:

Fr Brendan Quinlivan, Killaloe Diocesan Communications Officer, +353 (0) 87 2736310 Martin Long, Catholic Communications Office, Maynooth, +353 (0) 86 172 7678

 

PRESS RELEASE 24 August 2010 Joint Statement by Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, and Bishop Séamus Hegarty, Bishop of Derry, in response to the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland into the RUC Investigation of the Claudy Bombing, 31 July 1972.

The bombing in Claudy, on 31 July 1972, was an appalling crime.  In reading the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, published today, we can never lose sight of the terrible human cost of this atrocity.  Nine people died, including children.  Many were injured.  Many more were rendered homeless or had businesses destroyed or damaged.  The entire community of a small rural town was traumatised by a horrific attack on innocent people.

On a day such as this, it is important to recall the pain suffered by thousands of people through bereavement, loss and trauma over the years of the Troubles.  However, our focus today is very much on those who suffered in Claudy through the bombing on 31 July 1972. We realise that the publication of the Ombudsman’s Statement today will bring back many painful memories for them and we want to assure them of our prayers and concern at this time.

We accept the Ombudsman’s findings and conclusions.

All known material in the possession of the Catholic Church has been made available to the Ombudsman.

Throughout the Troubles, the Catholic Church, along with other Churches in Northern Ireland, was constant in its condemnation of the evil of violence.  It is therefore shocking that a priest should be suspected of involvement in such violence. This case should have been properly investigated and resolved during Father Chesney’s lifetime. If there was sufficient evidence to link him to criminal activity, he should have been arrested and questioned at the earliest opportunity, like anyone else. We agree with the Police Ombudsman that the fact this did not happen failed those who were murdered, injured and bereaved in the bombings.

We acknowledge the finding of the Police Ombudsman that: ‘With regard to the role of the Catholic Church, when informed of the level of concerns others had about one of their priests, they challenged Fr Chesney about his alleged activities, which he denied. In the course of this enquiry the Police Ombudsman’s investigation found no evidence of any criminal intent on the part of any Church official.’ (6.24)

The Catholic Church did not engage in a cover-up of this matter. As the Ombudsman finds in his Statement today the Church was approached by the Secretary of State at the instigation of senior members of the RUC. Furthermore, the Church subsequently reported back to the Secretary of State the outcome of its questioning of Fr Chesney into his alleged activities. The actions of Cardinal Conway or any other Church authority did not prevent the possibility of future arrest and questioning of Fr Chesney. As the Ombudsman’s Statement points out, Fr Chesney until the time of his death in 1980, ‘is known to have regularly travelled across the border but was never arrested, questioned nor further investigated by the RUC in connection with the Claudy bombings or other terrorist activity.’ (6.12)

Fr Chesney is dead and, as a suspect in the Claudy bombing, he is beyond the justice of earthly courts.  Clearly a number of people were involved in the planning and carrying out of this terrible atrocity, some of whom may still be alive. Those bereaved and injured deserve to know the truth. We appeal to anyone who has information in relation to this horrific crime to provide it to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

It is only with honesty and bravery that we as a community can address these painful issues and do our best to ensure that the dreadful lessons of the past are learned and never repeated.

ENDS

Further information:

Martin Long, Director of Communications 086 172 7678

Brenda Drumm, Communications Officer, 087 310 4444

PRESS RELEASE 24 August 2010 Joint Statement by Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, and Bishop Séamus Hegarty, Bishop of Derry, in response to the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland into the RUC Investigation of the Claudy Bombing, 31 July 1972.

The bombing in Claudy, on 31 July 1972, was an appalling crime.  In reading the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, published today, we can never lose sight of the terrible human cost of this atrocity.  Nine people died, including children.  Many were injured.  Many more were rendered homeless or had businesses destroyed or damaged.  The entire community of a small rural town was traumatised by a horrific attack on innocent people.

On a day such as this, it is important to recall the pain suffered by thousands of people through bereavement, loss and trauma over the years of the Troubles.  However, our focus today is very much on those who suffered in Claudy through the bombing on 31 July 1972. We realise that the publication of the Ombudsman’s Statement today will bring back many painful memories for them and we want to assure them of our prayers and concern at this time.

We accept the Ombudsman’s findings and conclusions.

All known material in the possession of the Catholic Church has been made available to the Ombudsman.

Throughout the Troubles, the Catholic Church, along with other Churches in Northern Ireland, was constant in its condemnation of the evil of violence.  It is therefore shocking that a priest should be suspected of involvement in such violence. This case should have been properly investigated and resolved during Father Chesney’s lifetime. If there was sufficient evidence to link him to criminal activity, he should have been arrested and questioned at the earliest opportunity, like anyone else. We agree with the Police Ombudsman that the fact this did not happen failed those who were murdered, injured and bereaved in the bombings.

We acknowledge the finding of the Police Ombudsman that: ‘With regard to the role of the Catholic Church, when informed of the level of concerns others had about one of their priests, they challenged Fr Chesney about his alleged activities, which he denied. In the course of this enquiry the Police Ombudsman’s investigation found no evidence of any criminal intent on the part of any Church official.’ (6.24)

The Catholic Church did not engage in a cover-up of this matter. As the Ombudsman finds in his Statement today the Church was approached by the Secretary of State at the instigation of senior members of the RUC. Furthermore, the Church subsequently reported back to the Secretary of State the outcome of its questioning of Fr Chesney into his alleged activities. The actions of Cardinal Conway or any other Church authority did not prevent the possibility of future arrest and questioning of Fr Chesney. As the Ombudsman’s Statement points out, Fr Chesney until the time of his death in 1980, ‘is known to have regularly travelled across the border but was never arrested, questioned nor further investigated by the RUC in connection with the Claudy bombings or other terrorist activity.’ (6.12)

Fr Chesney is dead and, as a suspect in the Claudy bombing, he is beyond the justice of earthly courts.  Clearly a number of people were involved in the planning and carrying out of this terrible atrocity, some of whom may still be alive. Those bereaved and injured deserve to know the truth. We appeal to anyone who has information in relation to this horrific crime to provide it to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

It is only with honesty and bravery that we as a community can address these painful issues and do our best to ensure that the dreadful lessons of the past are learned and never repeated.

ENDS

Further information:

Martin Long, Director of Communications 086 172 7678

Brenda Drumm, Communications Officer, 087 310 4444

PRESS RELEASE 24 August 2010 Joint Statement by Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, and Bishop Séamus Hegarty, Bishop of Derry, in response to the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland into the RUC Investigation of the Claudy Bombing, 31 July 1972.

The bombing in Claudy, on 31 July 1972, was an appalling crime.  In reading the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, published today, we can never lose sight of the terrible human cost of this atrocity.  Nine people died, including children.  Many were injured.  Many more were rendered homeless or had businesses destroyed or damaged.  The entire community of a small rural town was traumatised by a horrific attack on innocent people.

On a day such as this, it is important to recall the pain suffered by thousands of people through bereavement, loss and trauma over the years of the Troubles.  However, our focus today is very much on those who suffered in Claudy through the bombing on 31 July 1972. We realise that the publication of the Ombudsman’s Statement today will bring back many painful memories for them and we want to assure them of our prayers and concern at this time.

We accept the Ombudsman’s findings and conclusions.

All known material in the possession of the Catholic Church has been made available to the Ombudsman.

Throughout the Troubles, the Catholic Church, along with other Churches in Northern Ireland, was constant in its condemnation of the evil of violence.  It is therefore shocking that a priest should be suspected of involvement in such violence. This case should have been properly investigated and resolved during Father Chesney’s lifetime. If there was sufficient evidence to link him to criminal activity, he should have been arrested and questioned at the earliest opportunity, like anyone else. We agree with the Police Ombudsman that the fact this did not happen failed those who were murdered, injured and bereaved in the bombings.

We acknowledge the finding of the Police Ombudsman that: ‘With regard to the role of the Catholic Church, when informed of the level of concerns others had about one of their priests, they challenged Fr Chesney about his alleged activities, which he denied. In the course of this enquiry the Police Ombudsman’s investigation found no evidence of any criminal intent on the part of any Church official.’ (6.24)

The Catholic Church did not engage in a cover-up of this matter. As the Ombudsman finds in his Statement today the Church was approached by the Secretary of State at the instigation of senior members of the RUC. Furthermore, the Church subsequently reported back to the Secretary of State the outcome of its questioning of Fr Chesney into his alleged activities. The actions of Cardinal Conway or any other Church authority did not prevent the possibility of future arrest and questioning of Fr Chesney. As the Ombudsman’s Statement points out, Fr Chesney until the time of his death in 1980, ‘is known to have regularly travelled across the border but was never arrested, questioned nor further investigated by the RUC in connection with the Claudy bombings or other terrorist activity.’ (6.12)

Fr Chesney is dead and, as a suspect in the Claudy bombing, he is beyond the justice of earthly courts.  Clearly a number of people were involved in the planning and carrying out of this terrible atrocity, some of whom may still be alive. Those bereaved and injured deserve to know the truth. We appeal to anyone who has information in relation to this horrific crime to provide it to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

It is only with honesty and bravery that we as a community can address these painful issues and do our best to ensure that the dreadful lessons of the past are learned and never repeated.

ENDS

Further information:

Martin Long, Director of Communications 086 172 7678

Brenda Drumm, Communications Officer, 087 310 4444

PRESS RELEASE 24 August 2010 Joint Statement by Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, and Bishop Séamus Hegarty, Bishop of Derry, in response to the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland into the RUC Investigation of the Claudy Bombing, 31 July 1972.

The bombing in Claudy, on 31 July 1972, was an appalling crime.  In reading the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, published today, we can never lose sight of the terrible human cost of this atrocity.  Nine people died, including children.  Many were injured.  Many more were rendered homeless or had businesses destroyed or damaged.  The entire community of a small rural town was traumatised by a horrific attack on innocent people.

On a day such as this, it is important to recall the pain suffered by thousands of people through bereavement, loss and trauma over the years of the Troubles.  However, our focus today is very much on those who suffered in Claudy through the bombing on 31 July 1972. We realise that the publication of the Ombudsman’s Statement today will bring back many painful memories for them and we want to assure them of our prayers and concern at this time.

We accept the Ombudsman’s findings and conclusions.

All known material in the possession of the Catholic Church has been made available to the Ombudsman.

Throughout the Troubles, the Catholic Church, along with other Churches in Northern Ireland, was constant in its condemnation of the evil of violence.  It is therefore shocking that a priest should be suspected of involvement in such violence. This case should have been properly investigated and resolved during Father Chesney’s lifetime. If there was sufficient evidence to link him to criminal activity, he should have been arrested and questioned at the earliest opportunity, like anyone else. We agree with the Police Ombudsman that the fact this did not happen failed those who were murdered, injured and bereaved in the bombings.

We acknowledge the finding of the Police Ombudsman that: ‘With regard to the role of the Catholic Church, when informed of the level of concerns others had about one of their priests, they challenged Fr Chesney about his alleged activities, which he denied. In the course of this enquiry the Police Ombudsman’s investigation found no evidence of any criminal intent on the part of any Church official.’ (6.24)

The Catholic Church did not engage in a cover-up of this matter. As the Ombudsman finds in his Statement today the Church was approached by the Secretary of State at the instigation of senior members of the RUC. Furthermore, the Church subsequently reported back to the Secretary of State the outcome of its questioning of Fr Chesney into his alleged activities. The actions of Cardinal Conway or any other Church authority did not prevent the possibility of future arrest and questioning of Fr Chesney. As the Ombudsman’s Statement points out, Fr Chesney until the time of his death in 1980, ‘is known to have regularly travelled across the border but was never arrested, questioned nor further investigated by the RUC in connection with the Claudy bombings or other terrorist activity.’ (6.12)

Fr Chesney is dead and, as a suspect in the Claudy bombing, he is beyond the justice of earthly courts.  Clearly a number of people were involved in the planning and carrying out of this terrible atrocity, some of whom may still be alive. Those bereaved and injured deserve to know the truth. We appeal to anyone who has information in relation to this horrific crime to provide it to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

It is only with honesty and bravery that we as a community can address these painful issues and do our best to ensure that the dreadful lessons of the past are learned and never repeated.

ENDS

Further information:

Martin Long, Director of Communications 086 172 7678

Brenda Drumm, Communications Officer, 087 310 4444

PRESS RELEASE 24 August 2010 Joint Statement by Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, and Bishop Séamus Hegarty, Bishop of Derry, in response to the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland into the RUC Investigation of the Claudy Bombing, 31 July 1972.

The bombing in Claudy, on 31 July 1972, was an appalling crime.  In reading the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, published today, we can never lose sight of the terrible human cost of this atrocity.  Nine people died, including children.  Many were injured.  Many more were rendered homeless or had businesses destroyed or damaged.  The entire community of a small rural town was traumatised by a horrific attack on innocent people.

On a day such as this, it is important to recall the pain suffered by thousands of people through bereavement, loss and trauma over the years of the Troubles.  However, our focus today is very much on those who suffered in Claudy through the bombing on 31 July 1972. We realise that the publication of the Ombudsman’s Statement today will bring back many painful memories for them and we want to assure them of our prayers and concern at this time.

We accept the Ombudsman’s findings and conclusions.

All known material in the possession of the Catholic Church has been made available to the Ombudsman.

Throughout the Troubles, the Catholic Church, along with other Churches in Northern Ireland, was constant in its condemnation of the evil of violence.  It is therefore shocking that a priest should be suspected of involvement in such violence. This case should have been properly investigated and resolved during Father Chesney’s lifetime. If there was sufficient evidence to link him to criminal activity, he should have been arrested and questioned at the earliest opportunity, like anyone else. We agree with the Police Ombudsman that the fact this did not happen failed those who were murdered, injured and bereaved in the bombings.

We acknowledge the finding of the Police Ombudsman that: ‘With regard to the role of the Catholic Church, when informed of the level of concerns others had about one of their priests, they challenged Fr Chesney about his alleged activities, which he denied. In the course of this enquiry the Police Ombudsman’s investigation found no evidence of any criminal intent on the part of any Church official.’ (6.24)

The Catholic Church did not engage in a cover-up of this matter. As the Ombudsman finds in his Statement today the Church was approached by the Secretary of State at the instigation of senior members of the RUC. Furthermore, the Church subsequently reported back to the Secretary of State the outcome of its questioning of Fr Chesney into his alleged activities. The actions of Cardinal Conway or any other Church authority did not prevent the possibility of future arrest and questioning of Fr Chesney. As the Ombudsman’s Statement points out, Fr Chesney until the time of his death in 1980, ‘is known to have regularly travelled across the border but was never arrested, questioned nor further investigated by the RUC in connection with the Claudy bombings or other terrorist activity.’ (6.12)

Fr Chesney is dead and, as a suspect in the Claudy bombing, he is beyond the justice of earthly courts.  Clearly a number of people were involved in the planning and carrying out of this terrible atrocity, some of whom may still be alive. Those bereaved and injured deserve to know the truth. We appeal to anyone who has information in relation to this horrific crime to provide it to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

It is only with honesty and bravery that we as a community can address these painful issues and do our best to ensure that the dreadful lessons of the past are learned and never repeated.

ENDS

Further information:

Martin Long, Director of Communications 086 172 7678

Brenda Drumm, Communications Officer, 087 310 4444

PRESS RELEASE 24 August 2010 Joint Statement by Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, and Bishop Séamus Hegarty, Bishop of Derry, in response to the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland into the RUC Investigation of the Claudy Bombing, 31 July 1972.

The bombing in Claudy, on 31 July 1972, was an appalling crime.  In reading the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, published today, we can never lose sight of the terrible human cost of this atrocity.  Nine people died, including children.  Many were injured.  Many more were rendered homeless or had businesses destroyed or damaged.  The entire community of a small rural town was traumatised by a horrific attack on innocent people.

On a day such as this, it is important to recall the pain suffered by thousands of people through bereavement, loss and trauma over the years of the Troubles.  However, our focus today is very much on those who suffered in Claudy through the bombing on 31 July 1972. We realise that the publication of the Ombudsman’s Statement today will bring back many painful memories for them and we want to assure them of our prayers and concern at this time.

We accept the Ombudsman’s findings and conclusions.

All known material in the possession of the Catholic Church has been made available to the Ombudsman.

Throughout the Troubles, the Catholic Church, along with other Churches in Northern Ireland, was constant in its condemnation of the evil of violence.  It is therefore shocking that a priest should be suspected of involvement in such violence. This case should have been properly investigated and resolved during Father Chesney’s lifetime. If there was sufficient evidence to link him to criminal activity, he should have been arrested and questioned at the earliest opportunity, like anyone else. We agree with the Police Ombudsman that the fact this did not happen failed those who were murdered, injured and bereaved in the bombings.

We acknowledge the finding of the Police Ombudsman that: ‘With regard to the role of the Catholic Church, when informed of the level of concerns others had about one of their priests, they challenged Fr Chesney about his alleged activities, which he denied. In the course of this enquiry the Police Ombudsman’s investigation found no evidence of any criminal intent on the part of any Church official.’ (6.24)

The Catholic Church did not engage in a cover-up of this matter. As the Ombudsman finds in his Statement today the Church was approached by the Secretary of State at the instigation of senior members of the RUC. Furthermore, the Church subsequently reported back to the Secretary of State the outcome of its questioning of Fr Chesney into his alleged activities. The actions of Cardinal Conway or any other Church authority did not prevent the possibility of future arrest and questioning of Fr Chesney. As the Ombudsman’s Statement points out, Fr Chesney until the time of his death in 1980, ‘is known to have regularly travelled across the border but was never arrested, questioned nor further investigated by the RUC in connection with the Claudy bombings or other terrorist activity.’ (6.12)

Fr Chesney is dead and, as a suspect in the Claudy bombing, he is beyond the justice of earthly courts.  Clearly a number of people were involved in the planning and carrying out of this terrible atrocity, some of whom may still be alive. Those bereaved and injured deserve to know the truth. We appeal to anyone who has information in relation to this horrific crime to provide it to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

It is only with honesty and bravery that we as a community can address these painful issues and do our best to ensure that the dreadful lessons of the past are learned and never repeated.

ENDS

Further information:

Martin Long, Director of Communications 086 172 7678

Brenda Drumm, Communications Officer, 087 310 4444

PRESS RELEASE 24 August 2010 Joint Statement by Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, and Bishop Séamus Hegarty, Bishop of Derry, in response to the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland into the RUC Investigation of the Claudy Bombing, 31 July 1972.

The bombing in Claudy, on 31 July 1972, was an appalling crime.  In reading the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, published today, we can never lose sight of the terrible human cost of this atrocity.  Nine people died, including children.  Many were injured.  Many more were rendered homeless or had businesses destroyed or damaged.  The entire community of a small rural town was traumatised by a horrific attack on innocent people.

On a day such as this, it is important to recall the pain suffered by thousands of people through bereavement, loss and trauma over the years of the Troubles.  However, our focus today is very much on those who suffered in Claudy through the bombing on 31 July 1972. We realise that the publication of the Ombudsman’s Statement today will bring back many painful memories for them and we want to assure them of our prayers and concern at this time.

We accept the Ombudsman’s findings and conclusions.

All known material in the possession of the Catholic Church has been made available to the Ombudsman.

Throughout the Troubles, the Catholic Church, along with other Churches in Northern Ireland, was constant in its condemnation of the evil of violence.  It is therefore shocking that a priest should be suspected of involvement in such violence. This case should have been properly investigated and resolved during Father Chesney’s lifetime. If there was sufficient evidence to link him to criminal activity, he should have been arrested and questioned at the earliest opportunity, like anyone else. We agree with the Police Ombudsman that the fact this did not happen failed those who were murdered, injured and bereaved in the bombings.

We acknowledge the finding of the Police Ombudsman that: ‘With regard to the role of the Catholic Church, when informed of the level of concerns others had about one of their priests, they challenged Fr Chesney about his alleged activities, which he denied. In the course of this enquiry the Police Ombudsman’s investigation found no evidence of any criminal intent on the part of any Church official.’ (6.24)

The Catholic Church did not engage in a cover-up of this matter. As the Ombudsman finds in his Statement today the Church was approached by the Secretary of State at the instigation of senior members of the RUC. Furthermore, the Church subsequently reported back to the Secretary of State the outcome of its questioning of Fr Chesney into his alleged activities. The actions of Cardinal Conway or any other Church authority did not prevent the possibility of future arrest and questioning of Fr Chesney. As the Ombudsman’s Statement points out, Fr Chesney until the time of his death in 1980, ‘is known to have regularly travelled across the border but was never arrested, questioned nor further investigated by the RUC in connection with the Claudy bombings or other terrorist activity.’ (6.12)

Fr Chesney is dead and, as a suspect in the Claudy bombing, he is beyond the justice of earthly courts.  Clearly a number of people were involved in the planning and carrying out of this terrible atrocity, some of whom may still be alive. Those bereaved and injured deserve to know the truth. We appeal to anyone who has information in relation to this horrific crime to provide it to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

It is only with honesty and bravery that we as a community can address these painful issues and do our best to ensure that the dreadful lessons of the past are learned and never repeated.

ENDS

Further information:

Martin Long, Director of Communications 086 172 7678

Brenda Drumm, Communications Officer, 087 310 4444

PRESS RELEASE 24 August 2010 Joint Statement by Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, and Bishop Séamus Hegarty, Bishop of Derry, in response to the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland into the RUC Investigation of the Claudy Bombing, 31 July 1972.

The bombing in Claudy, on 31 July 1972, was an appalling crime.  In reading the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, published today, we can never lose sight of the terrible human cost of this atrocity.  Nine people died, including children.  Many were injured.  Many more were rendered homeless or had businesses destroyed or damaged.  The entire community of a small rural town was traumatised by a horrific attack on innocent people.

On a day such as this, it is important to recall the pain suffered by thousands of people through bereavement, loss and trauma over the years of the Troubles.  However, our focus today is very much on those who suffered in Claudy through the bombing on 31 July 1972. We realise that the publication of the Ombudsman’s Statement today will bring back many painful memories for them and we want to assure them of our prayers and concern at this time.

We accept the Ombudsman’s findings and conclusions.

All known material in the possession of the Catholic Church has been made available to the Ombudsman.

Throughout the Troubles, the Catholic Church, along with other Churches in Northern Ireland, was constant in its condemnation of the evil of violence.  It is therefore shocking that a priest should be suspected of involvement in such violence. This case should have been properly investigated and resolved during Father Chesney’s lifetime. If there was sufficient evidence to link him to criminal activity, he should have been arrested and questioned at the earliest opportunity, like anyone else. We agree with the Police Ombudsman that the fact this did not happen failed those who were murdered, injured and bereaved in the bombings.

We acknowledge the finding of the Police Ombudsman that: ‘With regard to the role of the Catholic Church, when informed of the level of concerns others had about one of their priests, they challenged Fr Chesney about his alleged activities, which he denied. In the course of this enquiry the Police Ombudsman’s investigation found no evidence of any criminal intent on the part of any Church official.’ (6.24)

The Catholic Church did not engage in a cover-up of this matter. As the Ombudsman finds in his Statement today the Church was approached by the Secretary of State at the instigation of senior members of the RUC. Furthermore, the Church subsequently reported back to the Secretary of State the outcome of its questioning of Fr Chesney into his alleged activities. The actions of Cardinal Conway or any other Church authority did not prevent the possibility of future arrest and questioning of Fr Chesney. As the Ombudsman’s Statement points out, Fr Chesney until the time of his death in 1980, ‘is known to have regularly travelled across the border but was never arrested, questioned nor further investigated by the RUC in connection with the Claudy bombings or other terrorist activity.’ (6.12)

Fr Chesney is dead and, as a suspect in the Claudy bombing, he is beyond the justice of earthly courts.  Clearly a number of people were involved in the planning and carrying out of this terrible atrocity, some of whom may still be alive. Those bereaved and injured deserve to know the truth. We appeal to anyone who has information in relation to this horrific crime to provide it to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

It is only with honesty and bravery that we as a community can address these painful issues and do our best to ensure that the dreadful lessons of the past are learned and never repeated.

ENDS

Further information:

Martin Long, Director of Communications 086 172 7678

Brenda Drumm, Communications Officer, 087 310 4444

PRESS RELEASE 24 August 2010 Joint Statement by Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, and Bishop Séamus Hegarty, Bishop of Derry, in response to the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland into the RUC Investigation of the Claudy Bombing, 31 July 1972.

The bombing in Claudy, on 31 July 1972, was an appalling crime.  In reading the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, published today, we can never lose sight of the terrible human cost of this atrocity.  Nine people died, including children.  Many were injured.  Many more were rendered homeless or had businesses destroyed or damaged.  The entire community of a small rural town was traumatised by a horrific attack on innocent people.

On a day such as this, it is important to recall the pain suffered by thousands of people through bereavement, loss and trauma over the years of the Troubles.  However, our focus today is very much on those who suffered in Claudy through the bombing on 31 July 1972. We realise that the publication of the Ombudsman’s Statement today will bring back many painful memories for them and we want to assure them of our prayers and concern at this time.

We accept the Ombudsman’s findings and conclusions.

All known material in the possession of the Catholic Church has been made available to the Ombudsman.

Throughout the Troubles, the Catholic Church, along with other Churches in Northern Ireland, was constant in its condemnation of the evil of violence.  It is therefore shocking that a priest should be suspected of involvement in such violence. This case should have been properly investigated and resolved during Father Chesney’s lifetime. If there was sufficient evidence to link him to criminal activity, he should have been arrested and questioned at the earliest opportunity, like anyone else. We agree with the Police Ombudsman that the fact this did not happen failed those who were murdered, injured and bereaved in the bombings.

We acknowledge the finding of the Police Ombudsman that: ‘With regard to the role of the Catholic Church, when informed of the level of concerns others had about one of their priests, they challenged Fr Chesney about his alleged activities, which he denied. In the course of this enquiry the Police Ombudsman’s investigation found no evidence of any criminal intent on the part of any Church official.’ (6.24)

The Catholic Church did not engage in a cover-up of this matter. As the Ombudsman finds in his Statement today the Church was approached by the Secretary of State at the instigation of senior members of the RUC. Furthermore, the Church subsequently reported back to the Secretary of State the outcome of its questioning of Fr Chesney into his alleged activities. The actions of Cardinal Conway or any other Church authority did not prevent the possibility of future arrest and questioning of Fr Chesney. As the Ombudsman’s Statement points out, Fr Chesney until the time of his death in 1980, ‘is known to have regularly travelled across the border but was never arrested, questioned nor further investigated by the RUC in connection with the Claudy bombings or other terrorist activity.’ (6.12)

Fr Chesney is dead and, as a suspect in the Claudy bombing, he is beyond the justice of earthly courts.  Clearly a number of people were involved in the planning and carrying out of this terrible atrocity, some of whom may still be alive. Those bereaved and injured deserve to know the truth. We appeal to anyone who has information in relation to this horrific crime to provide it to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

It is only with honesty and bravery that we as a community can address these painful issues and do our best to ensure that the dreadful lessons of the past are learned and never repeated.

ENDS

Further information:

Martin Long, Director of Communications 086 172 7678

Brenda Drumm, Communications Officer, 087 310 4444

PRESS RELEASE 24 August 2010 Joint Statement by Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, and Bishop Séamus Hegarty, Bishop of Derry, in response to the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland into the RUC Investigation of the Claudy Bombing, 31 July 1972.

The bombing in Claudy, on 31 July 1972, was an appalling crime.  In reading the Public Statement of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, published today, we can never lose sight of the terrible human cost of this atrocity.  Nine people died, including children.  Many were injured.  Many more were rendered homeless or had businesses destroyed or damaged.  The entire community of a small rural town was traumatised by a horrific attack on innocent people.

On a day such as this, it is important to recall the pain suffered by thousands of people through bereavement, loss and trauma over the years of the Troubles.  However, our focus today is very much on those who suffered in Claudy through the bombing on 31 July 1972. We realise that the publication of the Ombudsman’s Statement today will bring back many painful memories for them and we want to assure them of our prayers and concern at this time.

We accept the Ombudsman’s findings and conclusions.

All known material in the possession of the Catholic Church has been made available to the Ombudsman.

Throughout the Troubles, the Catholic Church, along with other Churches in Northern Ireland, was constant in its condemnation of the evil of violence.  It is therefore shocking that a priest should be suspected of involvement in such violence. This case should have been properly investigated and resolved during Father Chesney’s lifetime. If there was sufficient evidence to link him to criminal activity, he should have been arrested and questioned at the earliest opportunity, like anyone else. We agree with the Police Ombudsman that the fact this did not happen failed those who were murdered, injured and bereaved in the bombings.

We acknowledge the finding of the Police Ombudsman that: ‘With regard to the role of the Catholic Church, when informed of the level of concerns others had about one of their priests, they challenged Fr Chesney about his alleged activities, which he denied. In the course of this enquiry the Police Ombudsman’s investigation found no evidence of any criminal intent on the part of any Church official.’ (6.24)

The Catholic Church did not engage in a cover-up of this matter. As the Ombudsman finds in his Statement today the Church was approached by the Secretary of State at the instigation of senior members of the RUC. Furthermore, the Church subsequently reported back to the Secretary of State the outcome of its questioning of Fr Chesney into his alleged activities. The actions of Cardinal Conway or any other Church authority did not prevent the possibility of future arrest and questioning of Fr Chesney. As the Ombudsman’s Statement points out, Fr Chesney until the time of his death in 1980, ‘is known to have regularly travelled across the border but was never arrested, questioned nor further investigated by the RUC in connection with the Claudy bombings or other terrorist activity.’ (6.12)

Fr Chesney is dead and, as a suspect in the Claudy bombing, he is beyond the justice of earthly courts.  Clearly a number of people were involved in the planning and carrying out of this terrible atrocity, some of whom may still be alive. Those bereaved and injured deserve to know the truth. We appeal to anyone who has information in relation to this horrific crime to provide it to the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

It is only with honesty and bravery that we as a community can address these painful issues and do our best to ensure that the dreadful lessons of the past are learned and never repeated.

ENDS

Further information:

Martin Long, Director of Communications 086 172 7678

Brenda Drumm, Communications Officer, 087 310 4444

PRESS RELEASE
23 August 2010
Bishop John McAreavey to lead fourth National Grandparents’ Pilgrimage to Knock Shrine

• Special feature now available on www.catholicbishops.ie

Bishop John McAreavey, Bishop of Dromore will lead the fourth National Grandparents’ Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Knock Shrine, Co Mayo, on Sunday 12 September next.  More than 10,000 grandparents from across Ireland are expected to be present at this year’s pilgrimage.

A special feature on the pilgrimage is now available on the Catholic Bishops’ website – www.catholicbishops.ie. The feature includes:

• An interview with Bishop McAreavey in which he talks about his expectations for this years pilgrimage and of the importance of grandparents in the handing on of the faith
• Video highlights from last year’s pilgrimage which was led by Cardinal Seán Brady
• Background information on the pilgrimage and details of this year’s event
• A gallery of images from previous pilgrimages

The National Grandparents' Pilgrimage was founded by Catherine Wiley, a grandmother from Co Mayo, who wanted to do something to support and affirm grandparents and the important role that they play in families, the Church and society. Archbishop Michael Neary, Archbishop of Tuam, is Patron.

A new association for Grandparents was launched as part of the 2009 Pilgrimage. The Catholic Grandparents' Association (CGA) has been established to support grandparents and to affirm them in the important mission of handing on the faith to the next generation. The CGA was formally blessed by Pope Benedict XVI earlier this month. The blessing was received by Catherine Wiley, founder of the CGA. The text of Pope Benedict’s blessing reads as follows:

“Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI invokes God’s Blessings of Joy and Peace upon you and all of the Association.

“Make them [grandparents] teachers of wisdom and courage, that they may pass on to future generations the fruits of their mature human and spiritual experience.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

• This year’s National Grandparents Pilgrimage will take place in Knock Shrine, Co. Mayo, on Sunday, September 12th, at 3pm, preceded by Anointing of the Sick at 2.30pm.
• Bishop John McAreavey will be Principal Celebrant and he will preach the homily. Breda O’Brien, teacher and Irish Times columnist will also offer a reflection at this year’s pilgrimage.
• The music will be led by Michael English, Dana and Tyrone girl Chloe Coyle.
• The Catholic Grandparents Association was born out of the National Grandparents Pilgrimage, which was first held in Knock Shrine in 2007. Over 5,000 people attended the first pilgrimage. Since then up to 10,000 grandparents and their families have been coming to the pilgrimage.
• A National Prayer appeal has also been launched in the run up to the pilgrimage. Grandchildren across the country are invited to write prayers for and about their grandparents. These will be blessed at this year's pilgrimage.
• See www.catholicbishops.ie for further information.

Further information:
Martin Long, Director of Communications 086 172 7678
Brenda Drumm, Communications Officer 087 310 4444

PRESS RELEASE
22 August 2010
Welcoming comments by Monsignor Hugh Connolly, President of Saint Patrick’s College Maynooth, to new seminarians Dear Class of 2010,

I wish to extend a very warm welcome to you and to your families and friends who have accompanied you here to St Patrick’s College Maynooth this afternoon. For people of faith this past year has been a difficult one as more and more details have rightly and justly come to light of the abuses and calamitous failures of the Church in our country. In some respects the fact that you are here at all today is remarkable and is a tribute to your courage and generosity of spirit.

Of course this might well be your first day in seminary but it is certainly not the first step in your journey. Indeed that journey began some time ago when you first discerned Our Lord calling you to reflect on how you might live your life in his service. Neither is today a point of no return, it may be that this time in seminary is a prelude to ordained ministry and service of the Gospel as a diocesan priest , it may also be that it is a time which allows you to discern with greater clarity that your calling lies elsewhere. Either way you are most welcome.

Your friends and family are also welcome; these are the people who are a part of your life and who love and support you. Dear friends and family please don’t think of today as a definitive leave-taking. These men will continue to need your love and support throughout their time in Maynooth. The best way you can support them is to continue to make a space in your lives for them and to remember that for a diocesan priest or student priest ties of friendship and family are especially important.

Ironically, despite the difficult backdrop of the past year and the sombre mood that has ensued, the last two years in the life of the national seminary have been very positive ones. A considerable number of men drawn from all walks of life have had the generosity, the faith and the enthusiasm to come to seminary to explore and discern a vocation to priesthood together.

I hope you like they will flourish here and make new friendships and form bonds of solidarity and shared values which will serve you well for the rest of your lives. It is precisely during challenging times such as the present that people wish to express their profound appreciation for the extraordinary work that today’s priests do.

Earlier this week a DVD entitled In Praise of Priests was launched which admirably makes this point. Its contains five brief testimonies from a cross section of lay people paying tribute to the contribution of a particular priest to their lives.

It takes courage and great commitment to embark on a religious way of life today and we in St Patrick’s College Maynooth are very firmly of the view that our very best advertisements today are our wonderful students both lay and cleric as well as a high calibre staff across the four principal areas of formation namely human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral. But seminary is never easy. It requires hard-work, commitment and trust. I ask you today not to forget that generosity of spirit that brought you here in the days and months and years ahead. And to give of yourselves generously as you undertake your priestly training.

Forming priests and seminarians of prayer, solid faith, pastoral sensitivity and wholesome lifestyles has always and will always be Maynooth’s mission. The people of God need good priests, holy priests, priests who are faithful to Church teaching and especially priests who in the words of the late Pope John Paul II are prepared to ‘mould their human personality in such a way that it becomes a bridge and not an obstacle for others in their meeting with Jesus Christ’. We should resist therefore making a false juxtaposition between holiness and human wholesomeness. The age old wisdom of the Church reminds us that ‘grace builds on nature‘. In human formation you will be asked to openly and honestly work toward ensuring that your lives are truly bridges and not obstacles to building up the faith of God’s people.

In seminary the call to priestly holiness is always to the fore but so too is the realisation that holiness today must always takes account of the welfare and safety of the most vulnerable people whom a future priest is called to minister. Our late Holy Father and his successor Benedict XVI are equally insistent that priestly holiness is not just about external piety but also about a host of other human pastoral and intellectual and spiritual qualities which must all be present in sufficient measure in order for a person to be called to diocesan priesthood.

Here at St Patrick's College we are resolutely committed to assisting you and providing a favourable and appropriate formation environment where you can develop those qualities to the full. I cannot promise the class of 2010 that the way ahead will be smooth that all the problems of the Church in Ireland have been resolved nor that your life as a seminarian and God willing, a priest will be trouble free - but then again I suspect you already know this. You are here because despite all that is wrong, despite all that is a source of anger, alienation, hurt, disappointment, and dismay in our Church today you have each in your own way heard what the prophet calls that still small voice, a voice saying: "come follow me, feed my lambs, feed my sheep and proclaim the good news to all nations."

May God bless you and support you as you seek to follow his voice and his will at work in your hearts and in your lives from this day forward.

Cead mile failte romhaibh go leir!

ENDS

Notes for Editors

- By the end of September the number of seminarians training in St Patrick’s College Maynooth will be 66.

- St Patrick’s College Maynooth is the National Seminary for Ireland and has been forming men for the priesthood since 1795, see www.maynoothcollege.ie. The College is also a major provider of formation in theology and in pastoral ministry for 350 lay students.

- The Trustees of the College are the Governing Body of the College.

- The membership is defined by successive Acts of Parliament. The current Trustees are the four Archbishops of Ireland together with 13 other senior Bishops. The College comprises the seminary and the Pontifical University, which offers degrees in theology, philosophy and theology and arts.

Further information:
President’s Office, St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. Tel: 01 708 3958, Fax: 01 708 3959, email: presoff@may.ie
Fr Patrick Rushe, National Coordinator of Diocesan Vocations Directors on 086 8807470 and info@vocations.ie.
Martin Long, Catholic Communications Office, Maynooth, 086-1727678.

PRESS RELEASE 22 August 2010 Sixteen new seminarians commence priesthood studies for Irish dioceses - please see below table of seminarians by diocese
Today sixteen men begin formal studies for the priesthood for Irish dioceses. Covering a wide range of ages – from the late twenties up to early sixties – and with an array of life experience, the new seminarians can look forward to a concentrated period of studies in the four principal areas of priestly formation, namely at a human, spiritual, pastoral, and intellectual level.
Ten seminarians will pursue their studies at the national seminary in St Patrick’s College, Maynooth; four in St Malachy’s College, Belfast; one in the Irish College in Rome and one seminarian begins his studies in the Royal English College, Valladolid, in Spain.
Commenting on the intake of new seminarians, Father Patrick Rushe, Ireland’s National Co-ordinator for Diocesan Vocation Directors said "The new seminarians represent a great hope for all our future. As these men step forward we are witnessing the continuation of the work of bringing the good news of Jesus’ message of healing and hope to our troubled world. I admire the strength and conviction as they follow Christ, particularly in these challenging times.
"Having worked with Vocation Directors in every part of the country, many of these men have already been discerning their vocation for a significant period of time before making this important step. This discernment has highlighted their integrity, maturity, knowledge of the human soul, and a capacity to relate to others, all essential qualities in a priest. As priests their responsibility will be to communicate the love of Christ in any meaningful way, and to vigorously promote God’s work through our humanity," Father Rushe said.
Welcoming the students, Monsignor Hugh Connolly, President of St Patrick’s College, Maynooth, said, "It takes courage and great commitment to embark on a religious way of life today, and we are very firmly of the view that our very best advertisements are our wonderful students both lay and cleric as well as a high calibre staff across the four principal areas of formation namely human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral."
In his address to the new seminarians in Maynooth, Mgr Connolly said "Forming priests and seminarians of prayer, solid faith, pastoral sensitivity and wholesome lifestyles has always and will always be Maynooth’s mission. The people of God need good priests, holy priests, priests who are faithful to Church teaching and especially priests who, in the words of the late Pope John Paul II, are prepared to ‘mould their human personality in such a way that it becomes a bridge and not an obstacle for others in their meeting with Jesus Christ.’"
Welcoming the announcement Bishop Donal McKeown, chair of the Bishops’
Council for Vocations, said, "Today’s good news for the Irish Church calls to mind Pope Benedict’s words as he reviewed the Year for Priests in June:
‘Priesthood, then, is not simply ‘office’ but sacrament: God makes use of us poor men in order to be, through us, present to all men and women, and to act on their behalf. This audacity of God who entrusts himself to human beings – who, conscious of our weaknesses, nonetheless considers men capable of acting and being present in His stead – this audacity of God is the true grandeur concealed in the word ‘priesthood’. That God thinks that we are capable of this; that in this way He calls men to His service and thus from within binds Himself to them: this is what we wanted to reflect upon and appreciate anew.’"
Bishop McKeown concluded, "This profound observation is a valuable reflection for all seminarians and clergy. We need the prayerful support of the faithful at all times and so I ask for prayers for all seminarians, priests and for future vocations."
ENDS Notes to Editors
A breakdown, by diocese, of the 16 first year seminarians for 2010 is as follows:
Armagh 1 Clogher 1 Cork & Ross 1 Derry 1 Down & Connor 3 Dublin 4 Galway 1 Kildare & Leighlin 1 Meath 1 Raphoe 1 Tuam 1
- By the end of September the number of seminarians training in Maynooth will be 66.
- In the last five years the total number of new seminarians beginning their studies was: 36 in 2009, 30 in 2008, 31 in 2007 and 30 in 2006.
- St Patrick’s College Maynooth is the National Seminary for Ireland and has been forming men for the priesthood since 1795, see www.maynoothcollege.ie. The College is also a major provider of formation in theology and in pastoral ministry for 350 lay students.
The Trustees of the College are the Governing Body of the College.
The membership is defined by successive Acts of Parliament. The current Trustees are the four Archbishops of Ireland together with 13 other senior Bishops. The College comprises the seminary and the Pontifical University, which offers degrees in theology, philosophy and theology and arts.
- The website for the Vocations Directors of Ireland is available on www.vocations.ie - An electronic map of the 26 dioceses of Ireland is available on www.catholicbishops.ie
Further information: Fr Patrick Rushe, National Coordinator of Diocesan Vocations Directors on 086 8807470 and info@vocations.ie. President’s Office, St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. Tel: 01 708 3958, Fax: 01 708 3959, email: presoff@may.ie Martin Long, Catholic Communications Office, Maynooth, 086-1727678.

 

PRESS RELEASE 19 August 2010 National Catholic Church collection for Pakistan this weekend

Trócaire staff are reporting that children are filling plastic bottles with filthy water from canals for their families and using it for washing, cooking and even drinking.  This puts them at extreme risk of contracting illnesses from water-borne diseases, but they have no choice - Bishop Kirby

A national collection will be held this weekend, 21 and 22 August, in Catholic churches across Ireland in aid of survivors of Pakistan's devastating floods.  Bishop John Kirby, Bishop of Clonfert and Chairman of Trócaire, is urging Irish parishioners to support collections in their local parishes so as to help Pakistani people cope with the worst flooding in the history of the State.  Trócaire is the official overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

Bishop John Kirby is asking parishioners to help raise life-saving funds for Pakistan’s suffering people.  Bishop Kirby said:

“These floods have left unimaginable destruction and families are in a desperate struggle to survive.  Up to 20 million people have had their lives ruined.  Entire communities have been washed away, leaving millions homeless and hungry.  People are being forced to drink dirty, polluted water and the fear is that children and adults will contract fatal water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea, which is a leading cause of childhood death.

“This weekend, as the situation continues to deteriorate and more heavy rains are predicted, the I am asking people to give what they can through their local Church collection and to answer the call of our brothers and sisters in Pakistan during this crucial time.  Whilst this is a financially difficult time for many Irish families, I am asking that - this weekend - we remember the life-and-death plight facing many Pakistani families who are considerably worse off than ourselves.”

Bishop Kirby continued: “I hear stories from Trócaire staff about small children filling plastic bottles with filthy water from the canals for their families and using it for washing, cooking and even drinking. This puts them at extreme risk of contracting illnesses from water-borne diseases, but they have no choice. Already the first cases of cholera have been confirmed.”

“The saddest thing of all is that this story is being played out all along the 1,000 km of the Indus River from the Northern provinces all the way south to Karachi,” said Bishop Kirby.

Trócaire is providing emergency food, clean water, water purification tablets, cooking utensils, sleeping mats, sanitary goods and other essential items for thousands of affected families. It is ensuring that children and the most vulnerable get enough calories to protect their health. The organisation will work with the Pakistani people to recover in the long-term by rebuilding homes and helping people to begin farming and earning a living once the flooding subsides.

To find out more about Trócaire’s work in Pakistan please visit trocaire.org or call 1850 408 408.

ENDS

Further information:
Emer Mullins, Communications Manager, Trócaire, 086 812 4352
Martin Long, Catholic Communications Office, Maynooth, 086 172 7678

 

PRESS RELEASE 17 August 2010 Bishop Freeman to concelebrate Mass of Thanksgiving today with Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor in St Mary's Cathedral, Kilkenny Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor addresses alumni priests of St Kieran’s College, Kilkenny as part of the Year for Priests Over one hundred and ten priests ordained at St Kieran’s College, Kilkenny gathered for a reunion at their alma mater today in St Kieran's College.  The priests, who trained for their ministry in the college, have spent their lives working in English speaking dioceses around the world, mainly in Britain, the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland.

As part of the universal Year for Priests 2009 - 2010, the past pupils from many parts of the world gathered today for a keynote address, by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Archbishop Emeritus of Westminster.

Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor is to deliver the homily at a public concelebrated Mass of Thanksgiving at St Mary’s Cathedral at 6.15pm this evening, Tuesday 17 August, and all are welcome. Bishop Séamus Freeman S.A.C., Bishop of Ossory, who will be principal celebrant at the Mass of Thanksgiving.  This Mass will officially mark the end of the ‘Year of Priests’ in the Diocese of Ossory and it is hoped laity from all over the diocese will attend to offer their prayerful support and thanks to the priests.  Members of the diocesan St Joseph’s Young Priests Society will have a special role in this unique celebration.

Ahead of welcoming Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor to the Diocese of Ossory, Bishop Freeman said “Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor’s words will challenge and give hope to those who hear them.  I hope as many as possible will come to Saint Mary’s Cathedral in Kilkenny on Tuesday evening.”

Speaking in Maynooth earlier this year Cardinal Murphy O’Connor said: “We should not fear.  In our prayer, our worship, our contemplation before God, and following the teaching of the Church, for those who believe in Christ, the future is always full of hope and open to new life.  Nor should we forget the words of Mother Teresa:  God has not called me to be successful — he has called me to be faithful.”

ENDS
Notes to editors
St Kieran’s College, Kilkenny
St Kieran’s College, Kilkenny is called after the patron of the Diocese of Ossory, St  Kieran of Saighir, (near Birr, Co. Offaly), who, according to tradition, preached the Gospel in Ireland before St  Patrick’s and was described as “the first-born of the saints of Ireland”.  

The original College dates back to 1782 and was the first Catholic school to be opened in Ireland after the relaxation of the Penal Laws in that year, (through an Act passed by Grattan’s Parliament).  “The earliest Catholic College in the Kingdom”.

The first site of the College was Burrell’s Hall where St  Mary’s Cathedral, Kilkenny now stands. In the following decades the College was housed in different places around the city: the Old Academy, (in the grounds of the Loreto Convent), Maudlin Street and Birchfield.  In 1836 the foundation stone of the present College was blessed. Two years later, the College has a new and permanent home.

“The College was now before the World, not only before the people of their own country, but before the people of Ireland, England, America and Australia”.  The Crest of the College was chosen in 1874, and replaces an earlier one.  St Kieran is represented with mitre and staff, standing between two pillars.  The motto of the crest is HIEMS TANSIIT (Winter is Past) (Song of Songs 2: 11).  By ‘winter’ was meant the era of the Penal Laws.  Year after year for two and a half centuries her pupils have gone forth to embark on their careers in life and to take their places in the Church, in the State and amongst the people.

In 1982, some seven hundred priests from St  Kieran’s were ministers in the Church all over the world: England, Scotland, Wales, United States, Canada, Newfoundland, South Africa, Tasmania, New Zealand, as well as at home in many of the dioceses in Ireland.  This number has now dropped to just over three hundred working in diocese around the world mainly in Great Britain, U.S.A. and Ireland.  Seminary studies were suspended in 1994 and now the facilities of the former seminary house the Maynooth (N.U.I.M.) Outreach programmes.

Some Significant Dates in the Life of St Kieran’s College
1782                Bishop Troy rented Burrell’s hall in James’ Street and appointed two priests to look after the school which opened its doors to some forty pupils on 13th January 1783.  (This building was demolished to make way for St. Mary’s Cathedral in the 1840’s)
1789                The School was moved to a building called the ‘Old Academy’ (Now the Good Shepherd Brothers Home for the homeless).
1792                Historic year – the Seminary side of the College began with the first group of young men offering themselves to study for the priesthood.
1811-1814       Seminarians housed in Maudlin Street
1814-1838       Seminarians housed in Birchfield House on the Kells Road
1817                Secondary School returns to Burrell’s Hall
1836                Site for new College bought on the Callan Road
1838                New College opened for Seminary & Secondary School
1877                Moran Wing built (refectory, Theatre, Dormitory)
1905                First year halls, and glass hall
1933                Remainder of halls and glass hall area
1956                Bishop Collier Wing to correspond with the Moran Wing and complete the Architects plan for the front of the College
1970                New Seminary buildings were built and named Burrell’s Hall and Birchfield
1978                New Extension for Senior Classes, Science halls etc.
1982                Bicentenary of the College’s foundation
1994                Suspension of Seminary Studies
2004                Closure of the Boarding School

St Kieran
St Kieran was born on Cape Clear Island near the end of the fourth century.  His family was one of the wealthy noble families of the kingdom of Ossory.  (Offaly, Laois, Kilkenny).  They were among the first Christians in Ireland before the coming of St Patricks.  His mother was a native of west Cork.  

As a young man he was sent to school in France and later in Italy.  He studied for the priesthood in Rome and was ordained there.  While in Rome he met with St Patrick who asked him to return to Ireland as a missionary.  Before he left Rome he was ordained a Bishop.

St Kieran founded his first monastery at a place called Seir near Birr.  Today it is called Sier-Kieran in his memory.  From the monastery at Seir he preached the true faith all over the kingdom of Ossory.  Everywhere he met with great success, young men came forward in great numbers to study for the priesthood at Seir.  When St. Patrick came to Ireland in 432, St. Kieran joined forces with him and together they worked for the spread of the Gospel.  As far as is known St. Kieran died before St. Patrick.  He is remembered as a very holy man who had a great love of the Bible.  He became the first Bishop of Ossory.  On his death the people of the diocese regarded him a Saint.  In fact in the very old books he is called: “The first born of the Saints of Ireland”.  March 5th is his feast day.

St Kieran’s College, Kilkenny 1782-1982
On 29th September, 1782, two priests from the city of Kilkenny, Fathers John Dunne and James Lanigan, secured a house called Burrell’s Hall from Ann Carpenter for 14 years, at a yearly rent of £22.15s.  The house, an old 17th century mansion, stood on the site of the present St Mary’s cathedral and faced St. James’s Green.  Two weeks later, the lease was signed and soon afterwards a prospectus sent out “To the Public”.  In this house, on 13th January, 1783 in a city long famous for its schools, the first Catholic college in Ireland since the relaxation of the Penal Laws opened its doors to students thirsty for learning.  The long Winter of discrimination was past.  A Spring full of hope had dawned.  And the biblical motto on the college crest, “Hiems Transiit” (Winter has passed) stands as a permanent reminder of this historic moment.  

The Relief Act of 1782 had made this possible.  It enabled Catholics to set up schools on taking the Oath of Allegiance and obtaining a licence from the Protestant Bishop of the diocese.  Dr Troy, then Catholic Bishop of Ossory, took immediate advantage of the new situation, and with the help of his two able and zealous priests, who were to be his successors in the See of Ossory, he set an example which the rest of the country gradually followed.  The school was intended especially for those destined for sacred orders, but it prepared students for all walks of life.  English grammar, writing, arithmetic, French, Latin and Greek were on the original curriculum.  So too, were geography, mathematics, ancient and modern history, “in short, every branch of useful and polite literature on the most improved plan”.  The “strictest care would be taken to inculcate religion, and form a taste for virtue and purity of manners”.  The fees were relatively high - £20 a year for boarders, exclusive of washing and £4-11s. for dayboys.  There were to be quarterly examinations, a solemn distribution of prizes and but one vacation.

All the respectable Catholics of Ireland who were educated at home were to be found there, wrote one of the first pupils.  There were rebels there too.  And one of its early pupils, John Henry Colclough, was executed for his part in the Rebellion of 1798.  Another, Philip Hay, was tried and acquitted.  

It took over 50 years for the academy, as it was called to find a permanent home.  In 1789 it moved to a house near St Canice’s Cathedral which is now occupied by the Loreto nuns.  Here ecclesiastical studies began in 1792, the first such course in modern Ireland.   Dr. Andre Fitzgerald, its first professor of philosophy, provided a link with another famous college – Kilkenny College.  He had received his early education there.  From its earliest years, many of the students came from the North of Ireland, thus establishing a link that has lasted to the present day.  

Famous Students
Lay and ecclesiastical students studied side by side for close on 20 years in the Old Academy.  John Banim (author) was a student here.  So too were Theobold Matthew, the Apostle of Temperance, who won the medal for good conduct in 1806, and Laurence Renehan, later to become President of Maynooth College.

Growing numbers caused the ecclesiastical students to move to Maudlin Street in 1811.  But only some of its 150 students from many parts of Ireland found accommodation in the house.   The rest were boarded out in the city.  The first stirrings of a missionary spirits were to be felt here as priests left for Newfoundland with the fishing fleets that called regularly at Waterford harbour.  Three years later the students moved to more spacious surroundings in Birchfield, just outside the city.  Here, for the first time, it was called St Kyran’s College. Missionaries went from here to Newfoundland, Canada, the United States and Australia.  

The lay students, meanwhile, stayed on in the old academy and returned to Burrell’s Hall in 1817.  From its halls went forth the ‘Callan Curates’: Father Matt O’Keeffe and Tom O’Shea who founded the ‘Callan Tenants’ Protection Society in 1849, and did sterling work for tenants’ rights. 

The foundation stone of the present Gothic style building was laid in October 1836, and three years alter lay and ecclesiastical students were together again under the one roof, St Kyran’s College had at last established a permanent home.  Work continued on the building right through the harsh years of the Famine, but lack of funds caused it to cease in 1849.

The original plan would remain incomplete for over a century.  Difficult times were in store for the seminary over the next 20 years.  But it survived.  And, as in every generation, the College had its luminaries: Fr. Healy, author of The Antiquities of Kilkenny and Dr. Wattie McDonald, long time professor at Maynooth College.  

Moran Wing
During his 12 years as Bishop of Ossory, Dr  Moran left a deep imprint on the life of the college.  The Moran wing completed the original design on the east side.  The grounds were extended and athletics began to figure prominently in college records.  The Ossory Archaeological Society was founded in the college; the college museum was set up, and a new crest adopted.  The seminary took on a definite missionary aim and sent a stream of priests throughout the English-speaking world.  

Among those influenced by the learned Bishop’s ardent interest in history was one pupil of the time.  William Carrigan.  He wrote: History and Antiquities of the Diocese of Ossory, recently republished and this is, arguable, the finest diocesan history in Ireland.  A distinguished visitor to the college in those years was Mr. Gladstone, whose wife had some of the art of handball explained to her by a student during the trip.

The turn of the century brought memorable successes in the academic line.  It also brought to the staff two men, Thomas McDonagh and Francis Sheehy Skeffington, who were later to achieve national fame.  Hurling, rugby and handball were the games played in those years.  Rugby was the only one played on a competitive basis but under Fr. Doody, Gaelic games came into their own the college won the first unofficial hurling All-Ireland in 1909.  The War of Independence did not pass unnoticed.  British soldiers paid ‘visits’ to the college and on one such ‘visit’ a student, James Butler, was arrested and detained at Woodstock for a day or two. 

Additions were made to the college to cope with growing numbers of students in 1905, 1933 and in 1958, when the original design for the front was at last completed.  Missionaries continued to go forth in ever-increasing numbers and two successive Presidents of the college, Father Collier and Dr. Staunton, became Bishops of Ossory and Ferns respectively.

Needs
The episcopacy of Dr. Birch, past pupil, past professor and college historian, witnessed many developments in the life of the college.  New seminary buildings were constructed during the Presidency of Canon Holohan and ecclesiastical studies were reorganised.  The number of students has decreased, but there is an upward trend – this, the Bi-Centenary year, with 49 students to join the over 700 priests from the college scattered throughout the world preaching the Word of God.  Major changes have also taken place in the secondary school with revolution in secondary education.  Numbers have increased dramatically, from 333 students in 1965 to 517 in 1982.  Co-operation with the City Vocational School, which began in 1966, has developed during the Presidency of Fr. Tommy Maher into a unique working relationship which merited the recent praise of the Minister for Education.  A new complex of buildings owned by the college and the local V. E. C.  and completed in 1980, provides a full range of academic and technical subjects to meet the needs of the pupils in both schools.  

The college has come a long way from Burrell’s Hall and its wine cellar, which was its first schoolroom.  Its original curriculum has changed beyond recognition.

But its students continue to distinguish themselves in all walks of life; in the service of the Church; in politics; in business; in the professions and in the arts.  St Kieran’s looks forward confidentially to the third century, new beginnings and to furthering its own – unique contribution to education in Ireland.  The Winter is long past.  The Spring is full of life and hope.

ENDS

Further information:
Fr. Dan Carroll, Diocesan Communications Officer 087 907 7769
Martin Long, Catholic Communications Office, Maynooth 086 172 7678

PRESS RELEASE 16 August 2010 Bishops launch of In Praise of Priests DVD in All Hallows, Dublin Bishop Philip Boyce, Bishop of Raphoe and Chair of the Council for Clergy and Bishop Donal McKeown, Auxiliary Bishop of Down and Connor and Chair of the Council for Vocations today launched the DVD, In Praise of Priests, at All Hallows College, Dublin, as part of the celebration for the Year for Priests 2009 – 2010.
In Praise of Priests consists of five brief interviews with a cross-section of Irish lay people expressing their admiration for the contribution of a particular priest in their own lives. It is now available to view on www.youtube.com/irishcatholicbishops. The individuals who contribute to the DVD are: -     Ms Ashleigh O’Neill who speaks about Fr Paul Dempsey of the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin -     Ms Alice Taylor who speaks about Fr Denis O’Connor CSsR -     Mr George Hook who speaks about Fr Alphonsus Moran OP -     Mr David Begg who speaks about Fr Aengus Finucane CSSp -     Mr Mickey Harte who speaks about Mgr Eoin Thynne HCF

Launching the DVD Bishop Boyce said:

“The Church in Ireland has marked the Year for Priests in different ways with dioceses organising various events and organisations like Saint Joseph’s Young Priests Society playing an important role in this regard. The brief visit of the relics of St John Vianney at the end of April offered us an opportunity to pray for priests as well as venerate the relics of this inspirational French priest. During May and June Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York and Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor spoke at different gatherings in Ireland for the Year for Priests. The production of this DVD is another form of marking this important Year.

“The past year too also saw the serious sins and crimes of some priests highlighted as well as the failure of Church leaders to deal adequately with these cases. This is a source of deep shame and sorrow.
“These revelations must not obscure the outstanding and exemplary ministry lived by priests throughout this land and beyond, whether in parishes, hospitals, schools, offices, prisons, chaplaincies, or foreign countries, often being courageous and gentle voices bringing healing, comfort, inspiration, and truth to the people of our time.”
Also addressing the event Bishop McKeown said:
“In my opinion the experiences of the five interviewees, on this special DVD In Praise of Priests, are quite different.  For Alice Taylor, what came across to me was the companionship that she and her family have received from a fellow pilgrim, a fellow seeker after holiness and the Transcendent, a person who has dug deep to find integrity in the human journey. For George Hook, it was the liberating and spontaneous wisdom that came from a priest in whom he had confided as a teenager – and with whom he has had no contact since. Ashleigh O’Neill was struck by a young priest who sought to share his enthusiasm with young people on pilgrimage and in parish. Mickey Harte reflects on a number of priests who helped him to proclaim a God who was interested in all that matters to us, an infinite God who gives infinite meaning to the finite. And David Begg remembers a man whose patent faith in the God of love gave him a passion for justice in the world."
Please see below, after 'Notes for Editors', the scripts for Bishop Boyce and Bishop McKeown from today's DVD launch of In Praise of Priests.
Notes for Editors
The five video interviews on In Praise of Priests will be available separately on a special feature on the websites www.catholicbishops.ie and they are also available on www.youtube.com/irishcatholicbishops.

Year for Priests

The Year for Priests, which was launched by Pope Benedict on the Feast of the Sacred Heart 19 June 2009, is a call to renewal and conversion for the whole church. Pope Benedict has expressed his hope that the Year for Priests would support the faithfulness and holiness of priests, and deepen their commitment to 'interior renewal for the sake of a more forceful and incisive witness to the Gospel in today’s world'. The website for the Year for Priests is: www.annussacerdotalis.org.

St Jean Vianney

St Jean Vianney, the patron Saint of all priests, was born on 8 May 1786 and died 4 August 1859. After many difficulties including military service, academic struggles, and the anti-clerical context of the French Revolution, he was ordained priest on 13 August 1815. He served as an assistant priest in Ecully and as Parish Priest in Ars where he was famous for his sanctity and radical spiritual transformation of his parish and its surroundings. His ministry of the sacrament of reconciliation was legendary with him devoting up to eighteen hours a day in the confessional. He was canonised in 1925. Earlier this year Benedict XVI proclaimed St Jean Vianney as patron saint of all the priests of the world.

The Year for Priests in Ireland

Parishes and dioceses organised individual celebrations for this special year. At a national level, the relics of St Jean Vianney visited the four provinces, with thousands of visitors coming to venerate the heart of St Jean Vianney in Cork, Dublin, Knock and Armagh. St Patrick's College, Maynooth hosted a seminar on 27 May, at which Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh, officially welcomed Archbishop Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, who delivered the keynote address: “God is the only treasure people desire to find in a priest”. This special event was attended by priests and laity from throughout Ireland along with representatives of religious congregations and missionary groups, as well as students and staff of Maynooth.

The Archbishop Emeritus of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor was the guest speaker at the Maynooth Union Celebrations on Tuesday 15 June 2010 where he reflected on his personal experiences of priesthood.

For further information on the Year for Priests, including video footage of the Visit of the Relics of St Jean Vianney to Ireland and an interview with Archbishop Timothy Dolan, recorded exclusively for the website, please visit the website www.catholicbishops.ie

Speaking Notes of Bishop Boyce at Launch of In Praise of Priests
As chairman of the Council for Clergy of the Bishops’ Conference, I am delighted to welcome you all to the launch of the DVD In Praise of Priests that has been put together by the Catholic Communications Office to mark the Year for Priests 2009-2010 in this country. Thank you especially to those who participated in the DVD as you spoke about the positive contribution made by a priest to your lives. I also pay tribute to those who produced the DVD. I acknowledge as well those who are gathered for the Intercession for Priests here in All Hallows as you come together to pray for and renew the priesthood in the context of reflection and communion with God. This DVD is a snapshot of the immense good work done by Irish priests at home and abroad and it is right that we mark this dedication and generosity.
Pope Benedict XVI, speaking at the close of the Year for Priests in Rome, said that the role of a priest is to speak in Christ’s name. He said, “[The] audacity of God who entrusts himself to human beings – who, conscious of our weaknesses, nonetheless considers men capable of acting and being present in his stead – this audacity of God is the true grandeur concealed in the word ‘priesthood’.” Countless priests have lived this commitment in fidelity and perseverance and this is highlighted in this DVD as the speakers talked about the bonds of love between priests and people.
The Church in Ireland has marked the Year for Priests in different ways with dioceses organising various events and organisations like Saint Joseph’s Young Priests Society playing an important role in this regard. The brief visit of the relics of St John Vianney at the end of April offered us an opportunity to pray for priests as well as venerate the relics of this inspirational French priest. During May and June Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York and Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor spoke at different gatherings in Ireland for the Year for Priests. The production of this DVD is another form of marking that Year.
The past year too also saw the serious sins and crimes of some priests highlighted as well as the failure of Church leaders to deal adequately with these cases. This is a source of deep shame and sorrow. Again, quoting Pope Benedict, “We insistently beg forgiveness from God and from the persons involved, while promising to do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again; ...[these revelations have been] a summons to purification.” This purification is an ongoing task for all in the Church to be converted to build an environment where all Christ’s people are cared for and cherished. Today the Church works closely with civil authorities and the independent National Office for Safeguarding Children to achieve this aim.
These revelations must not obscure the outstanding and exemplary ministry lived by priests throughout this land and beyond, whether in parishes, hospitals, schools, offices, prisons, chaplaincies, or foreign countries, often being courageous and gentle voices bringing healing, comfort, inspiration, and truth to the people of our time.
Bishop Donal McKeown will speak shortly particularly on the issue of promoting vocations to the priesthood but before that I invite you to enjoy the DVD In Praise of Priests.
Speaking Notes of Bishop Donal McKeown, at the launch of DVD, In Praise of Priests

There are those who find it a bizarre time to launch any material in praise of priests, in that it might well be seen as piously self-congratulatory or blindly arrogant. We all know lots of people – some in our own family circles – who have no time for clergy, either because of bad personal experiences or because of the disrepute into which religion in general - and clergy in particular - have fallen in the last decades. And yet, as the five simple interviews on this DVD show, there are many people in Ireland who have great memories of at least some of the priests that they came to know in many different contexts.

The experiences of the five interviewees are quite different. For Alice Taylor, what came across to me was the companionship that she and her family have received from a fellow pilgrim, a fellow seeker after holiness and the Transcendent, a person who has dug deep to find integrity in the human journey. For George Hook, it was the liberating and spontaneous wisdom that came from a priest in whom he had confided as a teenager – and with whom he has had no contact since. Ashleigh O’Neill was struck by a young priest who sought to share his enthusiasm with young people on pilgrimage and in parish. Mickey Harte reflects on a number of priests who helped him to proclaim a God who was interested in all that matters to us, an infinite God who gives infinite meaning to the finite. And David Begg remembers a man whose patent faith in the God of love gave him a passion for justice in the world.

Now some people will look at the unpretentious interviews and say, ‘so what?’ But a few things struck me.

Firstly, these are people whose hearts have been touched, whose desire for the good and beautiful has been nourished. Church people sometimes, maybe often, seek certainty in either a spirituality that seems to hate the world and or in the trite search for fatuous popularity that Jesus rejected in is initial temptations. One of the strengths of Catholicism has been the ability to appeal both to the head and the heart, and to cherish the here in the light of the hereafter. That is a combination that Jesus maintained. He was clear about good and bad, right and wrong, the Father and the Evil One. But Jesus also talked to the broken hearts of people, he engaged their imagination with story and he responded to the need for a healing touch that spoke louder than words. People still need those who can speak to the heart and the head and do so with integrity, seeking to serve the other, rather than themselves, trying to heal rather than just to criticise or judge. There has been ample spiritual and other abuse. We can learn from the many examples where there has been spiritual growth and inspiration
Secondly, Ireland can turn to NAMA to sort out the bad debts of the consumerist ideology that had consumed us all. It will take an awful lot more to sort out the rubbish heap of shattered dreams, lost trust and broken promises that fester in the corner of modern Ireland. Church, politics, bank and even the weather seem to have conspired against the hopes of Sean and Mary Citizen. The ground is unsteady under our feet. It is hard to know where we can build reliable foundations for the future. And it is precisely in a time like this that we need people who have what even secular management theory calls ‘spiritual intelligence’, that ability to take the rubble of the past and make it into foundations for the future. In the North we know just how much there is the uncertainty as to whether that rubble is best used for foundations or just as a store house for new weaponry. But every period of crisis has produced wise figures who could transform the story about the future. The Old Testament produced the prophets, the fall of Roman Empire made space for the energy of Irish monasticism - and post-war Europe saw Schuman, de Gasperi and Adenauer dream the impossible dream of a united Europe. It is interesting that in times of human crisis, it has been from these from people with religious faith that great wisdom has come. Ireland still needs people who will have the confident restlessness that characterises wise leaders. A depressed people does not need more mass produced cultural negativity. We need the happy complainers who can name evils of the past and present - without losing faith in human nature and institutions into the future. Pope John Paul, writing in 2003 in his letter Ecclesia in Europa, focused on the need for hope in our modern continent,[1] whose widespread nihilism has infected our Irish psyche as well. It was the former Czech president Vaclav Havel who is quoted as saying that hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out. That makes it possible for everyone to confront and even live with the reality of evil and pain. It is with that sort of conviction that we need to face the future with a little less trepidation. Priests, religious and lay leaders at all levels – whatever their personal frailties and even sin – reflect that language, that longing. If that voice is snuffed out, the country will be immeasurable impoverished.
Thirdly, there is much self-loathing in our society. People are pained by their own experience, or detest their bodies or seek salvation in having or doing rather than in being. The associated reality of addiction is more to be pitied than condemned. These priests mentioned in the DVD seem to have been able to help individuals to knit together the various fragmented parts of human life and to see good despite the apparently insurmountable odds that some of them faced. There is a huge hunger to be loved and to believe in love. Every society needs, not just more biscuits, face cream and electronic gadgets but people who can promote love, belonging, community and identity. Pope John Paul II spoke of the need, not just for any sort of spirituality but for a ‘spirituality of communion’[2] . And Pope Benedict XVI was so clear about the power of loving and being loved.[3].  A message that I am lovable only because of what I have or wear or look like is a recipe for self-hate. Good preachers of the Word of God – like those named in the DVD - have always known how to knit up the ‘ravelled sleeve of care. That means human beings who have a human warmth, emotional intelligence, a personal integrity and a desire to serve others. Ireland without those would be a hell on earth - and that is how too many of our people already experience life. The priests praised in the interviews – and thousands of other clergy, religious and laity - have known how to face that reality.
We are here in All Hallows because in this month every year, priests gather here to seek nourishment, fraternity, encouragement and grace. It is also the time of the year when exam results come out and serious life choices face our school leavers.
To the priests here, I say, ‘thank you’ for all your quiet dedication and service. There might not be a DVD made about you – but that does not mean that your work and witness, your repeated experience of Cross and Resurrection have been in vain. There are people out there who would be happy to testify to the good work that you have done, to the heads and hearts you have touched. But most of you wouldn’t even be aware of what good you have done and certainly wouldn’t want a DVD made about you.
To young people, I say, Ireland needs people of idealism and generosity. Don’t let anyone beat your dreams out of you. Live up to the best that you can be, not down to the level that some will say is all you can expect of yourself, others and life. Don’t vanish into a private world where rights are less important than privileges. Believe in better – but don’t expect it to be delivered by a new Sky TV HD package. You can see life in High Definition around the corner and it is at the same time beautiful and frightening. Seek for self-transcendence in life, not just self-fulfilment. Seek to live a good life and not just to endlessly chase after the good life.
I welcome this DVD. I don’t see it just as an empty voice singing the praise of some clergy. Ultimately, it is not even praise of priests, even though specific names are mentioned. Rather it reflects what spiritual people can do – and how much they are appreciated. It could be used in parish, at home or in education to reflect on a variety of things:

1. for personal reflection when a person/group asks/shares on what memories they have of clergy – good and bad;
2. to reflect on what the interviews say about the deep needs of the human heart in modern Ireland and on how ministry might be honed to respond to that in Jesus’ name;
3. to reflect on what role church personnel might play in relation to

o   young people; o   the reality of poverty at home and on a global scale; o   the world of popular culture, including sport; o   supporting faith development within the family context.
The challenge for the Catholic Church in Ireland is not to ask how we can get our strength back. Renewal will not come by sniping at the new ideology that now holds sway. The answer will come when we open ourselves together to Jesus’ teaching and silence, to his activity in word and sacrament – and make ourselves humbly available to be used by him to heal the broken heart of the world. Where that happened and happens, God’s grace can heal lives and give strength to weary limbs. Good priests, great religious men and women and marvellous lay people have always done that. They deserve to be celebrated. [1] Ecclesia in Europa, 2003, para 7-10 [2] Novo Millennio Ineunte¸ 2001, para 43 [3] Deus Caritas Est, “Love is indeed ‘ecstacy’... a journey, an ongoing exodus out of the closed inward-looking self towards its liberation through self-giving, and thus towards authentic self-discovery and indeed the discovery of God.” Para 6 ENDS
Further information: Martin Long, Director of Communications 086 1727678

PRESS RELEASE 15 August 2010 Personal reflection of a diocesan bishop by Bishop Christy Jones on the occasion of the Elphin Diocesan Pilgrimage to the Marian Shrine of Knock "I believe in my heart that the more lay people participate in the life and ministry of the Church, the more their lives will be enriched and the more energy and dynamism they will bring to the life of the Church generally" - Bishop Jones

I have been invited to share with you some reflections on my life as a Bishop. Of the many rich experiences I could share with you, I have decided to speak about a few: the participation of lay-people in the life of the church; reaching out to our youth; the challenges of rapid social and economic changes and our response to scandals within the church.

I feel very fortunate that as the second youngest of a family of eleven I had, as a child, been formed in a home of love, faith and prayer. I am also always grateful for the quality of education I received in Summerhill College in Sligo. Later, I embarked on discerning God’s call to priesthood in St Patrick’s College Maynooth and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Elphin. Over the years, I worked in parishes, taught in my old alma mater - Summerhill College. I also helped found and manage Sligo Social Services for many years and was administrator of the Cathedral Parish in Sligo before being appointed Bishop in 1994.                                                                                             

On this very day, the Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady, sixteen years ago, I was ordained bishop. It was a day that in a very real sense was to change my life. During the ceremony, I remember the ordaining bishop addressing me as follows:

As a father and brother love all those whom God places in your care. Love the poor and infirm, the stranger and the homeless. The title of bishop is not one of honour but of function. Therefore a bishop should strive to serve rather than rule.

Then he ended with the words:

Attend to the whole flock in which the Holy Spirit appoints you as overseer of the Church of God in the name of the Son Jesus Christ whose role of teacher, priest and shepherd you undertake and In the name of the Holy Spirit who gives life to the Church of Christ and supports our weakness with His strength.

I remember feeling truly humbled and truly unworthy at that moment. However, at the same time, I did believe that the Lord was calling me and that he would be with me all the way. That is why I chose for my motto:  “Fiat Mihi”. Those words were Mary’s response to the Angel Gabrielle: “Be it done unto me according to your word”. I was saying to the Lord: “Yes, if this is your wish … but I will be trusting and depending on you to the end”.    

I can honestly say sixteen years later that I have trusted in the God who called me that day, I am still trusting in Him and He has never failed me. The times when I feel fearful or worried are the times when I begin to depend on my own strength and resources. I feel fearful and worried because I know how limited I am, how selfish and indeed how weak and sinful I can be. It is then that I must return to my motto “Fiat Mihi”.

The Second Vatican Council
As I look back I can truly say that I have very happy memories of my years as bishop. I was ordained priest in June 1962 just months before the Second Vatican Council opened in Rome. Therefore the teaching of the Council has been part of my priestly life from the very beginning. My years as a priest working every day in Sligo Social Services Centre with staff and our many hundreds of volunteers gave me a great insight into the gifts, talents, goodness and competence of lay people.

The documents of Vatican II proclaimed the importance for the Church that lay people - men and women, young and old should, because of their baptism, take their rightful role and responsibility in the life of the Church. I believe in my heart that the more lay people participate in the life and ministry of the Church, the more their lives will be enriched and the more energy and dynamism they will bring to the life of the Church generally.

Participation of Laity
From my first days as bishop, with the total support of priests and religious, we endeavoured in every way to prepare the lay people of the diocese for a more active role in the life of the Church. We knew that it would be difficult to change the “mind-set” of centuries. We brought lay people and priests from other dioceses to share their experiences especially of what was succeeding. We set up a group of priests, religious and lay people to establish an office for parish development and renewal and to appoint a full time lay person as its director. A competent married lay man was chosen to head up the venture. In time, the group of people evolved into the Elphin Pastoral Planning Group and to this day they plan, monitor and support our director of Parish Development and Renewal in promoting more active participation of the laity in the life of the church.

Results
It is very difficult to measure results but thank God we now have a Parish Pastoral Council composed of laity working in collaboration with their priests in almost every parish of the diocese. We also have a restructured Diocesan Pastoral Council representative of lay people, priests and religious. In my eyes, this is the most important Council in the diocese. Chaired, by a lay woman, it is the hub of diocesan pastoral listening, planning and activity.

As I look down at our Congregation every Sunday I imagine and dream of what could be achieved if each lay person present took their rightful active part in living and promoting the mission of the Church as a herald of good news for our challenging and changing times. I know people who are praying and back again at Mass because of something a friend said to them at work.

Impact of Economic and Social Change
I have seen huge change in the faith and prayer life of our people during periods of economic boom in our country: firstly in the 1960’s and 1970’s and then in the 1990’s.  It was great to see full employment and much prosperity but very rapidly things material preoccupied the minds and hearts of people. God and the good news of the Gospel was often pushed from the centre to the sidelines of life.  

Many invested all of their time, effort and energy in their jobs, houses, cars etc. and took their relationships for granted. Yet life itself teaches us that our real happiness and joy comes not from things like jobs, houses or cars, however important they are, but from our happy relationships with each other and with our God. Likewise our greatest suffering and pain comes not from the loss of a job, car or house but from broken and betrayed relationships. Relationships do not happen. Parents and children must make relationships happen. They must work hard to acquire the gifts - the building blocks of all relationships - of acceptance, trust, tolerance, patience, forgiveness and love.

Our heart goes out today to individuals and families who are suffering from unemployment and huge mortgages and we must do everything in our power to help. Maybe in those difficult times our people will rediscover the importance of having time for themselves and for their God once more.

The Challenge of the Young
It truly saddens me to hear that Catholic children are coming to school today who cannot make the sign of the cross or recite any simple prayer.   Some children see the inside of the Church for the first time when they come for First Communion. It saddens me also that children do not have that Sunday morning experience of the faith community at Mass in the Church, of the chat with neighbours outside the Church and the only Irish breakfast of the week afterwards. The supermarket seems to have become the place of worship for many families on a Sunday. Again we must try in every way to reach out to those parents and encourage them to take an active part in the evangelization of their children.

From my studies in sociology as a young priest, I learned how Durkheim was one of the first social scientists to carry out a scientific survey.  It was on suicide. He found that in times of rapid social change people are isolated from great sources of support e.g. the local community and the family. They are left without any norms or guidelines. They find themselves in a state of “Anomie” which means a normless vacuum. I think many of our young people are in this situation. From my experience as Bishop, I can truly say that the vast majority of young people today are remarkable. They are very honest and have a great concern for justice and for the poor and especially the poor of developing nations.

They have close friends who are important to them - but if friends fail and they may not have family, community or Church support - then they may find themselves in a dark place and often do not even have the support of faith.

Bridging the Gap
Since my teaching days, I miss very much contact with young people. Sadly our current culture with its ever growing generation gaps means that today young people are rarely present where adults are gathered. Sadly commercial interests have succeeded so well in isolating youth from adults so they can target their pockets.  Each year our diocese brings between eighty and one hundred wonderful young people with us on our pilgrimage to Lourdes. I always look forward to the opportunity this gives me to sit down and chat over a cup of coffee with the young people present about their lives.

Young people tell me that there, in Lourdes, they see the Church community at its best with beautiful liturgies and caring for the sick and the suffering. They also experience a sense of belonging to their peers in Lourdes, to the adult leaders and indeed to the pilgrimage community. Most of them tell me they wish to return the following year.

Our diocese has built a state of the art youth club at the centre of Sligo City. We have also established a diocesan youth office at St Mary’s, Sligo, and appointed a diocesan youth director.  The ongoing challenge is for each parish to find ways and means of involving their young people in the life of the parish community, perhaps as readers in the Church, as Eucharistic Ministers, as Faith Friends, raising money for the poor at home and in the Third World.

Most Enjoyable Experience as Bishop
People often ask me what work as a Bishop I find most enjoyable. I would have to say parish visitation. It is very tiring but most rewarding. Every three years, I try to visit each parish of the diocese.

It gives me a great opportunity to meet with the local priests on their own ground. Thank God to date I have always received a warm welcome. I am always amazed at the knowledge every priest has of his parish, the people and the life story of each person. We should really celebrate and thank God for our priests who continue to minister so joyfully despite what they are suffering in these difficult dark days.

I visit the primary schools before lunch. Today they are places of joy and not of fear as they were in our day. The buildings and facilities are state of the Art and the principal and teachers obviously love the children entrusted to their care. Joy literally radiates from the eyes of the children as you talk to them. It was great to read Sarah Carey in The Irish Times last year saying that our primary schools were the envy of countries in Europe.

After lunch, I bring the Eucharist to those who are sick and housebound.    Those people are not thinking about profit or property or power. It is a joy to see how they welcome Jesus into their homes and into their hearts.   Your faith is really refreshed and strengthened by the experience.

It is great also to see how many families care for their sick and their aged.    Some have to make huge sacrifices to keep their aged parents at home.    Then of course our parents made huge sacrifices for us when we were children. They would have died for us.

Reasons for Hope and Joy
Although I may be coming near the end of my time as bishop - the effort of renewal and ministry continues with new and exciting developments. Recently as a diocese we decided to restore the Permanent Diaconate and to introduce dedicated catechists in some of our parishes. I am grateful to God that at this time we have seven men in our diocese preparing for the permanent diaconate. It is astonishing that in such a secular society we still have people in the world of business and in the professions willing to offer themselves as candidates for the permanent diaconate. As you know once they are ordained, deacons, they will preach the Gospel and minister at Baptisms, Marriages and Funerals. This September our first full time catechist - a young married woman will begin work in two of the largest parishes in the diocese. Catechists will help all members of the Christian community discover the richness of their faith and help them to share it with others Please pray for them. I am certain that as deacons and Catechists they will enrich the ministry of the Church in our diocese and be a real bond between priests and lay people.

Reasons for Sadness
I hope, in the light of what I have said, that you get some small idea of what my life has been like as bishop!  It has been hard work every day all the way but very gratifying work. With the support and guidance of priests, religious and lay people it is truly amazing what a diocese can achieve.   

Throughout the sixteen years a dark heavy cloud of regret embarrassment and shame has engulfed the Catholic Church in Ireland. Nothing deliberately designed by individuals or a group of individuals could have caused such suffering to children and could have so undermined the trust of people in their Church as the scandals of child sexual abuse by priests and religious.

Our greatest anxiety and care has to be for the victims – the children who have suffered so much hurt and pain. As Church we must never cease to express our sincere regret, our apology, our shame and our horror at what has been done to children so loved by Jesus Christ. Indeed Jesus continues to suffer in the children abused. We must do everything possible as a Church through counselling and therapy to help the healing of victims and their return to health.  In every parish of the country we are putting in place policies and procedures that will prevent children from ever again being abused by bishops, priests, religious or indeed any lay people who work as volunteers with the Church. And we must do everything in our power to help with the spiritual hurts and needs of victims wherever they seek such help.

The Church Continues
Anyone who knows anything about the history of the Catholic Church knows that through the centuries the Church has been failed by popes, bishops, priests and religious. Yes all of us fail the Church from time to time because we are sinners. However through the power of the Holy Spirit Jesus continues to live in the Church and, through the Church, He continues to preach and teach to heal and forgive in our day.

The Church will survive because Christ has promised to remain with us forever. The Church was here before we came along. It will be here long after we are gone. Every generation including our own is called through prayer and care of our neighbour to help people discover Jesus in their hearts and homes and in every person they meet every day.

ENDS

Notes for Editors

• Bishop Christopher Jones is Bishop of the Diocese of Elphin.  Bishop Jones was ordained a priest on 21 June 1962 and ordained bishop on this day, the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, 15 August 1994.  Many bishops lead their dioceses on pilgrimage to Ireland's Marian Shrine during August.
• The Diocese of Elphin includes portions of counties Roscommon, Sligo, Westmeath and Galway.  The Cathedral Church for the diocese is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Sligo.  The diocese has a Catholic population of about 70,000, 38 parishes and 90 Catholic Churches.  The Patrons of the Diocese of Elphin are St Asicus and Immaculate Conception.
• Today the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin or the taking up of Mary into heaven.  The Church has celebrated this feast since about the tenth century.  Pope Pius XII proclaimed as a solemn teaching in 1950 that "the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory."

Further information:
Martin Long, Director of Communications 086 172 7678