Mags Gargan‘We resisted Cromwell and will overcome this’
Dominican priests in Drogheda have vowed to resist a controversial order from Church authorities to leave and close down the church.
“We have a bit of a fight on our hands but we resisted Cromwell and we can overcome this,” Fr Jim Donleavy OP told The Irish Catholic.
“We are making a stand and we are going to stay. They can call the guards or the bailiffs, but we can’t in conscience walk away from the people,” a determined Fr Donleavy said.
Dominican authorities announced in September that they were planning to withdraw from five communities across Ireland because of falling numbers and the aging profile of members. However, parishioners in Drogheda reacted with dismay and the sacristan began a hunger strike which led 20,000 locals to sign a petition calling for the decision to be reversed.
Fr Donleavy said the friars were determined to stand with the local people who the community has served for almost 800 years, despite repeated waves of persecution. He rejected allegations that the friars’ stand against their superiors went against the order’s vow of obedience. “Theologically I have thought it through very carefully and my conscience is quite clear,” he said.
Disobeying
The prior, Fr Tony McMullan OP, agreed saying the friars didn’t believe they were disobeying, but doing what they feel is right.
“We don’t see ourselves as being defiant. We feel that this decision wasn’t given enough thought. The whole episode has been handled badly and what we feel has not been taken into consideration,” he said.
“We want to stay in the town. We feel we still have a mission and ministry here in Drogheda,” Fr McMullan said.
Cllr Kevin Callan, Mayor of Drogheda, told The Irish Catholic that local people are very attached to the community. “As a civic leader I support the efforts of the community to stay in Drogheda.
“It’s very clear to me as a mayor from speaking to people visiting the church and members of the community, it is part of their way of life that they want to continue,” Cllr Callan said.
The mayor is to seek a meeting with the worldwide head of the Dominicans Fr Bruno Cadoré OP in Rome.
Fr Gregory Carroll, prior provincial for the order, said in a statement to The Irish Catholic that while he appreciated that the decision to leave parishes was “painful” for the friars and people in those communities, it was “unavoidable” with the falling number of members.
“In Drogheda, as in the other priories from which it is planned to withdraw, a working party has been set up to advise on the way forward. In each case, this group includes representatives of the people attending the church and of the wider parish, and these groups are scheduled to start their deliberations in the near future.
“The conclusions, advice and recommendations of these groups will help shape our decisions on what to do next,” he said.
Fr McMullan, Fr Donleavy and Fr Joseph Heffernan OP have all vowed that they will resist the closure and will remain in Drogheda. Another member of the community, Fr Chris O’Brien OP, who is currently in the nearby Moorehall nursing home, is also backing the stand.