Cathal Barry
Sr Clare ‘will live on in lives she has changed’
A priest has spoken of the pride of Derry Catholics amidst the sadness at the tragic death of local nun Sr Clare Crockett, knowing that the sister died in the service of her religious calling.
Sr Clare, 33, was confirmed dead this week after a massive earthquake, which killed at least 413 people, struck the Playa Prieta area of Ecuador where she was based.
Reports say that the quick-thinking Derry woman reacted immediately to the first signs of the tremor, and pushed the young women she was teaching to safety just before the building collapsed in on herself.
Local curate in her heartbroken Longtower parish in Derry, Fr Brendan Collins told The Irish Catholic that “she was trying to save the lives of others”. “She died the way she lived her life – trying to help other people.”
He said he was convinced that “her legacy will live on in the lives of the people that she has changed”.
Devastated
Fr Collins, who is comforting her family as they await the return of her remains from Ecuador said “they are just absolutely devastated at the news… She loved the work that she did. She was just so happy as a nun. Any time her family would have spoken to her she was very content.”
However, he said that Sr Clare’s family are “very proud of her, for what she had achieved in her short life and the impact she has made”.
“The family’s worry now is just to try get her home. She is going to be buried in Derry so they are trying to fly her home at the minute,” he said.
Fr Collins said that local parishioners have started fundraising for the family.
“Locals have been talking about how courageous she was in the world that we live in today to give up everything and leave it all behind.
“She was part of a community where family values are so strong that it was difficult for her to be away but she believed that this was what God had wanted her to do with her life,” Fr Collins said, describing Sr Clare as “an incredible witness”.
Inspiration
“Her witness and example will be an inspiration for many young people today, not just for religious life, but to follow your heart to use the gift that God has given you for the good of other people,” Fr Collins said.
Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown described “a lot of sadness” in the city at the news.
“The witness of her life not only points to the generosity of her own response to God’s call – but it also mirrors what generations of idealistic young men and women have done in giving their lives and their talents in the service of God’s people around the world.
“Her death will be a huge loss to her family – but it also touches many of her contemporaries who admired the generosity of this bright and gifted young woman,” Dr McKeown said.