Fr Ger Dunne (right) Personal Profile
Fr Ger Dunne is the man at the helm of the Catholic Chaplaincy in University College Cork. A Dominican, he appreciates the values a university and its culture engenders in students.
“I’m always inspired by the goodness of students and they don’t get enough credit, to my mind, for their altruistic nature, I have to say. And their inquiring minds. A university of course naturally, you know, promotes inquiring and inquiring minds, so that’d be the first thing,” he tells The Irish Catholic.
Their faith was a very, very simple, sort of, traditional, rural faith, really…it rubbed off on me I have to say”
Immersed in an intellectual order and surrounded by students, Fr Dunne attributes his faith to the “simple” example his parents set, and believes that a life lived well is possibly the best invitation to another to get to know God.
“My faith, I think was particularly nurtured by my parents, and I think both of them really had a very, kind of, simple faith. I think particularly my father, who died when I was quite young. He was a very prayerful man, and I think that was the real impetus for me to become spiritual myself and out of that came the question of vocation. Really, that’s where it came from.
“I went to those Christian Brothers and I was normally very impressed by them. But I think the real kernel of it though came from my parents, but particularly my father I have to say. Their faith was a very, very simple, sort of, traditional, rural faith, really…it rubbed off on me I have to say.”
Asked what it was about the simplicity of their faith that spoke to them, he said “There was two aspects to it. One was that simple faith, but they lived it as well, you know…and I think their witness, kind of, their simple witness of faith and their way of being with others”.
Fr Dunne truly believes the example his parents set shows him the way forward with the students he now finds himself a spiritual father to.
“I think particularly young people when they see someone witnessing to faith that’s authentic, I think they buy into it. When it’s not authentic, I think it’s another story.”
The effect that a faithful example has doesn’t go unnoticed – not by Fr Dunne, and not by the other students on campus. While Ireland in 2020 is far from the hardest place and time to be a practicing Catholic, it is also far from the easiest, too. This is why the faith and example of the students in his charge at the chaplaincy impresses him so.
I’ve a particular grá, as they say, for one of the most-quoted things that John Paul II said, and he said it liberally to young people”
“I’ve been very impressed then by the faith of those students in the university. Where it’s difficult to practice faith, you know? And then I’d go back to witness; their witness, I think, has a pretty profound effect on others that they encounter…they’re the two things. And the challenge is for me as a chaplain, ultimately, my job as a Catholic chaplain in UCC is to show the face of Christ to those who want to know, or are inquiring about Christ. That’s my real task more than anything else.
“I like to think of it in a way; there’s so much competition for their attention, really. The whole question of spirituality or faith has to compete on an equal footing with all of those other challenges that come their way, you know? But I have to also say that the university, even though it’s a challenging place and it’s secular by its very nature – God knows that the universities in Ireland are – but they do support students with that inquiring mind.
“Often people see it (secularism) as an impediment; that there’s impediments put to students engaging with faith. That has not been my experience at all. I think that the university system in Ireland has a process in place where there is that diversity…and a diversity of faith. I don’t see it as an impediment at all. They’re very, very supportive of chaplaincy in general and the role that it is….my experience is positive in that regard.”
Despite the crisis, or rather, because of it, the chaplaincy has had a unique opportunity to reach into students’ hearts and dispel much of the fear and anxiety that has settled there throughout the course of the year.
“The value of chaplaincy really comes in times of crisis – we’re constantly trying to present programmes to university students to allow them to encounter Christ, really,” he says.
There’s so much fear instilled around faith sometimes, especially to a younger generation”
“I’ve a particular grá, as they say, for one of the most-quoted things that John Paul II said, and he said it liberally to young people. It’s the gospel verse, ‘Do not be afraid,’ and I often think that the extension of that is, ‘Do not be afraid what of God asks you to do’. I would use that myself liberally with students who come to talk or chat in the chaplaincy context, because you know, there’s a certain fear among students of being public witnesses and so on. A certain fear of their devotion…I would be the eternal optimist when it comes to that. To not be afraid. There’s so much fear instilled around faith sometimes, especially to a younger generation. It’s one of the reasons perhaps why they have walked away in such numbers.”