Mags GarganOn his retirement Bishop Christy Jones talks to Mags Gargan about his ministry
Huge excitement is building in the Diocese of Elphin, with preparations underway for the episcopal ordination of Fr Kevin Doran next weekend. However, this is a bittersweet time for the people of the diocese, as they bid farewell to his much loved predecessor, Bishop Christy Jones, who now retires after over 50 years of ministry.
Bishop Christy is known as a people person who, through his work with Sligo social services, the Traveller community and developments in pastoral services, has given much to the community and particularly to the most vulnerable.
On the announcement of his retirement, Archbishop Michael Neary of Tuam described Bishop Christy as “first and foremost a much loved local pastor and popular shepherd of the faithful”, and Bishop Ray Browne of Kerry paid tribute to “his care and love of being amongst his people, and in particular his compassion for people in need”.
Bishop Christy says that it is he who has received so much from the people of his diocese, and that they have been his strength throughout his ministry as both a priest and a bishop.
“One thing I have learned is the goodness of people,” he says, “their willingness, once encouraged, and how quickly they are willing to take responsibility for their parish and church. I have found it very rewarding. The love of people, and the love of God through our people, is the greatest strength we have in our priesthood.”
Central part
Christopher Jones was born in Rathcroghan, Co. Roscommon in 1936 as the second youngest of a family of 11. Prayer was a central part of family life, and three of his sisters joined religious life, with one brother becoming a priest.
After his time in St Patrick’s College, Maynooth he was ordained in 1962 and spent a few years teaching in St Muredach’s College, Ballina and Summerhill College in Sligo. It was during this time that his pastoral approach to people and his sense of justice came to the fore.
“One of the things I brought from Maynooth was a great concern for justice and the dignity of the human person,” Bishop Christy says. “I think I got that from Dr Newman, who was a professor there at the time. I was appointed an RE teacher in Ballina and always felt if education was for life, it should be in touch with life.
“So I would bring the boys to town to see a bit of life. We would visit the elderly in Nazareth House when I was in Sligo, and psychiatric residents in St John’s and St Columba’s.
“I also got them involved in repairing and redecorating homes for the poor in Sligo.”
From 1971, Fr Christy spent over a year as archivist at St Mary’s, Sligo, while also serving as Chaplain of St Columba’s Hospital, and during this time he had what he describes as a “conversion experience” in relation to the Traveller community.
“About four Traveller families were living in tents on the side of the road outside Sligo when a fire broke out and a few members of one family burned to death, while other were badly scarred,” he explains.
“A meeting was held about what could be done and I was asked to do something about their education in Sligo. I had all the prejudices about the Traveller community at this time, but the next day I decided if I wanted to do something, I needed to know the state of their education.”
Commitment
“I went out to the tents and was invited inside by a mother. At first the smoke was blinding and when she gave me a tree trunk to sit down on, all I could see was six children on their hunkers around the fire eating potatoes out of their hands. That had a profound impact on me and I came out wondering why we had done this to our people,” he says.
“That got me involved, so I formed a committee and we started working on accommodation and education. There was good progress and I finished up being secretary on the National Council for Travelling People and eventually chairperson for 10 years. After that I became the advisor to the Minister for the Environment on matters relating to the accommodation of Travelling People.”
Seeing his interest in helping the vulnerable and marginalised, Fr Christy was sent to UCD to study social science and he was appointed as the first director of Sligo Social Services Centre, which began pioneering work in supporting the people of the area.
“Our role was identifying the needs of people in the community and providing the necessary services,” he says, such as Meals on Wheels and providing accommodation for victims of domestic abuse.
Bishop Christy says that this work was good preparation for the life of a bishop “working so closely with lay people”.
“I gained an insight into the gifts and talents of people, and into what was happening in the grassroots, especially the housing estates which were a source of poverty and crime. I brought this with me in my pastoral ministry as bishop.”
He says he was “genuinely surprised” when he was appointed Bishop of Elphin in 1994, but for the next 20 years he set about implementing a number of practical developments and innovations, starting with a Diocesan Pastoral Planning Group in 1995 to “look into the needs of the diocese and listen carefully to them”.
From that a Pastoral Development Office was established in 2000, which Bishop Christy describes as the most important development during his time as bishop.
Another big development was the annual Parish Development & Renewal Gathering “to listen to representatives from every parish”, and the Diocesan Pastoral Council, which was “an inspiring resource for development in the diocese”.
“I discovered listening is so important before planning – to listen to people on the ground in order to know what’s happening,” he says.
Another development Bishop Christy is proud of is the establishment of the office of Diocesan Youth Ministry & Safeguarding of Children in 2007/2008, which has done “Trojan work” in setting up structures and diocesan policy.
Developments
The list of developments goes on, including the restoration of the Permanent Diaconate in 2009, the introduction of the Diocesan Advisory Catechetics Group and the Ministry of Family Life Centres, which shows that while his years as bishop were during a difficult time in the Irish Church, it was also a time of innovation and growth.
Now at the age of 78, Bishop Christy is looking forward to some well-deserved rest in his retirement, but ever the people person he plans to say involved in the diocese and to offer his service to the community.
“I plan to rest for a while and to do a refresher course in pastoral theology,” he says, “I would like to be able to say Mass every day for the community, maybe even do parish home visitations, and get a little involved again in social work.
“People have been my strength and no doubt about it I have been so fortunate in every place I have been appointed. In my experience if you were in any way kind to people, the response is always 100%.
“That’s why what I have great faith in the future of the Church, because people will be far more involved than they were and I have great confidence in that.”