The Bishop of Raphoe has said that the ‘bad spirit’ of child abuse in the church has harmed people’s faith.
Bishop Alan McGuckian made the remarks at a special Mass of Thanksgiving at St Eunan’s Cathedral in Letterkenny last night.
The cathedral was thronged to overflowing with parishioners wanting to pay tribute as well as a fond farewell to the popular clergyman.
As he prepares to leave the diocese this week, Bishop McGuckian said: “In the last six years, I have faced the reality of child sexual abuse, that terrible evil visited on innocent, totally innocent, children and our failure to deal with it well, certainly initially.”
Bishop McGuckian said he faced the ways in which that “saps everyone’s faith or attacks it, undermines hope, love, many ways in which we are brought face-to-face with our weakness, with my weakness.”
In recent years, Bishop McGuckian has openly expressed his deep sadness and shame after former Donegal priests appeared in court on child abuse charges. He has consistently encouraged survivors of abuse to come forward and not to suffer in silence.
Bishop McGuckian was honoured with the Mass of Thanksgiving to mark his departure from the diocese after his historic ordination in 2017.
Bishop Alan McGuckian and retired Bishop Philip Boyce. (NW Newspix)
In his Homily, he conducted an examen of the good and the bad of his placement, and where God and the Holy Spirit were felt most strongly.
“There were so many things that have made being the Bishop of Raphoe the big privilege of my life to date. I could never have dreamt that God would choose me for something for such an honour such an important task in God’s church,” he said.
A stand-out memory for many parishioners across the Diocese during Covid-19 was the Bishop’s delivery of the Rosary from the Cathedral. Bishop McGuckian said that this series was inspired by Fr Paddy Dunne and was “a great grace, a little inspiration of the good spirit.”
Bishop McGuckian pointed out the many good events in his time in Raphoe, from developing the Diocesan Pastoral Plan, forming Parish Pastoral Councils, connecting with young people and walking The Sli Cholmcille camino from Glencolmcille to Derry.
Bishop Alan McGuckian during his oration at his farewell Mass in St Eugene’s Cathedral. (NW Newspix)
Bishop McGuckian, who is from Co. Antrim, has been called ‘home’ to his native Diocese of Down and Connor in Belfast.
Looking to the future, he said: “I will be asking myself what can I learn about my six years as Bishop of Raphoe where I saw myself getting disheartened, pulling away, not reaching out when I might have, so that I could do that a bit better so that I would be an even better Bishop of Down and Connor than of Raphoe. Imagine that?”
He said his prayer for the community he leaves behind is to be in touch with the Holy Spirit in our lives.
“That’s my special prayer for my brother priests here of the Diocese of Raphoe, that they will continue to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit moving them to have confidence and rust in Jesus, who is present.
“My prayer for you the faithful religious among us – let the Holy Spirit spark. Be in touch with the holy spirit and have confidence Jesus is calling us to follow him ever more closely.”
Some of the sisters who attended Bishop McGuckians farewell mass. (NW Newspix)
A large congregation of people from across the parish attended the poignant Mass on Monday evening.
A tribute from the St Eunan’s Cathedral parish said: “If on the one hand we are honoured that the Holy Father, Pope Francis, should have recognised in our Bishop qualities that made him suitable to lead the second largest diocese in Ireland – Down and Connor, we are also sincerely sorry to lose someone whom the community has taken to itself in many and different ways.”
“A great many of us feel a real sense of loss at his going, aware that his leadership has put in place good things to help the diocese and each parish chart a way for a challenging future, with real faith and trust in the Spirit’s guidance and love for our Faith.
“We entrust him to the intercession of St. Colmcille, whose footsteps he followed along Slí Cholmcille, and whose example and life he set before with new vitality.
“We pray that the Bishop Martyr Blessed Conor O’Devenney, a native of the Drumkeen area and the martyred Bishop of Down and Connor, may intercede for him. And we send with him an assurance of friendship and prayerful accompaniment for his new mission.
“Faoi bhat na Maighdeana thú i gcónaí, a Easbaig dhíl.”
