The death of Fr Enda McDonagh a year ago saw Ireland lose “one of its most original and important theologians”, a memorial event has heard.
Trinity College Dublin professor of ecumenics Linda Hogan said Fr McDonagh had a profound impact on the “Irish theological landscape” and that “his distinctive voice brought him international acclaim”.
She recalled how his “wisdom was sought by politicians and diplomats, by business leaders, humanitarians and artists who recognised what the late [theologian] Vincent MacNamara noted as his ‘talent for humanity’”.
She was speaking at a special ceremony in Maynooth on Sunday held to mark the first anniversary of Fr McDonagh’s death, which was hosted by the president of St Patrick’s College Fr Michael Mullaney.
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Fr McDonagh was born in Bekan, Co Mayo in 1930. He attended St Jarlath’s College, Tuam and then St Patrick’s College Maynooth, from where he was ordained in 1955.
After further study in Rome and Munich he was appointed professor of moral theology and canon law at Maynooth in 1958, at just 28 years of age.
Apart from periods teaching at the University of Notre Dame and St John’s University in the United States, and some time in Zimbabwe, he spent much of his life in Maynooth before and following retirement in 1995.
He continued to write, teach, advise and advocate on behalf of the vulnerable until his death on February 24th, 2021. Few were able to attend his funeral last year because of Covid-19 restrictions, but it was watched online by more than 9,000 people.
Among the attendance at Sunday’s event were Gerard McDonagh, a brother of Fr McDonagh, Prof John FitzGerald, Rev Dermot McCarthy, Prof John Horgan, Rev Prof Pat Hannon, Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan, broascasterJohn Bowman, Fr Tom Surlis, Fr Bernard Treacy, Fr Brendan Hoban, Fr Kevin Hegarty and Fr Dermot Lane.
“Enda was born not long after the foundation of the Irish State and, like many of that generation, was deeply affected by the divisions of the Civil War and its aftermath. This undoubtedly shaped his long-time concern for peace and reconciliation on the island of Ireland,” said Prof Hogan. She said his “ecumenical spirit shaped his approach to the relationship between the Republic and Northern Ireland”.
“He saw that if there were to be any hope of reconciliation then a politics of pluralism and justice needed to be advanced in the Republic of Ireland as well as in Northern Ireland.”
She said it was a commitment he shared with his great friend, the former taoiseach Garret FitzGerald. “In the 1970s he was among a number of courageous and forward-looking intellectuals who vigorously supported the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland while denouncing the violence adopted by some groups,” she said.
“The depth of the relationships he forged then and the moral strength of his non-violent advocacy is widely acknowledged, including by President Higgins on Enda’s death.”
She said Fr McDonagh “addressed the injustices and inequities within the church with the same passion as those he saw in the society around him. He spoke out against the injustice of Humanae Vitae [which banned artificial means of contraception] and was an early advocate for change in the church’s attitude to same sex relationships as well as its treatment of women. The revelations of the sex abuse of children and official cover-ups were devastating for him, as for so many”.
She added that “a year on from his death the grief has not diminished. He was loved by so many, and we mourn his loss. Yet we are filled with gratitude to have known and loved the wise, compassionate, beautiful soul that was Enda”.
