'There was something extraordinary about my experience of being your Bishop'

In the chess set that is the life of a Jesuit cleric, it was a case of Down and Connor takes Bishop but night captures the King of celebrations.

Last Monday night to be precise when Bishop Alan McGuckian was the chief celebrant at a Mass of Thanksgiving in St. Eunan’s Cathedral followed by a farewell function in the Loreto Convent dining area, an occasion steeped in measures of sentiment and laughter.

“As a Jesuit, you’re on the move a lot. Every other move I’ve made, I’ve taken it in my stride. I’ve loved it there but I’ve moved on.

“This time it is genuinely different,” Bishop McGuckian declared. “There was something extraordinary about my experience of being your Bishop.”

Prior to his move to the Diocese of Raphoe, Donegal had, he said, always been his second favourite county behind the county of his birth and upbringing. “Don’t tell them there but that has changed,” he insisted to loud acclaim.

“You’re sent, you go and you don’t expect to have roots.”

Remarking that he was “fragile” about leaving, the Bishop referred to walking in the vicinity of the Cathedral and passing by the grave of a predecessor, Bishop McFeely and thinking: “Well, probably Bishop Boyce will be there and I’ll be there. And now that’s not to be.”

He was going home but leaving home at the same time. “Part of Raphoe will always be in my heart.” 

The popular prelate was the subject of many tributes including a poem penned by Parish Council representative, Mary Maguire, which brought laughter to the proceedings. Laughter and mixed emotions.

“If I was to list all your accomplishments

This poem would never end

You came to Donegal our Bishop

You leave a much beloved friend”, the poetic offering concluded.

Mary spoke, too, of the departing Bishop’s involvement in the weekly Parkrun event and recalled his accent of Mount Errigal and his other activities during his time in Donegal.

Generous words and presentations, too, from the chairperson of the Diocesan Pastoral Council, Michelle Ni Churrain, and the chairperson of the Cathedral Pastoral Council, Ciaran Maguire, who highlighted the spark lit by Bishop McGuckian, who had inspired the formation of the Councils during his six and a half years in the Raphoe Diocese.

That spark would light a flame in the Diocese that would be seen from the Bishop’s new surroundings, Ciaran declared in a rousing address.

It prompted a remark from the Cathedral Administrator, Mons. Kevin Gillespie, that such a speech might be delivered by the St. Eunan’s G.A.A. manager if they were coming up against Gweedore!

Bishop McGuckian himself reacted warmly to all the tributes and agreed: “I’ll be sitting over there in Belfast and seeing this blaze!.”

Earlier his final mass attracted a packed congregation to the Cathedral where the united choirs provided fitting hymns of praise and readings to mark the moving occasion.

In his homily, the Bishop spoke of the damage caused to so many innocents as a result of the child sexual abuses involving priests and the failure of the church to deal with them adequately.

He highlighted also the emergence of the Covid and the decision to conduct the rosary in the Cathedral – an Tobar Domhain – on a nightly basis during the pandemic which was broadcast not just in the confines of the Diocese but across the globe via the webcam and social media.

“Many people have said to me that an Tobar Domhain was a fantastic support. How did that come about, I ask myself, what was the inspiration? I’d love to say it was all my idea but actually it wasn’t. It was Paddy Dunne said to me on that first night, you’re the Bishop, you should go into the Cathedral and lead the people in the rosary over the webcam.”

And consequently with a congregation at the other end of the electronics, the Bishop managed to connect with his people as the county and the country continued in lock down.

“It’s been an amazing privilege to be your Bishop,” the prelate told the assembly in the Convent later.

The occasion coincided, or almost did, with Bishop McGuckian’s birthday and consequently a cake was presented to him along with the traditional birthday song led by M.C. Paddy Tunney.

A night to be remembered and one the departing Bishop certainly won’t forget. Nor his former Diocesan congregation ...