Donegal priest meets Pope Francis in Vatican as blessed statues return to Ireland

A Donegal priest was one of four Irish clerics to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican recently.

Fr Shane Gallagher, the chaplain at Letterkenny University Hospital was among the delegation who was present for the blessing of four pilgrim Sacred Heart statues.

The statues return to Ireland and travel around the country as part of Jubilee Year 2025.

Fr Gallagher, a native of Ballybofey, was joined at the Vatican by Fr John Mockler (Limerick), Fr Shane Sullivan (Apostolic Society of the Most Holy Trinity) and Dom Basil Mary McCabe (Silverstream Priory).

The 88-year-old pontiff welcomed the Irish quartet with the statues to travel in an attempt to revitalise the faith for the 350th anniversary of the apparitions of the Sacred Heart.

Jubilee Year 2025 will be marked by numerous spiritual events and activities at parish, diocesan, and national levels, including: pilgrimages to local and national shrines; monthly parish initiatives promoting prayer and reflection; and celebrations of key anniversaries, including the 400th anniversary of Saint Oliver Plunkett’s birth, and the centenary of Venerable Matt Talbot’s death.

Pope Francis has described the Jubilee Year as “a time to rediscover the beauty of communion with God and with one another, a moment to open our hearts to the transforming power of grace, and to walk together as people of hope”.

Last year, while giving a sermon in Međugorje, Fr Gallagher hit out at people ‘yapping’ during Mass.

He said: “We treat the church like it’s a market hall, or a pub. But, it’s not a pub. If you want to yap, go to Columbo’s (local cafe) and do it in style. But in here, keep your silence.”

During the address at the pilgrimage site, he added about young people who listen to loud music: “If anybody in here is listening to that rubbish, get your heads checked.”

Back in 2013, Fr Gallagher hit the headlines when he reprimanded a church singer in Lettermacaward - when he was parish priest there - following a mix-up over the singing of a hymn.

The then Bishop of Raphoe, Dr Philip Boyce, intervened and apologised to the woman.

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Fr Gallagher mistakenly thought the song was Voice of an Angel by pop singer Sarah McLochlan and ordered the woman not to sing it again, with the singer having to explain that it was a different song of the same name, by Fr Liam Lawton.