President Higgins pays tribute to Mayo priest, teacher and campaigner Fr. Micheál Mac Gréil
President Michael D. Higgins has paid a warm tribute to Mayo priest Fr. Micheál Mac Gréil on his passing.
He stated: “It is with great sadness that his colleagues in Social Studies, of which he was one of the founders in Ireland, those campaigning for equality and for respect for our Famine heritage, and people across Mayo and beyond, will have heard of the death of Fr. Micheál Mac Gréil, SJ.
"Micheál Mac Gréil as a university teacher, campaigner and priest made a deep impact on so many lives.
"Throughout all of his work, Micheál Mac Gréil brought a sense of the urgency of recognising justice issues of compassion.
"His was an early and constant call for the importance of overcoming social prejudice.
"This was reflected in the broad range of causes he supported, such as fighting for the rights of Travellers, for the Irish language, for prison reform, for the decriminalisation of homosexuality, and in support of the Irish language and the development of the western region.
"Across his many publications, Micheál emphasised the need for economic arrangements to serve as a means of strengthening community, family, volunteerism and cultural values, rather than at their expense.
"He was a man who truly gave authenticity to the importance of linking life and values, something which he taught to so many. He will be greatly missed by all of us who knew him.
"May I express my deepest sympathies to his fellow Jesuits, to his family and to all his many friends.
"The Irish language has lost a great and enthusiastic campaigner.
"Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h'anam dílis.”
HOMILY
Large crowds attended Requiem Mass in St. Mary’s Church, Westport, for the repose of the soul of Fr. Mac Gréil.
One of Fr. Gréil’s brothers, Fr. Owen Fr. Mac Gréil, was the main celebrant.
Dr. Michael Neary, Archbishop Emeritus of Tuam, a colleague of Fr. Mac Gréil at Maynooth College, delivered the homily.
He stated: "As the Church was about to celebrate the weekend of the Word of God which had been instituted by Pope Francis, An tAthair Micheál was called home by God.
"There was something appropriate in this because his whole life was determined by God’s Word.
"Born in 1931 and educated by the Christian Brothers in Westport.
"He carried with him in a very manly and courageous way his army training from 1950-1959 as a Cadet and Officer.
"He entered the Jesuits in 1959 and was ordained in 1969.
"Having studied in Louvain, in Kent University, Milltown Park and UCD, he lectured in sociology in Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth.
"Micheál wore his learning very lightly and it never became a hindrance in his relationship with the people of the West.
"Micheál was primarily a priest and while he initiated and espoused various causes he always did so as a priest whether it was prison reform, the Irish language or the Western Rail Corridor.
"Although he retired from his position as lecturer the word retirement was not in his vocabulary.
"There was always a ruthless honesty about Micheál.
"When Pope Francis was elected Pope, Micheál acknowledged that Pope Francis had studied in Milltown Park while Micheál was there but he said that he couldn't remember him.
"It has been established since however that the Pope remembers Micheál!
"Running through his long list of publications there is a common thread which is all about liberation, improvement and the dignity of the human person whether he was writing in respect of prejudice, about community, the Irish language, emigration, tolerance, re-opening of railway lines – West-on-Track, Memoirs, the travelling people, promotion of the faith ecumenism, the pioneers, the rights of minorities.
"Bhí grá speisialta aige don té a raibh thíos, tréith Chríostúil agus dúshlánach.
"His extraordinary ability to move from the micro village to the macro world was mind boggling.
"Family, community, national and international events happening, his experience at home and abroad as a university lecturer, trade unionist, priest, researcher, campaigner, pioneer and peace leader, this has been his life.
"Michéal’s life has been radical – yet profoundly traditional. Radical in the true sense of the word.
"A life of going back to the roots of where he came from and where the Church came from as a true follower of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, of Saint Patrick and Jesus Christ.
"Here in the Archdiocese we are indebted to Micheál for the way in which he enabled us to articulate our priorities for Church as rapid changes were engulfing Irish society.
"With his sociological expertise he enabled us to articulate our response to those changes in terms of Quo Vadimus in 1998, Ar Aghaidh Linn, The Challenge of Indifference: A Need for Religious Revival in Ireland.
"Micheál had the facility for relating to and influencing areas from which the Church has been largely absent.
"One of those areas was the trade unions and as shop steward when he was lecturing in Maynooth he always brought integrity, justice and balance to the causes which he espoused.
"To his eternal credit I have to say that he was always one who focused on the issue. He never allowed personalities to distract from the central issue.
"His integrity and openness did so much to influence people of different faiths and no faith.
"As a former colleague in Maynooth I knew how much an tAthair Micheál enjoyed the cut and thrust of robust debate. You could disagree with him but he never became disagreeable – a hugely attractive trait in any person.
"In Maynooth he always had a great rapport with students from the Archdiocese of Tuam.
"He was very encouraging and challenged them in their studies. He convened a meeting and a meal for them in his family home in Lochloon each year, the menu was always bacon and cabbage!
"He had been so helpful in his generous availability to do supply in Westport and the surrounding area and particularly in Aughagower and Cushlough.
"The work Michéal has done in reviving the traditional Patrician pilgrimage in Máméan has been a huge and important part of his multi-faceted life.
"We thank his family for the love and friendship that they have provided for him, his Jesuit Confreres for their encouragement and support and to Fr. Charlie McDonnell (Adm., Westport), who has been a constant and loyal friend.
"Joining with Archbishop Francis Duffy, Fr. Charlie, priests, religious and people of the Archdiocese, we offer our sincere sympathy and the support of our prayers to his brothers, Austin, Father Owen, Padraic and the extended family, to Father Leonard Maloney the Provincial of the Jesuits, and Father Richard O’Dwyer, Superior in Gardiner Street, Dublin, and the Jesuit Community.
"Slán agus beannacht, Micheál a chara. Solas na bhflaitheas go bhfeice tú agus glóire na nAingeal go gcloise tú."
Journalist and publisher, Liamy McNally, gave a eulogy.
He described his late friend as “a colossus in mind, body and spirit."
He continued: “Regardless of opposition, church or state, justice was his mission. He was central to the legal case seeking the decriminalisation of homosexuality.”
“Fr. Micheál was ahead of his time”, he remarked.
Mr. McNally went on to describe his late friend as a great ecumenist and supporter of women in the church, always wanting women to have more responsibility rather than ‘little jobeens’.
He also encouraged priests who afterwards married to “offer your services. They need you all."
Deputy Eamon O’Cuiv, a former Minister, delivered the first reading while the second reading was given by Geraldine Delaney, a former student at Maynooth College.
The final prayers were recited by the present Archbishop of Tuam, Dr. Francis Duffy.
President Michael D. Higgins was represented at the funeral by his aide de camp, Colonel Stephen Howard.
Fr. MacGréil has been laid to rest at Aughavale Cemetery, Westport.