Bishop Deenihan: 'I believe that Fr Doyle’s cause for sainthood will succeed in Rome'
Bishop Tom Deenihan’s address at the Cause for Canonisation of Fr Willie Doyle SJ
“Fr Doyle’s charity, generosity and evangelical zeal has something to offer us. His regard, compassion, sacrifice and witness to all who are suffering, regardless of nationality or creed, are still lessons for our time.” – Bishop Deenihan
Address
It is a great joy to welcome you to the Cathedral of Christ the King for the Closing Session of the Diocesan Inquiry into the Cause for the Beatification and Canonisation of the Servant of God, Fr Willie Doyle, SJ.
I welcome, in particular, my brother bishops, the clergy and religious of the Diocese and beyond, members of the Jesuit Order, the Defence Attaché to the British Ambassador, representatives of the Irish and British armies and, especially, members of Fr Doyle’s family.
The Church has always set before the faithful the examples of holy men and women. Throughout Ireland and beyond, despite the passing of more than 100 years since his death, many have felt that Fr Doyle was another of those who, by his life and example, displayed heroic virtue: an Irish, Catholic and Jesuit priest, sacrificing his life on the battlefield as a British Army Chaplain, to bring comfort to soldiers of all denominations.
A recent article in The Tablet by Melanie McDonagh quotes the journalist Sir Philip Gibbs, who described Doyle as, ‘speeding all day, hither and thither over the battlefield like an angel of mercy; his words of absolution were the last words heard on earth by many an Irish lad that day, and the stooping figure of a priest and father filled the glance of many in their agony’.
Another tribute to him came from a member of the Orange Order who said that, ‘we could not possibly agree with his religious opinions, but we simply worshipped him for other things. He did not know the meaning of fear. He was as ready to risk his life to take a drop of water to a wounded Ulsterman as to assist men of his own faith and regiment’.
Philip Gibbs called him a ‘martyr for Charity.’
In the immediate aftermath of his death, The Freeman’s Journal reported on 6 September 1917 that: ‘Preaching at a meeting of the Holy Family Confraternity in Mullingar Cathedral on Monday evening, (3 September) Reverend J C Macken, Spiritual Director, referred to the death of the late Fr Doyle and said that time after time the brave chaplain went into the very thick of battle passing from one to another of the wounded and dying soldiers while death’s garments almost enveloped him. He made the most self-sacrificing profession of his fidelity to duty and had received an early call to the crown of his generous life and labours.’
In a more recent book, A Year of Daily Offerings, published by Ignatius Press in 2024, the entry for 17 August was a letter from a Sergeant Flynn to his home: ‘We had the misfortune to lose our chaplain, Fr Doyle, the other day. He was a real saint and would never leave his men. He did not know what fear was and everybody in battalion, Catholic and Protestant alike, idolised him. He was asked not to go into action with the battalion, but he would not stop behind and I am confident that no braver or holier man ever fell in battle than he.’
The entry also cited a piece written by Doyle himself: ‘I have long had the feeling that since the world is growing rapidly worse and worse and God has lost His hold, as it were, upon the hearts of men, He is looking all the more earnestly and anxiously for big things from those who are faithful to Him still. He cannot, perhaps, gather a large army around his standard, but He wants everyone in it to be a hero, absolutely and lovingly devoted to Him. If only we could get inside that magic circle of generous souls. I believe there is no grace He would not give us to help on the work He has so much at heart, our personal sanctification. Every day you live means an infallible growth in holiness which may be multiplied a thousand times by little generosity.’
More than 100 years later, that heroism and those sentiments which were his Apologia, resonate once again with the emerging spirituality and religiosity of the young people of our time.
While the ultimate sacrifice of Fr Willie Doyle was made more than 100 years ago, Doyle has something to say to our own time when bridge builders are scarce. Nationality, creed and political belief were to him secondary and subservient to being a child of God. Indeed, one can see so many of the themes of the papacy of Pope Francis in Doyle’s life: charity, generosity, bridge building and brotherhood, Fratelli Tutti! Christians always build bridges! These themes in terms of international co-operation and community have also found expression in Pope Leo XIV.
Each year, on November 1, we celebrate the Feast of All Saints. A celebration of those whose statues and pictures adorn our churches and homes. But that Feast also commemorates the more Pauline interpretation of Sainthood. Those who led good and holy lives and are now with God in heaven. We have known those Pauline Saints. They handed on the faith to ourselves, they worshipped in every church, they suffered, they inspired, they prayed and they loved.
There can be no doubt that Doyle is one of those Pauline Saints. It is inconceivable that the God of Love and the Father of all mercies would not be moved by his heroism to those who suffered and his determination to bring absolution and comfort to those who were dying in muddy and bloodied fields, despite nationality, politics and creed.
I am delighted that the Diocesan Inquiry into Doyle’s Cause is now complete. I am grateful to Reverend Dr John Hogan, the Postulator, and Dr Patrick Kenny of the Fr Willie Doyle Association, for their work.
I also appreciate the work and dedication of the members of the Diocesan Tribunal: Fr Joe Gallagher, VG, Fr Paul Crosbie, PP, and Fr Michael Cahill, PP. Their work was thorough, time consuming and crucial.
I also wish to thank those who worked on the Historical Commission and the Theological Commission, who studied documents and records and considered carefully, as the Church demands, the material before them. They served a critical role. May God reward them.
A thanks too to those who gave evidence and travelled distances, some from abroad.
Fr Doyle’s Cause now goes to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints in Rome, and I firmly believe that it will succeed.
In the meantime, Doyle’s charity, generosity and evangelical zeal have something to offer us. His regard, compassion, sacrifice and witness to all who are suffering, regardless of nationality or creed, are still lessons for our time – perhaps a lesson for our time more than it ever was. This weekend, we invoke his prayer for those who are still on battlefields and his encouragement on those who may be discerning a vocation to priesthood and religious life.
Above all, we pray that one day we shall count him amongst the canonised saints and enjoy his intercession on our behalf.
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