Ordination to Diaconate 2015
Posted on 01. Jun, 2015 in Carousel
Left to right: Fr George Hayes (Vice Rector), Monsignor Ciarán O’Carroll (Rector), Rev. Daniel Gallagher (new Deacon), Bishop Martin Drennan (ordaining Bishop), Rev. Stephen Duffy (new Deacon), Fr Hugh Clifford (Director of Formation), Fr Thomas Norris (Spiritual Director).
A Monaghan man with a background in management in the food industry and a graduate in Irish and history from the National University of Ireland Galway, students of the Pontifical Irish College in Rome, were ordained deacons on Easter Tuesday, 7th April 2015 in Rome. The liturgy was celebrated in the Church of San Silvestro in Capite, an 8th century minor basilica dedicated to Pope Sylvester I, which is under the care of the Irish Pallotine Fathers and has Cardinal Desmond Connell as its Cardinal Priest.
Rev. Stephen Duffy (38) from Ballybay, Co. Monaghan and Rev. Daniel Gallagher (25) from Bohermore in Galway City were ordained by Bishop Martin Drennan of the Diocese of Galway who travelled to Rome for the occasion. In a moving ceremony, in which the two new deacons were joined by over eighty family members and friends, Bishop Drennan reminded the two deacons that “ at the heart of life is service. Every gift that God gives is not just for ourselves. It is for others, is to be shared and will bring most joy when it is shared”. He went on to say that “we need to name accurately what cripples. High on the list is an aggressive individualism that asserts my rights, my opinions, my beliefs and gives little space to inherited wisdom, tradition, institutions. ….large swathes of our world have forgotten two basic lessons that we all need to learn – there is a God an I’m not he! It is our privilege to remind people of God”. Focusing on the Gospel of the paralytic who was lowered through the roof into the presence of Jesus, Bishop Drennan continued “The more secular our world becomes the greater the difficulty it has with the idea of forgiveness. …Healed wounds don’t hurt but the unhealed wounds certainly do and without the touch of God’s mercy they continue to cause pain….Like those who laid the paralysed man before Jesus, we are called to find creative ways to bring people to Jesus, to make openings in places that shut people off from God, to identify accurately what paralyses, to bring it along and lay it before Jesus.”
The two deacons will be ordained to the priesthood in the next year for service in their respective dioceses, Clogher and Galway. Commenting after the Mass, Monsignor Ciarán O’Carroll, the Rector of the College, said: ‘This Easter Tuesday the Pontifical Irish College community rejoices with Stephen and Daniel. We thank God for their particular vocation in life and accompany them with our prayers. I wish them every blessing and happiness in the exercise of their diaconal ministry. May they be given the grace to proclaim the Gospel in both word and deed. May they serve the people of God in their respective dioceses with love, courage, care and compassion. Inspired by the example of Pope Francis may they be true friends to the poor and the voice of the forgotten. May the Lord, who has begun such good work in them bring it to completion’.
To view photographs from the occasion, click here.