Fr Des Wilson
Belfast priest was a community activist who helped to end the bloodshed in Northern Ireland, writes Alan O’Keeffe
FR Des Wilson was a prominent community activist in west Belfast, who played a significant role in seeking to bring an end to violence in Northern Ireland.
Fr Wilson, who died last Tuesday aged 94, was among a small number of churchmen who reached out to paramilitaries in both republican and loyalist communities in efforts to end the bloodshed.
A priest for 70 years, he was a strong advocate of adult education and campaigned for civil rights. He did significant work in the development of the Ballymurphy and Springhill community associations during the darkest years of the Troubles.
He worked closely with Fr Alex Reid and Fr Gerry Reynolds to help bring about negotiations that resulted in the IRA ceasefire.
President Michael D Higgins said he worked for the betterment of communities and was not afraid to challenge authority figures.
In a tribute, the President said Fr Wilson was comfortable working in both Irish and English and that many people had referred to him as a ‘‘champion of the people’’.
Born in 1925, he was brought up in the Ormeau
Road area of Belfast, trained for the priesthood at Maynooth, and was ordained in 1949. He was the spiritual director at St Malachy’s College in Belfast and was appointed a curate in west Belfast in 1966.
When violence raged in the area in 1975, he became involved in a dispute with his bishop William Philbin which culminated in him seeking to retire from his curate position while remaining a priest. He ended up being ostracised by the bishop who struck him off the register of diocesan priests.
Fr Wilson set up the Springhill independent adult education centre and training project. He was reconciled with church authorities when Dr Cahal Daly was appointed bishop of the diocese in 1983. The then Bishop Daly was a strong supporter of Fr Wilson’s adult education initiatives.
Fr Wilson said he remained in the church through the difficult years because it continued to have “tremendous possibility for good”. He wrote thousands of articles for various publications, including a long-running weekly column in the Andersonstown News.
The newspaper’s publisher Mairtin O Muilleoir said in 2013 that Fr Wilson was “the conscience of Ireland, with his incisive and searing commentary leavened with uplifting humour and faith in the heavens and humanity”.
He told the Irish Catholic newspaper six years ago: “I believe the biggest task facing the church today, without equivocation, is to discuss and demonstrate why we believe in the existence of God.
“Once we understand that, everything becomes clear and if we don’t discuss and understand that nothing becomes clear.”
Fr Paddy McCafferty, parish priest of Corpus Christi parish in Belfast, said Fr Wilson was “loved and revered by the people for his tremendous work both within our own parish and further afield as a key figure in the peace process”.
The Relatives for Justice group, a support network for relatives of people bereaved, injured, or traumatised by the Troubles, said Fr Wilson was “always on the side of the marginalised, the silenced and the oppressed. His support for the families we work with was unwavering”.
His funeral Mass was celebrated in Belfast yesterday followed by burial in Milltown Cemetery.