Bishop Christy Jones is laid to rest at Sligo Cathedral
MOVING TRIBUTES TO BISHOP CHRISTY’S FAITH IN GOD AND LAITY ARE HEARD AS HE WAS LAID TO REST IN SLIGO CATHEDRAL LAST WEEK, SORCHA CROWLEY REPORTS
BISHOP Christopher Jones, Bishop Emeritus of El ph in, was am an deeply conscious of his own flaws and human frailties right to the end. In asking Fr Michael Duignan, Diocesan Secretary of the Diocese of Elphin to preach the homily at his funeral mass last Tuesday, 22nd May, he spoke about how he “hurt easily and found it at times difficult to let go and move on.”
Bishop Christy, as he was affectionately known, chatted about “how he might have come in too quickly or too hard and caused hurt or pain, how, in particular, he might have asked too much from priests or have been too judgemental.
“How there was much more good he could have done that remained undone. For those time, he wanted tme to say today that he was sorry and to ask for forgiveness,” Fr Duignan told mourners in the Cathedral.
Chief Celebrant was Bishop Kevin Doran, Bishop of Elphin, assisted by the Papal Nuncio, His Excellency, Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo representing Pope Francis, and Archbishop of Tuam Michael Neary.
His Eminence Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop Emeritus of Armagh and many fellow Irish bishops also attended. They were joined by the priests of the Diocese of Elphin, visiting clergy, and many parishoners.
Bishop Doran began by welcoming mourners to the “gathering of the many families” of Bishop Christy, including his sister Eileen and his sisterin-law Pauline and the extended Jones family.
The other “families” included parishioners from all over the diocese, including especially those from Tulsk and from Glinsk, where he had family connections; Members of the Travelling Community; Representatives of the various schools and colleges of the diocese; Former colleagues and present staff of Sligo Social Services; Members of the episcopal Council for the Marriage and the Family and of Accord;
Representatives of other Christian communities, led by Dean Arfon Williams, who represented Bishop Ferran Glenfield; Religious sisters ; Nurses, doctors and carers;
Natives of the diocese living in Birmingham, Manchester and London; Men and women who work for the common good in the various forms of public and civic service, in the city of Sligo and in the diocese;
The staff of the Diocesan Office, of Saint Mary’s; Bishop Christy’s brother priests of the Diocese of Elphin;The Kiltegan Missionaries, Spiritans, and other clergy; The eight permanent deacons of the diocese; Representatives of the Secretariat of the Episcopal Conference and Bishop Christy’s very many personal friends.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and a number of other bishops visited on Monday evening, while a warm message of condolence was also received from former President of Ireland Mary McAleese and her husband Martin, long-time friends of Bishop Christy.
Bishop Doran told the congregation at the start of his funeral liturgy, that “some would suggest that bishops should be seen and not heard. There are others who still feel that, if the bishop would only say something or do something, everything would be ok.”
“The reality is that bishops are just ordinary men; Christians who have been entrusted with a particular mission to teach, to govern and to sanctify in the name of Jesus Christ.
“Bishop Christy was aware of his own human frailty and this was brought home to him in a very particular way when, like so many other people, he experienced bereavement and when he began to walk the path of illness which led gradually but inevitably to his death last Friday.
“He carried his own share in the cross of Jesus Christ. His death, like the death of any Christian, invites us to look beneath the office that we hold and the clothes that we wear for the true meaning of our human existence,” he said.
Bishop Kevin Doran then invited Bishop Christopher’s nephew, Hugh Jones and his wife, Ann to open the Icon of the World Meeting of Families - something arranged to take place on 22 May since last September. The Icon of the World Meeting of Families was always intended to arrive at the Cathedral last Tuesday to spend 10 days in the Diocese of Elphin as part of the national pilgrimage of the Icon in preparation for the World Meeting of Families this August.
Fr Duignan began his homily by contrasting the “sublime magnificence” of these May days to the last few years and months of Bishop Christy’s life “which seemed to form an almost eternal winter.”
“In four short years the cold winds of death took with them four of his sisters. Illness and frailty was to be his, until last Friday evening, life’s winter over, God called him home to himself.
“The outpouring of sadness and sympathy since his death has been overwhelming. He touched the lives of so many people from many different walks of life,” he said.
It was while at Summerhill that his interest in becoming a priest was nurtured and afterwards matured at Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth where he was ordained in June 1962.
The same scripture readings chosen by Bishop Christy for his episcopal ordination in 1994 were read at his funeral.
His episcopal motto, “Fiat Mihi” (Luke 1:38) “thy will be done”, was printed on the cover of the funeral booklets, words which reflected a constant attitude of his – “God’s will be done”.
The first reading expressed how Bishop Christy understood his vocation – to “bring good tidings to the afflicted, to bind up the broken-hearted,
I WITNESSED HIM MANY TIMES CRY AT HIS DESK WITH THE HORROR OF IT ALL
- FR MICHAEL DUIGNAN ON BISHOP CHRISTY’S RESPONSE TO CLERICAL CHILD ABUSE
proclaim liberty to captives, and to comfort those who mourn” (Isaiah 61:2-3).
The Second reading reflected how he endeavoured to speak the truth in word and in action (Eph: 4: 1, 11).
“True to the old Summerhill motto “Estote Factores Verbi”–“Be doers of the Word” (James 1: 22) he was a “doer” more than a “talker” when it came to the life of faith,” said Fr Duignan.
“Bishop Christy spent almost all of his priestly life here in Sligo and was always an advocate for the weak over the strong and a tireless supporter and campaigner for those on the margins of our society.
“His courageous work on behalf of the travelling community meant he was affectionately seen by many travellers as their priest, their bishop.
“His work with Sligo Social Services brought him close to the poor, the homeless, those suffering from addiction or domestic issues.
He said that “unprecedented change in society and Church, along with an Ireland struggling with developing its own identity, has created a difficult space for faith and belief.
“Bishop Christy was a powerful advocate for the unborn. He was deeply sadden by the prospect of a removal of the Eighth Amend- ment. Even in his last days of illness, he had hoped to be able to vote on Friday. In his presentation to the hearings of the Oireachtas Committee for Health and Children in 2013, he spoke about the beauty and preciousness of every human life.
Fr Duignan said it was in affronting Clerical Child Abuse that Bishop Christy’s most difficult challenge lay:
“I witnessed him many times cry at his desk with the horror of it all. In response, he set about building the child safeguarding mechanisms we have in our diocese today that in many ways contributed to what was to become the norm across the country,” he said.
Final Commendation was given by His Eminence, Seán Cardinal Brady and a nephew, Hugh Jones thanked everyone on behalf of the family.
Bishop Christy was brought to his final resting place in the grounds of the Cathedral by four groups of Pall Bearers: Six Priests of the Diocese of Elphin, six Deacons of the Diocese of Elphin, six Grand-Nephews and six Nephews of Bishop Christopher
Students from six schools in the diocese formed a Guard of Honour from the Cathedral door to the graveside
Sligo Cathedral Choir, under the direction of organist, Charles O’Connor sang the hymns.