Appeal made for return of religious banner
An appeal is being made to the public for the return of a banner depicting an image of the Holy Face of Jesus, that was taken from its site by the Christ the King statue in the Glen of Aherlow.
John O’Gorman of Galbally had put up the sign on Wednesday morning before Good Friday. The banner, which shows the familiar scene of the face of Jesus as depicted on the Turin Shroud, stands four foot by two foot in size. He secured it on two stakes, but doubly secured it again by cable-tying it to a roadside sign. Alongside, he had a notice advising that the Rosary would be said at the site at 12pm on Good Friday.
“Every year I do it somewhere, I’ve done it in Mitchelstown by the grotto twice, in Kilmallock, in Ballylanders, and this is the first time it’s been taken. I went to check on it on Thursday, and it was gone.”
Acknowledging that this may be a reflection on a more secular society, Mr O’Gorman still made the point that “Nobody wants their property taken away by someone, just because someone doesn’t like it”.
He approached the Gardaí, who advised him to contact Tipperary County Council. The council admitted that they had received a number of complaints about the banner, but that when they went to remove it, it was already gone.
Devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus was said to be revealed by Jesus to St Marie of Peter, a French Carmelite nun. The primary purpose of the devotion is to make reparation for sins against the first three Commandments; the denial of God (atheism or communism), blasphemy, and the profanation of Sundays and Holy Days.
Mr O’Gorman is appealing to anyone who knows where the banner may be, to contact TheAvondhu’s head office in Mitchelstown
(025-24451).