A Dublin parish is this week celebrating news that a
former altar boy is to become one of 17 new cardinals elevated by Pope
Francis next month.
Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas, Texas, a native Dubliner
who was born and raised in Drimnagh, was already a cause for celebration
at Our Lady of Good Counsel church due to his appointment in August as
head of the new Vatican department for laity, family and life.
Now, with his name included in the list of those set to
join the College of Cardinals on November 19, the parish is on a high
once again.
“The people of the parish are absolutely delighted,” said
Canon John Flaherty of Our Lady of Good Counsel. “Those attending the
first morning Mass after the announcement were all talk of the news. It
has given the parish a real lift.”
Canon Flaherty went on to point out that Drimnagh now
holds the distinction as a parish which can lay claim to not one, but
two high-ranking prelates at the Vatican, given that Bishop Farrell’s
brother, Bishop Brian Farrell, is secretary of the Pontifical Council
for Promoting Christian Unity.
The two Farrell brothers, Canon Flaherty explained, hail
from Galtymore Park in Drimnagh, and were born into “a faith-filled
family. Their mother came to Mass every day, and all the brothers served
as altar boys as Our Lady of Good Counsel.”
The family continues to be active in parish life, he
added, not least through the McCauley Centre, which caters to the needs
of elderly parishioners.
Bishop Kevin and his brother are “real Dubs”, Canon
Flaherty explained, pointing to a much-remembered event during the
Eucharistic Congress of 2012 when the brothers returned to the parish to
celebrate Mass, “with Bishop Brian acting as principal celebrant and
Bishop Kevin delivering the homily”.
Adding his own congratulations for Bishop Farrell, Canon
Flaherty said, “I’m personally delighted for him. Between him and Bishop
Brian, you could not meet two nicer men.”
He joked that, based on
Drimnagh’s “winning ways” in Rome, he is tempted to place an early bet
now on Cardinal Farrell rising to become Ireland’s first native Pope.
Statement
For his part, Bishop Farrell reacted to news of his elevation in a statement issued through the Diocese of Dallas.
“I am humbled by the news this morning that our Holy
Father Pope Francis has named me to the College of Cardinals,” he said.
“I ask all in the [diocese] to please pray for me that I may to the best
of my ability fulfil this sacred duty to our Church.”
Another of the cardinals-elect who has links to Ireland is
Bishop Maurice Piat CSSp of Mauritius who first professed at the
Spiritan novitiate in Co. Tipperary before studying for the priesthood
at Kimmage Manor in Dublin between 1962 and 1968.