My time as executive secretary to the Bishops’ Conference briefly overlapped with Bishop Murray’s tenure as Bishop, and I remember him as a prayerful pastor, who reflected deeply on the challenges and new opportunities facing the Church in contemporary Ireland.
His
contributions to discussions at the Conference table were grounded in a
strong commitment to new evangelisation and to a theology of hope.
Bishop Murray’s Episcopal ministry coincided with a very challenging
period in Church history in Ireland, and universally. An insightful
communicator, Bishop Murray’s writings, homilies and addresses were
guaranteed to inspire conversation and discussion on the reality of
belief and practice, and on how the Church must read the signs of the
times with faith and commitment to the values and teachings of the
Gospel.
Bishop Murray made a significant contribution to the Bishops’ Conference in the following areas:
• Member of the Pontifical Council for Culture;
• Member of the Joint Working Group between the Roman Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches (1999-2005);
• Member of the Standing Committee of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference;
• Chair of the Bishops’ Department of Catholic Education and Formation; and
• Chair of the Bishops’ Bioethics Committee, and member of the Bishops’ Joint Committee for Bioethical Issues.
Bishop Murray was fascinated reflecting on the interface and overlap
between faith and culture; between the sacred and the secular. Speaking
to the Céifin Conference in 2007, he remarked: “The secular is the
world in which faith is lived. If believers do not reflect and pray and
understand what the Gospel has to say to all the complex dimensions of
that world, and act on that reflection, they cooperate in confining God
and silencing the big questions.”
Instead he was convinced that faith
lives in all the realities of life. Bishop Donal believed strongly that
God alone “can satisfy the deepest cravings of the human heart”.
On behalf of the Bishops’ Conference, I wish to offer my prayers for the
happy repose of Bishop Murray’s soul, and offer condolences to his
family, friends and to the bishops, priests, religious and faithful of
the dioceses of Dublin and Limerick, and to all who loved him.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dilís.