The Dromore Diocesan notes of 29 September 1926 record that, “the formal opening took place of Dromantine Castle, in the Parish of Glenn, as a Theological College for the African Mission Society. Solemn High Mass, at which His Lordship, the Most Rev Dr Mulhern, Bishop of Dromore, presided, was celebrated at 10 o’clock… after which His Lordship duly welcomed the Fathers of the African Mission Society to their new College in the Diocese.”
The following June, on the Feast of Corpus Christi 1927, the first eleven young men from Dromantine were ordained as priests here in this Cathedral of Saint Patrick and Saint Colman, and so began a wonderful pattern of annual ordinations here in Newry – what a joy it must have been to witness the sight of perhaps ten to fifteen young men every year lying prostrate on this sanctuary, pledging their generous “yes” to God and to the mission of the Church!
And to think that all of this was happening just a few short years from the horrendous devastation and bloodshed of the Great War. Also, in 1926, the deep wounds of Ireland’s War of Independence, partition and Civil War were still raw and unhealed. But despite such terrible loss, young Catholic men and women of Ireland were stepping forward in great numbers to spread the Good News at home and in the mission fields – inspired by Faith, Hope and Love.
Less than a century after the lifting of the Penal Laws, the Catholic Church in Ireland had clearly rediscovered her confidence. Her ancient missionary genes had reawakened. Vocations to the new missionary societies and congregations were increasing rapidly, for example, to the Holy Rosary Sisters at Killeshandra; the Missionary Sisters of Saint Columban and of course to the Maynooth Mission to China (later to become known as the Columban Fathers).
Your Society of African Missions, like the Holy Ghost (Spiritan) missionaries, had already been active in Ireland for some time. But the decision to move to Dromantine was clearly one inspired by the Holy Spirit. Your predecessors, with the backing of Bishop Mulhern, responded with courage and trust.
It is hard for us to believe that in the fifty years from 1920 to 1970, perhaps 20,000 Irish men and women generously gave their lives and their gifts to the mission of the Church in many countries around the world.
Bishop Edward Mulhern was determined to nurture the new missionary impulse in the Diocese of Dromore. In 1924 he had already welcomed the Poor Clare Nuns to Mayobridge; later he would invite the Missionary Sisters of Saint Joseph of Newark to Cabra in Hilltown; the Dominican Nuns to Tamnaharrie, Warrenpoint; then the Sisters of the Assumption to Ballynahinch; the Carmelites to Glenvale; the Nursing Brothers of Saint Alexis and the Sisters of Mercy to establish caring homes in Warrenpoint. But when he died, in 1943, people pointed to the foundation of the College at Dromantine as Bishop Mulhern’s most notable achievement along with the “SMA’s”.
Today, we remember with great gratitude those SMA priests – past and present – and of course their “spiritual daughters” in the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles, whose generous assistance to the mission should never be underestimated.
I especially wish to recognise today the tremendous contribution that you, the SMA Fathers, have made – and continue to make – to the Diocese of Dromore: your significant pastoral assistance to parishes surrounding Dromantine; your excellent conference and retreat centre; your highly appreciated summer schemes for young people; your prayerful presence at the heart of our Diocese. But, above all, I thank you for your unstinting witness to the centrality of mission in the life of the Church. One such example I think of today is the encouragement given by the late Father PJ Gormley to the young people of the Saint Ciaran’s peregrini in Ballygawley. May Father PJ, and all the faithful departed of the Society, rest in peace.
Friends we know that the Church cannot exist without mission. After all, the parting words of Jesus to His disciples were all about mission; about going out to share and ignite the flame of faith in the hearts of others.
Next month the National Synodal Assembly of the Church in Ireland will hear the voice of people from across the island who have expressed a deep “longing” for the Church here to rediscover her “outward-reaching energy and confidence in sharing the Gospel” (see pp8-9,Working Document for Irish National Synodal Assembly 2026).
Today’s celebration of 100 years at Dromantine is a beautiful reminder to us of what the late Pope Francis used to say: that the Church should put everything she does “in a missionary key” – because a Church which is turned in on itself, that keeps Jesus Christ shut up inside herself and doesn’t let Him out – such a Church “becomes self-referential and gets sick.” Our thoughts today should not therefore linger on the past, nor should we lament about “the end” of something. No. Today is a reminder not to forget our missionary genes; it is a call that we might continue to dare to hope, to look to the future with courage and trust in God, and to renew our commitment to fanning into a flame the gifts of the Spirit that are urging us to conversion and new life for the Church in Ireland.
So congratulations SMA! Thank you SMA! May the Lord reward your fidelity, your generosity and your powerful witness as missionary disciples.
God bless you all. Amen.