Tomás Séamus Ó Fiaich

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Bust of the Cardinal in Ranafast , County Donegal
Cardinal coat of arms

Tomás Séamus Cardinal Ó Fiaich (born November 3, 1923 in Cullyhanna , County Armagh , Northern Ireland , † May 8, 1990 in Toulouse , Haute-Garonne , France ) was a Northern Irish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and Archbishop of Armagh .

Life

Priest and professor

Tomás Séamus Ó Fiaich ( Anglicised : Thomas James Fee) was ordained a priest on July 6, 1948 , he spent the first years after ordination as a vicar in the parish in Clonfeacle . He grew up in Camlough , a heavily republican region of Northern Ireland, and completed postgraduate studies at University College Dublin (1948–1950), where he earned an MA in Early and Medieval Irish History. He then studied until 1952 at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, where he received a degree in history. He joined the faculty of St Patrick's College in 1953. Tomás Ó Fiaich was a noted Irish language scholar, folklorist and historian at St. Patrick's College, Ireland's national seminary, where he taught as Professor of Modern Irish History from 1959 to 1974. In this capacity he suggested to Nollaig Ó Muraíle to research Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisighs and his works. From 1970 to 1974 he was Vice President and then until 1977 University President of St. Patrick's College. He exercised an office that traditionally holds a bishop .

Archbishop of Armagh and Cardinal

After the death of William Cardinal Conway on April 17, 1977, Pope Paul VI appointed him . Archbishop of Armagh on August 18, 1977 . The Apostolic Nuncio in Ireland , Gaetano Alibrandi , donated him episcopal ordination on October 2 of the same year ; Co- consecrators were Francis Lenny , Auxiliary Bishop in Armagh, and William J. Philbin , Bishop of Down and Connor . Like most Archbishops of Armagh, John Paul II accepted him on June 30, 1979 as a cardinal priest with the titular church of San Patrizio in the college of cardinals . Although Cardinal Ó Fiaich spent all of his formative years in academic circles, he was a skilled pastor. His tenure as a primate is often linked to the political controversy in Northern Ireland in the 1970s and 80s. One incident is closely linked to the cardinal, the 1981 Irish hunger strike .

Papal visit 1979

The first major event of Ó Fiaich's tenure was the first papal visit to Ireland in 1,400 years of Christianity from September 29 to October 1, 1979. The Pope celebrated mass in front of a million people in Phoenix Park , Dublin . His grand speech on the Northern Ireland border appealed to all organizations to end the Northern Ireland conflict, and this was followed by a visit to the Marian Shrine in Knock , County Mayo .

Criticism of his political stance

Politically, he was criticized less than his predecessors and successors for his critical stance on Irish republicanism . The Irish government, especially Taoiseach Jack Lynch and Garret FitzGerald , consistently criticized him for being overly close to Republicanism. Unionists were the main critics. Republicans, however, praised the cardinal for his criticism of British policy in Northern Ireland and for his open advocacy for a unified Ireland.

Its fiercest critics have been in the Irish media, notably The Sunday Independent (conservative) and The Irish Times (left-wing liberal), known for their critical stance on Irish republicanism. However, he was strongly defended by The Irish Press (nationalist) and An Phoblacht .

Hunger strikes

During the hunger strike he was believed by many to be the most influential private individual among Republican supporters as he helped end the first hunger strike through direct contact with the Republicans at Maze Prison in Northern Ireland. He visited Maze Prison and witnessed the Dirty Protest (prisoners smeared feces on the walls of their cells and left food to rot on floor corridors while wearing only blankets and refusing to wash, in protest of the withdrawal of special category status from the Republican prisoners).

He explained:

“I was shocked by the inhumane conditions ... where more than 300 prisoners are being held. One would hardly allow an animal to live in such conditions, let alone a human. The closest approximation to what I saw was the sight of hundreds of homeless people in sewers in the slums of Calcutta. "

When Raymond McCreesh died during the hunger strike , Ó Fiaich said:

“Raymond McCreesh was captured carrying guns at the age of 19 and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. I have no doubt that he would never have seen the inside of a prison except in this abnormal political situation. Who is entitled to call him a murderer or a suicide? "

While the cardinal expressed his deep concern about the treatment of prisoners, he was equally critical of those who used violence to support Irish nationalism.

Reverend Armstrong's situation

In 1983, Presbyterian Reverend David Armstrong was threatened to leave Limavady after wishing Father Kevin Mullan's Catholic Church a "Merry Christmas". Cardinal Ó Fiaich made a donation to help him settle in England .

Activities in the Vatican

During his tenure he attended many synods and meetings of the Holy Cardinals College. The most important meetings were:

  • 1st General Assembly of the College of Cardinals, Vatican City, 5. – 9. November 1979
  • Synod of World Bishops (Ordinary General Assembly), Vatican City, September 26 - October 25, 1980
  • Synod of World Bishops (Ordinary General Assembly), Vatican City, 29 September - 28 October 1983
  • Synod of World Bishops (Extraordinary General Assembly), Vatican City, November 24 - December 8, 1985
  • Synod of World Bishops (Ordinary General Assembly), Vatican City, 1. – 30. October 1987

Sudden death

Ó Fiaich died of a heart attack on the evening of May 8, 1990 during the annual diocesan pilgrimage to the Marian Shrine in Lourdes , France. He had come to France the day before and felt sick shortly after giving mass in the grotto in the French city. He was brought by helicopter to a hospital in Toulouse 200 km away, where he died at the age of 66. He was laid out in St Patrick's Cathedral , where thousands of people queued to bid him farewell. He is also buried there. He was followed as Archbishop and Cardinal by Cahal Daly , who was six years his senior , and previously Bishop of Down and Connor.

Cardinal Ó Fiaich Memorial Library

The Cardinal Ó Fiaich Memorial Library , a registered association, was officially opened on May 8, 1999 in Armagh by the Northern Irish Secretary of State Marjorie Mowlam . Named after the cardinal in honor of his scholarly interests, the library contains extensive archival material on local and national Irish folklore, tradition and history. Cardinal Ó Fiaich's private papers during his time as Archbishop and Cardinal are in the library, as are those of nine previous Roman Catholic Archbishops of Armagh since the mid-eighteenth century.

Works

  • Edmund O'Reilly, Archbishop of Armagh 1657-1669. In: Father Luke Wadding Commemorative Volume. Franciscan Fathers, 1957, pp. 171-228.
  • Irish cultural influence in Europe, 6th to 12th century. Dublin 1967.
  • The Irish Bishops and The Conscription Issue 1918. In: The Capuchin Annual , 1968.
  • Columbanus in His Own Words. Veritas Publications, Dublin 1974.
  • Virgil's Irish background and departure for France. In: Seanchas Ardmacha, ix (1985), pp. 301-17.
  • Gaelscrínte san Eoraop. Dublin 1986.
  • Irish monks in Germany in the late Middle Ages. In: WJ Sheils, Diana Wood (Eds.): The Church, Ireland and the Irish. Oxford 1989 (= Studies in Church History ), xxv, pp. 89-104.
  • The early period. In: Rémonn Ó Muirí (ed.): Irish Church History Today. Armagh [1991?], Pp. 1-12.
  • Virgil's career in Ireland and his way to the continent. In: Virgilius of Salzburg. Pp. 17-26.

Web links

predecessor Office successor
William John Conway Archbishop of Armagh
1977 - 1990 		Cahal Daly
personal data
SURNAME Ó Fiaich, Tomás Séamus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ó Fiaich, Tomás
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Northern Irish clergyman, Archbishop of Armagh and Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
DATE OF BIRTH November 3, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Cullyhanna , County Armagh , Northern Ireland
DATE OF DEATH May 8, 1990
Place of death Toulouse , Haute-Garonne department , France