We were saddened to hear of the sudden death of Archbishop Treanor last week and we send our sincere condolences to his surviving family at this time of loss.
Archbishop Treanor or Bishop Treanor as he was before taking up his new appointment as Apostolic Nuncio to the European Union was no stranger to Springhill Community House. He was a regular visitor to the house to meet Fr Des and others in the house at the time. He had a deep admiration and respect for Fr Des and his ministry which was in stark contrast to previous Bishops.
The first time they met face to face was not in Ballymurphy but in Brussels at the European Parliament. Bishop Treanor recalled “you [Fr Des] came with a group and I distinctly remember on that occasion, the kind of issues you raised, which were centred around justice, governance and you were trying to impress upon member states the need for solidarity and commitment to the pursuit of justice in the localities and regions of the European Union.”
At that stage Fr Treanor was working with the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), little did he know he would later be appointed as the Bishop of Down and Connor which incorporated Ballymurphy.
As a newly appointed Bishop he embraced Fr Des and his work saying “For over 60 years, you have served as a priest in this diocese. I know many priests and people who have been touched by your life, by your ministry, particularly as a spiritual director in St Malachy’s, by your championing of justice and truth and the development of people and society. I have met you at various junctures along that path and got to know you here, I look towards the future with wonderment, with curiosity and trust that we as a people of God will be able to live the church as an open community of friendship, of inquiry and of an effort always to construct reality in the service of human beings and human dignity.”
This was the beginning of a friendship and working relationship based on mutual respect and understanding for the next eleven years.
During one meeting Fr Des took the opportunity to discuss the possibility of having Fr Hugh Mullan and Fr Noel Fitzpatrick officially recognised by the church for their selfless act.
Fr Mullan was killed by gunfire during the Ballymurphy Massacre (9th August, 1971) as he went to minister to the dying and injured. On July 9th, 1972, Fr Fitzpatrick died in similar circumstances, during the Springhill/Westrock Massacre.
It was the first time we heard anyone in church authority refer to both priests as “martyr priests.” That meeting planted a seed in Bishop Treanor’s mind and he agreed to explore the possibility of having both priests canonised.
“I think it’s something that can certainly be looked into. And they are two sons of this part of the world who chose to become priests, to minister the word of God, look after people sacramentally and pastorally, and give their lives, both of them, and doing that in very tragic and very, very sad circumstances. And they are for us, I think martyr priests indeed, and that’s how we honour them and how we remember them. I think that looking to see is there some kind of way in which their life and their witness could be made known and cherished universally.”
Bishop Treanor later asked Fr Paddy McCafferty, PP of Corpus Christi, to compose a devotion prayer to Fr Mullan and Fr Fitzpatrick which Bishop Treanor launched in St Peter’s Cathedral at the end of the novena for vocations, May 2019. The prayer acknowledges the sacrifice of the two priests while they were going about their priestly duties. The prayer asks God that we, inspired by the heroic witness of these two priests, would lovingly serve God and help one another in this life, until we all come to Eternal Life.
Bishop Treanor also met with the Ballymurphy Massacre families’ numerous times during their long campaign for truth and Justice. Their first meeting was just three months after his appointment as Bishop of Down and Connor in May 2008. At that time families were gathering evidence which would help prove their loved one’s innocence and establish a proper investigation. They met Bishop Treanor and asked him to search the diocesan archive for any documents that would help. The following year Bishop Treanor met and prayed with families at the scene of the shootings before presenting them with previously undisclosed documents including a report compiled by the Church at the time of the killings. At a press conference in St Marys University Bishop Treanor backed their demand for a new investigation into the events and an acknowledgement and apology from the British Government.
He said government and society must have the guts to confront past wrongs in the North if the region is to look to a better future.
This was a hugely significant point in the campaign, to have the catholic church publically support families and they welcomed Bishop Treanor’s support. They felt that the Catholic Church were the same as the other 10 families – “they are looking for what happened to Father Mullan, they are seeking the truth just like us and it’s all part of the one campaign.”
Bishop Treanor supported families during their inquest process and attended lagan side court where he sat side by side with families as they listened to the evidence. In May 2021 Bishop Treanor gave permission for the inquest verdict to be live streamed into St Peter Cathedral and Corpus Christi Church. After celebrating mass in Corpus Christi Church on the morning the findings were published Bishop Treanor sat with relatives and witness to hear Justice Siobhan Keegan deliver her verdict which declared all the Ballymurphy Massacre victims “entirely Innocent”.
Bishop Treanor said “It was immensely humbling and moving to sit alongside the relatives of the Ballymurphy victims as they listened to the findings of the Inquest today. These families have sat through and listened to the harrowing and graphic evidence about how their loved ones died as well as how they were treated both before and after their deaths. These same families can now say with one voice that the truth has been heard. History will forever record the innocence of their loved ones.”
He added “It is a sad indictment on our society and state that these families have had to listen to misinformation and untruth propagated about their loved ones for almost 50 years. “It is my hope and prayer that those who suffered the loss of family and friends in the Ballymurphy Massacre may now begin to find peace and consolation in the truth.”
In November 2019 Bishop Treanor once again attended Corpus Christi Church and blessed the shrine to Mother Teresa which is also dedicated to the victims of the Ballymurphy and Springhill/Westrock massacres including Fr Hugh Mullan and Fr Noel Fitzpatrick. Fr Paddy spoke of the courageous witness of both priests who gave their lives for the priesthood. He said “They shed their blood as witnesses to pastoral love, they are a reminder that love will raise us up, even in these poor frail fragile bodies, to eternal glory”.
His support for families can not be underestimated. Until that point families had been frustrated by the lack of support within the church and they welcomed his openness and continued support.
As a mark or respect and reverence Bishop Treanor always gave Fr Des his place referring to him as the most senior priest in the dioceses. He joined us on many occasions to celebrate Fr Des ministry including concelebrating mass with him on the 60th anniversary of his ordination. On other occasions it was a quite visit to the community house and later Nazareth Care Village where himself and Des would chat about the good old times, the last visit being a few days before Fr Des’ passing. Such was his admiration Bishop Treanor cut short his pilgrimage to Lourdes to attend Fr Des’ Requiem Mass.
Here again he acknowledged and gave thanks for Des’ ministry:
“I did learn and hear from students from this Diocese of Down and Connor of the role he played in St Malachy’s College the way he introduced them, not only to literature and the great spiritual tradition of Christianity, but also the way in which he instilled in them a sense of dignity, of self-worth and of confidence to speak and to begin to articulate their ideas and their questions. That was a great contribution to youth, and that same spirit, I think, inspired his work here in the Springhill Community. I trust that the Spirit that he has given to all of you will continue to be lived for the service of all, for the promotion of the good of all, of justice, of respect for dignity, and of peace and reconciliation.”
“He worked during his years, as has been said today, with so many people, with priests of this diocese, many of whom were involved in the same sort of initiatives as He was with religious of Clonard and elsewhere, and with so many ministers of faith and of the Word of God from our different Christian churches and traditions. “
“We give thanks for the fact that he and so many faceless people with whom he worked were inspired, yes, by a quest for justice, by a quest for the promotion of human values, by the quest for reconciled cohabiting communities.”
His last visit to Springhill Community House was in December 2022 just before his departure for Brussels. His visit was to accept a file containing Fr Des’ account of his life within the church and his difficulties with Bishop Philbin. Bishop Treanor accepted the file and promised it would be deposited in the diocesan archive for all to see. We thanked Bishop Treanor for his friendship and wished him well in his new role. We of course took the opportunity to ask him to use his influence in Brussels to highlight the injustice of the British Governments proposed legacy bill which he agreed to do. He also undertook to brief his successor as Bishop of Down and Connor on the campaign to canonise Fr Hugh Mullan and Fr Noel Fitzpatrick, which is still a work in progress.
Archbishop Treanor was a people person who connected on a human level with everyone he interacted with. We give thanks for his ministry and friendship, may he rest in peace.
Prayer for Fr Mullan and Fr Fitzpatrick
Father, you look with compassion on all your people.
Your Son, in the Holy Spirit, has united us, inseparably, with your infinite love and mercy.
Nothing can separate us from your love, not even terror and violence; nor even death itself.
Inspired by the courageous fidelity of your priests, Fr Hugh Mullan and Fr Noel Fitzpatrick, who, in the midst of great danger, gave their lives as they ministered to the injured and dying, may we, strengthened by your Word and your Sacraments, love you and all our brothers and sisters, carrying each other’s burdens, until we all come to Eternal Life.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
