By Michael Kelly
DUBLIN (CNS) — Bishop Edward
Daly of Derry, known for his tireless advocacy for peace and reconciliation
during decades of sectarian tension in Northern Ireland, died in a hospital in
Londonderry, Northern Ireland, Aug. 8.
Bishop Daly, who retired in 1993
due to ill health after suffering a stroke, was 82. He had suffered from cancer.
He first came to prominence in a
photograph from Bloody Sunday in 1972, when 14 civil rights protesters were
shot dead by the British army in Londonderry. For decades, the victims were
accused of being terrorists. However, in 2010, an independent inquiry ruled
that all the victims and the injured, had been unarmed and that those killed
had been killed unlawfully.
Bishop Daly worked tirelessly
with the families to clear their names and ensure that an independent inquiry
would overturn the allegations that they were terrorists.
Irish President Michael D.
Higgins expressed “great sadness” at news of Bishop Daly’s death.
“Edward Daly will be
remembered by many for his peaceful, compassionate, humanitarian and courageous
actions during the appalling events of Bloody Sunday,” he said. “This
was but one part of the great contribution that was his life of service to the
citizens of Derry, including as it did his leadership in the tasks of
regeneration and his work with the hospice movement in the later part of his
life.”
After Bishop Daly was named to the
Diocese of Derry in 1974, he campaigned for the British authorities to build
houses for the Catholic community and frequently denounced injustices suffered
by Catholics at the hands of the authorities. At the same time, he denounced
paramilitary violence aimed at British troops and the police in Northern
Ireland.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin said Bishop
Daly’s bravery was “apparent in his lived conviction that violence from any
side during the Troubles was futile and could never be morally justified.
“He was courageous in
speaking out against injustice and took many personal risks for peace and
reconciliation,” Archbishop Martin recalled.
Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry
said his predecessor “served, without any concern for himself, throughout
the traumatic years of the Troubles, finding his ministry shaped by the
experience of witnessing violence and its effects; through this dreadful period
he always strove to preach the Gospel of the peace of Christ.”
“Bishop Daly provided an
example of priestly ministry which was exemplary, inspired by service of God
and the people he encountered,” Bishop McKeown said.
At a national level, Bishop Daly
was a key member of the Irish bishops’ conference and served as its spokesman
for many years. In 1975 he established the first Catholic Communications
Office. He also helped organize the 1979 papal visit of St. John Paul II.
Pastorally, he took a particular
interest in the welfare of prisoners and their families and was a frequent
visitor to jails.
Archbishop Martin said that as a
“gifted spiritual leader and communicator, his words touched the hearts of
many people, but his ministry was not confined to preaching. He walked with his
people in their struggles and joys and was most at home out in the streets,
parishes and communities of his diocese.
“Bishop Edward will be
remembered as a fearless peacebuilder,” the archbishop said.
In retirement, Bishop Daly
continued to work, ministering in the Foyle Hospice, where he served as
chaplain until 2015.
He also published two books of
memoirs. He provoked debate in 2011 when he wrote in his latter volume of
memoirs that “there will always be a place in the church for a celibate
priesthood, but there should also be a place for a married priesthood in the church.”
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