RIP Fr Stephen Rooney The body of a Belfast priest was recovered from Detroit river five days after a freak accident capsized the boat he was travelling on.
Fr Stephen Rooney, PP of St Joseph’s, Trenton, Illinois, and one other passenger went missing on Sunday, August 16.
Their fishing charter overturned when it hit a submerged rock in the Detroit river’s channel, throwing all 14 people aboard into the water.
A passing boat rescued 12 of the passengers, but Fr Rooney and another parishioner were swept away in the current.
The Archbishop of Detroit, Allen Vigneron, described the Irishman, who served in the US for 33 years, as “an inspirational priest”.
Fr Rooney grew up on Belfast’s Short Strand and members of his family still live in Northern Ireland.
One of the survivors was Msgr Charles Kosanke of Detroit’s Holy Trinity Parish. Speaking to the Detroit Catholic newspaper, he described the accident as an “unspeakable tragedy that has affected the lives of many wonderful people”.