Thousands set to attend Ireland’s first beatification

Thousands are expected to descend on the Jesuit church on Dublin’s Gardiner Street this weekend, as Ireland hosts its first ever beatification ceremony.

Fr John Sullivan SJ, a Catholic convert, will be named Blessed on Saturday in a ceremony led by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and attended by Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, representing Pope Francis.

Honour

In another first, the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Michael Jackson, will make the request for beatification alongside Archbishop Martin at the ceremony in St Francis Xavier Church, where Fr Sullivan is buried.

Parish priest at Gardiner Street, Fr Gerry Clarke SJ said it is “an honour” to host “this momentous day” and large crowds are expected.

“Unfortunately we have had to organise it by ticket in the church to accommodate the large numbers,” he told The Irish Catholic. “But we have two large marquees in the garden right next door with screens and sound, and the ceremony will be live streamed there and in the O’Reilly Theatre in Belvedere College. It will also be available to view on the Jesuit website www.jesuit.ie/beatification at 11am.”

Relatives

One of Fr Sullivan’s relatives will take part in the readings during the ceremony and music will be provided by Clongowes Wood College, where Fr Sullivan spent most of his ministry. Also, world-renowned soprano Celine Byrne, a native of Kildare, will sing the Ave Maria and Panis Angelicus.

Fr Conor Harper SJ, vice postulator of Fr Sullivan’s cause, said there was “a huge devotion all around Co. Kildare, radiating from Clongowes Wood College, over the years from the time he was there to the time of his death, and there is still huge devotion around the area”.

Up to the papacy of Benedict XVI beatifications tended to take place in Rome and were presided over by the Pope.

This will be the first Irish beatification since Columba Marmion OSB in 2000.