Ireland: Fr Willie Doyle SJ, Who Offered His Life in Reparation for the Sins of Priests, Cause Opened
From Editor’s Inbox, today…
Some good news today; the Cause for Fr Doyle is now opened. Although Fr Doyle is renowned for being a War Hero, two other aspects of his life need to be remembered.
- He led a life of severe penance for the sins of Priests.
- He would be a good advocate for those suffering from mental illness, due to the fact that he himself had a breakdown in his early years. (With the Covid crisis, so many are still affected in this way, and he could help them).
Please God, we have a new Irish Saint in the near future. (Anne) Ends.
From the Father Willie Doyle Association
Official site for the canonisation cause of the Servant of God Fr Willie Doyle SJ
It is with great joy that we welcome today’s announcement [dated 25 October 2022] from Bishop Tom Deenihan of the Diocese of Meath that he intends of open the canonisation cause of the Servant of God Fr Willie Doyle SJ! Bishop Deenihan’s official edict is below… Continues…
Editor writes…
This announcement is heartily welcomed at this time when priests are causing so many scandals. God raises up saints to answer the needs in every age, so we must thank Him for the marvellous life of Fr Doyle, offered in reparation for the sins of priests. Your thoughts…
Comments (15)
Wonderful. We sorely need priests like him today. The priests I used to work with wouldn’t even recognise themselves as sinners, or many of the things they did, or failed to do, as sin, that much was obvious.
WF,
I do agree, 100%, that we sorely need priests like him today. There must be some that we won’t hear of during their lifetime, but this priest is surely deserving of being added to the list of canonised saints in heaven.
Laura,
I’m not sure I agree about there being priests like Fr Doyle but we don’t hear about them – we would have heard about them if they’d been speaking out about the abortion referendum and the ss-marriage referendum. I’m sorry, but if there is one thing Ireland (and the UK) is short of these days, it’s priests like Fr Doyle. They’re all too “prudent” to speak out!
This could be the shot in the arm the Irish faithful need to remind them that there are good and holy priests, not just those exposed as guilty of evil, especially those guilty of abusing children. That lot have dominated the headlines for far too long, considering that they are (thank God) a minority of perverted priests, with unnatural sexual appetites.
Father Doyle’s story is marvellous and uplifting. It is true that God raises up the kind of saints we need in every period of Church history. I hope this Cause progresses quickly, since it’s not exactly a fast-track case. He is not a modern priest, but a truly traditional priest, one who obviously walked the walk, instead of just talking the talk as so many so-called traditional priests do these days, sorry to say.
Lily,
Your comment about hoping his Cause progresses quickly, reminds me that it is great to obtain a miracle to send to the Cause organisers. I’m thinking hard about that right now.
That really is important – at least one miracle is required for the Cause to go forward, if I remember rightly, so it would be great to be that person who obtained the miracle. I expect it will be someone in Ireland, though, not that I begrudge anyone a miracle, LOL!
I was just thinking that it was a sign of hope that the modernists in the hierarchy would allow such a Cause to be introduced, but I’ve just read the Edict from the Bishop and they just can’t help themselves. This is what it says in that Edict:
By offering his life to save wounded Anglican soldiers he became an ecumenical martyr of charity.”
They can’t just let us have a new Catholic saint; he has to be “ecumenical”! But like all Catholics of that era, Fr Doyle would have been horrified at the idea of the mish mash they call ecumenism.
That said, it’s wonderful news and his life story is truly inspiring.
What a wonderful priest! Even as a young boy he showed his deep faith – I copied this wee extract:
On one occasion, he encouraged a lonely dying neighbour to confess to a priest before death. The man refused, so the young Willie stayed with him for eight hours, praying and pleading until at last the man relented. He died soon after making his confession.
That is strong testimony to his holiness and so is the fact that he offered himself to Our Lady as a martyr.
I recommend everyone to read the About Fr Willie page on the Association website – he really does merit beatification and canonisation IMHO.
Fr Willie Doyle is a fantastic role model for modern clergy, so I hope they learn from him.
As others say, we desperately need more priests like him.
I’ve just been reading up about Fr Doyle and what a marvellous priest. There’s no prizes for guessing what he would be saying and doing if he was alive in modern Ireland today. We’d have heard him shouting from the rooftops during the abortion and ss-marriage referendums. He’d probably have been suspended by his bishop!
Here was a saintly soul who understood what the priesthood of Our Lord was all about – self sacrifice. Fr. Doyle enbraced hardship and suffering for the supernatural good of his brother priests and paid the ultimate sacrifice of love for the souls on the battle fields of France.
How manifestly opposed to this spirit of Our Lord are the greater majority of priests today, those who seek only their own comfort in an easy life of minimal pastoral care and who think nothing of denying souls access to Our Lord. We saw this particularly during the lockdowns when those of dead conscience closed the churches for months to the faithful in what can only be described as a rare manifestation of the diabolical.
Everyone knows by now that I was forbidden access to a particular church for refusing to wear a mask and give my personal details. The priest responsible for that singular act of evil appeared to have no conception of the mortal sin he was committing. I think I can say with relative certainty that the sainted Fr. Doyle would have faced death rather than drive a soul from the House of God under any pretext.
The present crisis in the Church is first a crisis within the clergy, which is why we should all follow Fr. Doyles example in praying for priests and doing penance. They, after all, will have a far stricter judgement in the next life by reason of the grace and mission conferred on them by Our Lord.
Athanasius,
I think I can say with relative certainty that the sainted Fr. Doyle would have faced death rather than drive a soul from the House of God under any pretext.
I could not agree more. Any priest who would drive anyone from the sacraments in his church, is about as Catholic as Rishi Sunak.
I wonder if most priests even in Ireland will know about Fr Willie Doyle. Somehow, I doubt it. I just checked out the Irish Catholic and there’s no mention of this news.
https://www.irishcatholic.com/
Nicky
The way Catholic Ireland has gone, you’re more likely to find the story in the Northern Irish Protestant, if there is such a publication!!!
Nicky,
I find that just beyond belief. You’d think the Irish Catholic press would be all over a story like this, but no. Salacious gossip is their bread and butter. I will pray to Fr Doyle for him to intercede for his fellow countrymen. Maybe he can follow the example of St Patrick and chase some more snakes out of Ireland!