Obituaries & Tributes

Catholic artist and writer Elizabeth Wang died peacefully at her home in Hertfordshire on Saturday, 10 September, after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer three months ago. She was known to many people through her religious paintings, reproduced in many books and journals, and as the founder of the Radiant Light movement.

Church leaders have paid tribute to Rabbi Shear-Yashuv Cohen, the former Chief Rabbi of Haifa, who died on Monday at the age of 89. He was buried on Tuesday at Jerusalem's Mount of Olives. A former fighter in pre-state Jewish underground movements, Cohen was was a vehement opponent of withdrawing from occupied land, but was also active in interfaith dialogue with Christians and Muslims and became the first Jew to address a Vatican synod in 2008. In a statement Archbishop Kevin McDonald, Chairman of the Bishops Conference

Joan Reilly, a former lecturer at St Mary's University, died on 10th August 2016 aged 90. The Requiem Mass of Joan Mary Walpole Reilly, held at the Chapel in the Maryville Care Home in Brentford, west London last Friday, was attended by former students, colleagues and family members. Born at St Thomas' Hospital in London on 17th January 1926, Joan was the daughter of watchmaker Francis Reilly and Anne Walpole, who had met in Leitrim in Ireland. Sadly her father died when she was just four years old.

A retired Archbishop who bore the brunt of one of the worst Christian persecutions India has ever witnessed in modern times, died on Sunday, August 14. Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar, who led the archdiocese for over 30 years, died of colon cancer at the Holy Spirit Hospital in Mumbai at the age of 82. Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the Archbishop of Mumbai and President of the Latin Bishops in India (CCBI) said:

Bishop Donal McKeown, Bishop of Derry, gave the homily at the Requiem Mass celebrated for Bishop Daly in St Eugene's Cathedral in Londonderry, Northern Ireland yesterday. Archbishop Eamon Martin gave a tribute at the end of the Mass before the final commendation. The funeral came after three days in which many thousands of people came to pay their respects to the 'People's Bishop'.

Pope Francis sent a special message expressing his condolences for the death of Bishop Edward Kevin Daly on Thursday, recalling his generous ministry in the service of peace and justice. The message was read by Mgr Amaury Medina Blanco - Secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature to Ireland - at the funeral Mass celebrated for Bishop Daly in St Eugene's Cathedral in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Bishop Daly became one of the symbols of the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland after being photographed holding up a blood-stained handkerchief

Fr Patrick Shanahan, a Missionary of Africa (White Father) who dedicated his life to working with street children, died on Sunday, 7 August. Born in Bushey Hertfordshire in 1941, Fr Patrick served as a missionary and Ghana for 53 years and was the founder of Streetinvest, a charity working with street children. Announcing the news of his death, Streetinvest said: "Patrick was a great man who influenced many lives. Without him the world will be a worse place. Without him the world would have been a much worse place. Street children have lost a giant champion.

The former Bishop of Derry, Bishop Edward Daly has died. In a statement Archbishop Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh and President of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conferencesaid: It was with great sadness that I learned this morning of the death of our beloved Bishop Edward Daly. As the bishop who ordained me to the priesthood in 1987, I had huge admiration for Bishop Edward. I shall always be grateful for his pastoral guidance, kindness and support. Bishop Edward was an iconic figure in the civic and Church life

Pope Francis yesterday remembered Italian journalist Anna Maria Jacobini, who died in her hotel bed in Krakow on Friday. The 58-year-old was covering World Youth Day for RAI, the Italian state broadcaster. She is believed to have died of natural causes. Her death was not reported immediately because her 94-year-old mother had to be informed first. Anna Maria led a weekly Catholic affairs program and in the past had covered other papal trips, grueling affairs for reporters, who usually work from before dawn till late into the night.

A commemorative Mass was celebrated in the crypt of Westminster Cathedral on Monday for Sir Roger Casement - on the eve of the 100th anniversary of his execution. Casement was hanged in Pentonville Prison on 3 August 1916 after he was convicted of treason following his attempts to secure German military support for Irish independence. An heroic figure, earlier he had exposed the abuse suffered by natives in the Belgian Congo and Peru.

The President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers, Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, died overnight at the age of 67 after a long illness. Archbishop Zimowski was born in Kupienin, Poland, April 7, 1949; and ordained priest on 25 May 1973. Pope St John Paul II appointed Zimowski bishop of the Diocese of Radom, Poland, on 28 March 2002. He was appointed President of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers by Pope Benedict XVI on 18 April 2009.

MPs, friends and family members walked to St Margaret's Church from the Palace of Westminster yesterday, for a service of prayer and reflection for slain MP Jo Cox. Earlier, in a specially-recalled session of Parliament, with Jo's husband and young children in the gallery, many tributes were paid to the young MP for Batley and Spen. Speaker John Bercow said they had gathered in 'heartbreaking sadness' and 'heartfelt solidarity'. The Readings were: Philippians 4: 4-9 and Deuteronomy 15: 7-11. Speaker's Chaplain, Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin gave the

The news of the death of Theresa Helm will have saddened the many people who have known her over the years. I have known Theresa for almost 20 years; though have seen less of her in recent times. She was part of a group of people who came together and energised the mission of justice and peace in the Brentwood diocese and nationally during the 1990s and into the noughties. Theresa was active in her justice and peace group in Hornchurch parish, together with Fran Marshall. Both then became more involved when they helped launch the justice and peace

Faith communities around the UK gathered to pray for slain MP Jo Cox over the weekend. There is now a sea of flowers and candles in Parliament Square, London, where crowds took part in vigils on Friday and Saturday. At St Peter's Church in Birstall, Yorkshire, on Sunday, a packed congregation heard Reverend Paul Knight say that Jo Cox was someone who went out of her way to help others and said her humanity was "powerful and compelling.. We would do well to recognise her as an amazing example of a 21st century Good Samaritan,"

The Archdiocese of Westminster published the following reflection yesterday: Today is the 17th anniversary of the death of Cardinal Basil Hume. We give thanks for his legacy and for the many ways in which he touched so many people's lives. Let us listen again as he encourages us to pray: "Prayer is the raising of the mind and heart to God." That definition in the catechism remains, for my part at any rate, the best of all definitions of prayer. But one word was omitted: trying. Prayer is trying to raise our minds and hearts to God.

A vigil is being organised in Parliament Square at 7pm for slain MP Jo Cox. Christians from across the parties will be gathering together to pray for Jo's family and the nation. Christians on the Left, the Conservative Christian Fellowship and the Liberal Democrat Christian forum will be standing together in prayer as Christians in Politics. They will be congregating before the main vigil at 6.30pm in Parliament Square, outside the Houses of Parliament.

The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales issued a brief statement last night on the death of Jo Cox MP for Batley and Spen, who was attacked and killed in her constituency yesterday. She leaves her husband and two young children. The statement reads: Jo Cox MP Requiescat in pace. A spokesman for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales said: "We are profoundly saddened and shocked at the death of Jo Cox. Our society has lost a dedicated public servant.

The late boxing legend Muhammad Ali, was once closely connected with a Catholic religious order, Jessica Able writes in the Record newspaper, published by the Archdiocese of Louisville. As a young teen, Ali, then known as Cassius Clay, worked at the library of Nazareth College, now-Spalding University. He cleaned and tended the front desk while the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, founders of the school, had dinner. "He would leave Central High School at 2pm and work in the library until about 6pm.

Rabbi Michael Lerner spoke as a representative of the Jewish faith at Muhammad Ali's interfaith memorial service in Louisville, Kentucky yesterday, and delivered a powerful sermon echoing many of the calls Muhammad Ali made in his lifetime. Rabbi Lerner received many ovations as he called for justice and peace around the world, including the ending of drone warfare, racism, the ending of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories, and Turkey's oppression of the Kurds. He appealed for governments to do more to establish a just banking system,

Haynes Sylvester Baptiste was laid to rest yesterday at St Gregory's Catholic Church in Earlsfield, south London. Haynes, 83, has been a fighter for racial justice in this country for the best part of the 50 years during which he has resided here since migrating from Dominica in 1956 as part of the Windrush generation. He lived through the years of the no blacks, no irish, and no dogs notices being routinely put up in bedsit windows.

Haynes Baptiste, a leading figure in the Catholic Association for Racial Justice (CARJ) died on Thursday 26 May 2016 at St George's Hospital. He had been suffering with serious heart problems for some time. He was 83 years old. His funeral will take place at 11am on Tuesday 7 June, at St Gregory's Catholic Church, 306 Garratt Lane, Earlsfield, London SW18 4EH. Haynes Baptiste was born 20 June 1932 in the village of Vieille Case - a village in the northeast area of the island of Dominica in the eastern Caribbean.

We thank you for sharing in our grief, in the past days, at the painful and tragic loss of Sister Veronika, Theresia Racková, SSpS. Sr Veronika was born in Slovakia on 8th January 1958. She made her first vows in the Mission Congregation of the Servants of the Holy Spirit in 1987 and final vows in 1994. She was a medical doctor with specialization in tropical diseases. She has worked as a missionary in Ghana. She served as Provincial Leader of the Province of Slovakia from 2004-2010.

Some younger Catholics may never have heard of Fr Daniel Berrigan who died on 30 April at the age of 94. This news will bring back a flood of memories especially for those who experienced the peace movement of the Vietnam era. Both he and his brother Philip were heroes to many, and well known worldwide as Catholic radicals. In Dan's case also as a university teacher, significant author and poet. From a family of six brothers, Dan joined the Jesuits and was ordained in 1952. Both he and Phil were vocal and radical opponents of American

The American Jesuit priest and poet Daniel Berrigan - famous for leading defiant protests against the Vietnam War - died on Saturday in New York aged 94. Father Berrigan emerged as a radical Catholic voice against the war in the 1960s and won fame when he and his younger brother Fr Philip Berrigan seized draft records of troops about to be deployed in Vietnam. Together with seven others they burned the files. The group were convicted of destroying government property and sentenced on 9 November 1968 to prison terms

Don Benoît Kinalegu, the Catholic priest who alerted the world to the terrible abuses of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Congo, has passed away at only 53 years of age. It was Don Kinalegu who first reported the massacre committed by the Ugandan origin group during Christmas 2008, with the killing of more than 800 people in the region of Haut-Uélé. "When a colleague and I arrived in Dungu to see if the reports were true, we were told that there was one person we needed to meet: Abbé Benoît",