Obituaries & Tributes

For only the second time in over 470 years, a Catholic Mass was held in St Margaret's Church, Westminster yesterday. Parliamentarians from both houses gathered for the Memorial Mass for the late Jim Dobbin, MP for Heywood and Middleton. Jim's wife Pat with members of his family and friends attended.  Bishop Terence Brain, Mgr James Cronin and Fr Kevin Tierney were on the sanctuary. Last year a similar Mass was held for the late Paul Goggins MP. Canon Pat Browne, the Roman Catholic Duty Priest for Parliament was the principal celebrant.

Many readers will be saddened to hear that Fr Robert Kaggwa MAf,  died suddenly yesterday. He had been taking medication for a heart condition but his death was sudden and unexpected. Fr Robert was Chaplain at Digby Stuart College as well as RC Chaplain to Roehampton University and Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies. Over the past two and half decades his work took him from Uganda, where he was originally from, to several countries across Europe - as a student, lecturer and researcher.

Australia’s ambassador to the Holy See, John McCarthy, has arranged for Mass to be offered in the chapel of the Venerable English College, Rome, at 6pm on Tuesday, 2 December for Phillip Hughes and his family. The Vatican Cricket XI (Saint Peter’s Cricket Club) will attend along with representatives from the Pontifical Council for Culture and supporters of the Vatican team. The Mass will be celebrated by Fr Anthony Currer, an English priest working at the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity,

Where to start? I think Gerry would like us to begin with our own experience, right in the here and now, because at the centre of his life was his conviction that “God is in the facts, whatever my experience may be, so the facts must be kind.”And the facts of this moment of mourning are kind. We are each of here today because our lives have been touched by God through Gerry W Hughes. That much we have in common; but the particular ways in which our experience of God has been influenced by our contact with Gerry are as many as the number of us all.

Tributes have been paid to much-loved priest, Father Norman Jacobson, who has died at the age of 67 following a lengthy period of ill health. Born in Boldon, Co Durham, on February 13 1947, Father Norman was initially ordained into the Anglican ministry and worked in parishes throughout Teesside, including St Thomas’s, Brambles Farm, St Paul’s, Thornaby, and All Saints, in Middlesbrough town centre. After entering the Roman Catholic Church, he studied at St John’s, Wonersh,

Jesuit Brother and founder of Zambuko House for street children, Brother Canisius Chishiri, died in Harare yesterday morning, 6 November. In a brief statement, Father Lawrence Daka SJ, Assistant Provincial in the Zimbabwe Jesuit Province, said: "Bro Chishiri, a member of the ZIM Province, died today 6 November 2014 aged 66 at Richartz House, Harare, Zimbabwe." A Wake Mass will be held at Our Lady of the Wayside on Sunday 9 November 2014 at 5.30pm. 

The funeral of Fr Gerry W Hughes SJ, who died on Tuesday, will take place at Farm Street Church in London at 2pm on Monday 17 November 2014, followed by burial at St Beuno's Jesuit Spirituality Centre in North Wales at 12 noon on Tuesday 18 November. Gerard William Hughes was born on 22 March 1924 in Skelmorlie, Ayrshire, and entered the Society of Jesus in 1942. After studying at Heythrop College (at that time in Oxfordshire), Skt Georgen in Frankfurt and Campion Hall, Oxford, he was ordained in 1958,

I never had the opportunity to meet Gerry Hughes in person, but (as I suspect is true for many), he had a profound impact on my life through his writings. As a young student in the Jesuit Catholic Chaplaincy his first book "God of Surprises" opened up to me a totally new understanding of who God is, of how to pray differently and the beginnings of the realisation that I could trust my experience. For me it was the book which unlocked something for me that has been unfolding ever since.

Gerard W Hughes SJ, died peacefully in the Jesuit nursing home in Boscombe, Bournmouth, at about 2.30pm today (Tuesday 4 November). He celebrated his 90th birthday in March this year. May he rest in peace. Fr Gerry was a much-loved priest, spiritual director, author, teacher and friend to many.  Fr Gerry's books included God of Surprises, God in All Things, Oh God Why?, and Walking with God. His last book, Cry of Wonder was published just last week.

Two nuns from Belfast died in a car accident in Northern Ireland yesterday. Sister Frances Forde and Sister Marie Duddy were killed when the car they were travelling in collided with an unmarked police car close to Newry, Co Down. The two Sisters of Mercy were on their way to a retreat when the accident occurred. They died at the scene. Bishop Noel Treanor from the diocese of Down and Connor, said: "This sudden and shocking loss of life leaves an impact not only upon all those who have known the sisters but upon the wider community 

Michael Preisler, a Polish Catholic survivor of Auschwitz, died on 28 September in Richmond Hill, New York, the day before his 95th birthday. His funeral takes place tomorrow. He is survived by his children Eva, and Andrew. In 1939, Michael's entire family was evicted from their home by the Gestapo, in fulfillment of Adolph Hitler's order to his generals before they invaded Poland to “Kill without pity or mercy all men, women, and children of Polish descent or Polish language.”

Tributes have been pouring to Jim Dobbin, Labour MP for Heywood and Middleton, who died suddenly on Sunday while on a visit to Poland. Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. "On behalf of the Catholic community, I express profound sorrow at the unexpected death of Jim Dobbin MP on his recent trip to Poland. I share with many a deep sense of loss at his death. "First thoughts are with his widow and family. I assure Mrs Pat Dobbin of my prayers for her beloved husband 

Hundreds of politicians, business figures and dignitaries joined family and friends at the Requiem Mass of former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds today in the Sacred Heart Church in Donnybrook in Dublin. President Michael D Higgins, Taoiseach Enda Kenny, former British prime minister John Major, were among the mourners. The Mass was celebrated by by Fr Brian D'Arcy, a close family friend. Mr Reynolds's daughter Andrea read a reflection while his son, Philip, gave the eulogy, saying: "Few of us will ever bend the course of history, but our collective efforts can make this a better place.

Bishop Tony Palmer, the Evangelical friend of Pope Francis, who filmed a smartphone message from the Holy Father which went viral on the internet, calling on all Christians to set aside their differences, died on Sunday, 20 July in a motorcycle accident. According to a statement from The Ark Community he founded, three teams of surgeons tried to save Bishop Palmer's life but he passed away in the evening, leaving behind his wife Emiliana and two teenaged children.

Last Sunday, the 13th of July, Nadine Gordimer the Nobel winning South African novelist died. This week I have been thinking about the huge impact that her writing has had in shaping the person I am. I have read again some of her novels and been reminded of her visceral, poignant style of writing. It was in reading Nadine Gordimer as a young person 25 years ago that I came to see clearly the incredible destructive force of Apartheid. Her books are about a nation that destroys the lives of many, and yet their real genius is that they are intimate and particular.

For the second time in a week L’Arche gathered at Canterbury Cathedral. Still full of the joy of the double jubilee of L’Arche in France and the UK, we came to say goodbye to Thérèse Vanier, founder of the UK communities, here in Kent, where the seed was sown. Here was a Catholic Requiem at the beating heart of the Anglican Communion, a generous and appropriate gesture to one who was alive to the scandal of disunity, still achingly present in this Eucharist as the Very Reverend Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury, welcomed 

Thérèse Vanier, co-founder of L'Arche UK, died peacefully on Monday, 16 June, aged 91. She was the dearly loved daughter of former Canadian Governor General Georges Vanier and his wife Pauline, the sister of Benedict, Bernard, Jean and Michel. A former consultant haematologist at St Thomas's Hospital, Thérèse was the co-founder of L'Arche UK and a palliative care specialist. The Requiem Mass will take place in Canterbury Cathedral (CT1 2EH) on July 10th at 12 noon. Vigils will be held in Kent and London 

This beautiful obituary was featured in the 2014 Birmingham Diocesan Lourdes Pilgrimage booklets. On the first anniversary of his homegoing, we remember Mike with much love and deep gratitude. Many of us have fond memories of Mike going as far back to his days with Drowsy Maggie; his time at the Diocesan Youth Centre, Soli House; Charismatic Renewal gatherings; and on stage with his wife, Yvonne in Shenanigans; and many other settings besides.