Archbishop Martin sheds light on number of missing Irish people

Archbishop Martin during IX World Meeting of Families, Dublin, August 2018. Image: CCO

Source: Irish Catholic Media Office

Archbishop Eamon Martin Primate of All Ireland gave this homily today at a Mass in Saint Patrick's Church, Drogheda, Co Louth, for Ireland's missing persons and their families.

During this universal Jubilee Year of Hope, I have been able to bring the Christian message of Hope to a wide variety of parishes and congregations, including to many people who struggle to find Hope in their lives. This afternoon I am truly humbled to meet and to pray with you, the family members and friends of Ireland's many missing persons. I offer you today the support of the Church and the comfort of Faith, Hope and Love.

It is difficult for those who have not experienced, as you have, the immense loss of having a loved one go missing, or to fully appreciate the pain and grief you go through. You have a daily heartache and sense of absence; you experience a whole range of emotions, not knowing what happened, where they are today as we gather here in Drogheda. In so many ways normal life and living was suspended on the day they went missing, and you have had to find ways to keep going while grappling with the many unanswered questions of an unsolved mystery.

Still, you rightly hold out the Hope of someone or something emerging that might lift the veil of uncertainty, and shed some light into the mist and darkness of 'unknowing'. But although in many ways their being missing leaves an empty space, their presence never leaves your hearts and your prayers. Hence we gather today to remember them, to comfort and encourage each other, to pray for answers, and to intercede for the various investigations and search efforts to find clues to their disappearance, and even, with the help of God to Hope for their return - to "hope against hope."

I trust that our gathering here this afternoon might also help to raise greater awareness of the sheer scale of the reality of missing people here on the island of Ireland, as well as Irish people missing abroad. In 2024 alone, more than eleven thousand people were reported missing in Ireland, of whom more than 60 are still missing. There are currently over 900 unsolved missing people cases in Ireland, sadly including dear children, some from our own parishes here in Co Louth and other parts of the Archdiocese of Armagh.

But you - the families, friends and supporters of the cause of missing persons - you know your loved one not as some statistic, suspended file or unsolved case; you know them as the unique individual that they were and are - the sister, the brother, the parent, the child, the cousin, other relative, the friend, the colleague.

Friends in preparing for this afternoon's gathering, my mind kept turning to the logo for this Jubilee year of Hope. The logo shows four figures on a boat, representing the people of the whole world - north, south, east and west - holding on to each other for safety in the midst of choppy and stormy waters. But the lead figure of the four is clinging to the cross, which is also in the shape of an anchor. Surrounding the logo are the words: 'Pilgrims of Hope'. This message is clear: when we are troubled by uncertainty, worries and fears, and it seems at times that we are forgotten, abandoned and alone, we can find comfort in knowing that our Lord, who suffered such pain and abandonment on the Cross, is truly with us in the midst of the storm. We hold on to His cross, heeding His words: 'Do not be afraid'.

As Pope Francis put it:

'We have an anchor: by his cross we have been saved.
We have a rudder: by his cross we have been redeemed.
We have a hope: by his cross we have been healed and embraced so that
nothing and no one can separate us from his redeeming love.'

There are so many passages in the Bible which speak about the pain of loss and separation and about holding on to Hope.

In his letter last year to launch the Jubilee of Hope, Pope Francis quoted from Saint Paul's letter to the Romans:

'Since we are justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing in the glory of God… Hope does not disappoint, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us (Rom 5:1-2.5).'

We pray this afternoon for the gift of that 'Hope which does not disappoint'. We bring our thoughts and prayers firstly, to those missing who are still alive but who, for whatever reason, feel they cannot come home or get in touch. We trust that God will look after them, so that they will know our enduring love for them, and that they will know how much we think about them always and that we are here today to remember and pray for them. No matter what has happened in the past, we would love to hear from you, to know how you are and, if it is possible, to welcome you back home to be with us.

We also think of those missing loved ones who have died, either by natural causes; by tragic accident; by the crime and wrongdoing of others, or by their own hand. How much it would mean to be able to know where their bodies are, to have a grave to visit, to have a funeral and remembrance. And we are so conscious also of the many unidentified persons' remains that have been found, and the need for more information, full coordination of resources and the development and use of all new techniques and advances in DNA technology.

We pray for those who are working on various investigations, gathering information and targeting searches for missing people: those involved in forensics, profiling, police and coroner services both at home and abroad, and those who support us in counselling, helplines and other caring services. Your work is a compassionate lifeline for so many of us.

Our gathering today points us also to be conscious of the global scale of the reality of missing persons. We do not forget those lost in human trafficking, the millions buried or displaced in the destruction and violence of war, or in the aftermath of natural disasters, air and sea accidents. And then there are the enforced disappearances in some countries for political reasons, where people are abducted, imprisoned or deliberately killed and secretly buried.

Our thoughts are once more with the remaining families who continue their painful search for the so-called 'Disappeared' during the conflict in Ireland.

Down at Kilkenny Castle Park, the National Missing Persons Memorial reminds the people of Ireland of the reality of the suffering of so many families here on this island. It shows many hands, (the actual hands of family members which were cast in bronze by the sculptor); hands reaching up in Hope and pleading for some answers, some closure; hands like our hands here today which are raised and joined in prayer this afternoon for each other and for the cause of missing persons.

Today we place our hands and our struggles in the hands of God, knowing that if we can have faith even the size of a mustard seed, then anything is possible. If we can have the hope that does not disappoint, then one day we will be reunited with our loved ones. And, meanwhile, if we can have love, like the love of Christ our Saviour, whose hands and feet were nailed to the Cross, then we too can one day experience the joy and consolation of His resurrection. Amen.