Obituaries & Tributes

Tributes have been pouring for Professor Conor Gearty, who died suddenly, on Thursday, 11 September. He was 67. Born in Co Longford, Dr Gearty was a leading human rights academic, barrister and author. He was professor of human rights law in the faculty of law at the London School of Economics (LSE). The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: "So sad to hear this news. Conor Gearty was not only a brill... Read More

Ireland has lost one of its best-known missionaries with the recent death of Sr Dr Miriam Duggan at the age of 89 years. Notwithstanding her great age, Sr Miriam was ministering until earlier this year in Kariobangi which is one of the large slums in the Kenyan capitol Nairobi where she was delivering vocational training to teenage boys who had dropped out of the education system. Retirement is no... Read More

The Duchess of Kent, much-loved patron of HCPT and many other charities, has died, at the age of 92. In a statement today, Buckingham Palace said: "It is with deep sorrow that Buckingham Palace announces the death of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent. Her Royal Highness passed away peacefully last night at Kensington Palace. "The King and Queen and all Members of The Royal Family join The Duk... Read More

Sister Patricia Harriss CJ was born into a strongly committed Methodist and Plymouth Brethren family but chose to be confirmed as an Anglican aged 15, remembering this as among the most powerful religious experiences of her life. After university she worked in St Mildred's House, an Anglican settlement for charitable works among the poor on the Isle of Dogs. Six months of ecumenical work in the Fe... Read More

Awdah Hathaleen was killed on Monday 28 July 2025, shot dead by an Israeli settler. This 31-year-old husband, father of three young boys, and English teacher was a leader in his Palestinian community of Umm Al Kheir, a village in Masafer Yatta in the south of the West Bank. Awdah was renowned for welcoming Jews and Christians alike to his village. I first visited Umm Al Kheir on 29 October 2008. I... Read More

Fr Joe McNerney gave the following homily and eulogy at the funeral of Canon Gerard Flynn at St Michael's, Leigh Park, Portsmouth Diocese. (The church was absolutely packed, with many clergy and laity in attendance, spilling out onto the steps of the church. As has been mentioned, Canon Gerard was the Vocations Director for our diocese. That might sound like another add on task to his ministry, bu... Read More

On July 11, the day Fr Kees Vlaming MHM would have reached the age of 90, the friends of Kees and of the Mill Hill Missionaries in DR Congo, came together at the Basankusu diocesan house in Kinshasa to celebrate the memory of this dearly beloved missionary. Fr Patrick Lonkoy Bolengu MHM paid him this tribute: We gather today, our hearts heavy with sadness but filled with gratitude, to pay our last... Read More

The Requiem Mass for Liverpool FC player Diogo Jota, 28, and his brother, André Silva, 25, was held on Saturday at the Igreja Matriz de Gondomar church in Portugal, on Saturday. The brothers died in a car accident on Thursday, after a tyre of the car they were travelling in blew out. Just eleven days before, Diogo had married his childhood sweetheart, Rute Cardoso, in a Catholic ceremony at t... Read More

The first President of the Focolare Movement after the foundress Chiara Lubich, Maria Voce, passed away on 20th of June 2025, at home in Rome. She was 87 years old. The announcement was made by Margaret Karram, the current President. In a message to the Focolare Movement worldwide, Ms Karram paid tribute to Maria Voce's contribution. "As the first president of the Focolare Movement after our foun... Read More

This 14th of June, we remember and celebrate the birthday of John Bradburne who would have been 104 years old in 2025. John's extraordinary life of faith, poetry, and service-most notably his care for the leprosy community in Mutemwa, Zimbabwe, continues to inspire people around the world. As we mark this special day, we invite you to reflect on his enduring legacy and join us in giving thanks for... Read More

Bernard Desmond Heaphy was born in Lee, Lewisham in 1937. He went to school at St Joseph's Academy, Blackheath. He then studied for the priesthood at St John's Seminary in Wonersh and was ordained at Our Lady of Lourdes, Lee on the 17th of June 1962. After ordination he went to Cambridge University to study physics and subsequently taught at St John Fisher School, Purley for 10 years. He then s... Read More

Mill Hill Missionary Fr Innocent Akum Wefon writes: For most of my life as a priest, Easter has been a time of overflowing joy; churches packed with singing voices, polished liturgies, colourful vestments, and the familiar rhythm of celebration. Christ is risen! And with that proclamation, joy often feels like the only appropriate response. But this year, Easter broke me open in a different way. C... Read More

Fr Dominic Robinson SJ, Parish Priest at Farm Street Church, Mayfair, writes: "We are not living an era of change but a change of era". Francis' comment to Italian bishops in 2015 became something of a mantra for his papal ministry in a fast changing world in which the Catholic Church had lost so much credibility and needed to be humbled back to simplicity. The choice of name said it all, defin... Read More

John Nish, President of the Catholic Association of Teachers, Schools and Colleges (CATSC) writes: It is with profound sadness and deep gratitude that the Catholic Association of Teachers, Schools and Colleges (CATSC) joins the universal Church in mourning the death of His Holiness, Pope Francis. A shepherd of humility, wisdom, and courageous faith, Pope Francis led the Church with a heart close t... Read More