12.05.2017
Archbishop Jackson to Take Part in Unique Beatification Ceremony Tomorrow
“Fr Sullivan’s Holiness has a strong ecumenical feel to it…”
Archbishop Michael Jackson will take part in a historic ceremony in Dublin tomorrow (Saturday May 13). The beatification of Fr John Sullivan takes place in the Jesuit’s St Francis Xavier Church on Gardiner Street. It will be the first beatification to take place in Ireland and in an unprecedented move, the formal request for beatification will be made by an Anglican as well a Catholic Archbishop.
The principal celebrant will be Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. He will be assisted by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.
Fr Sullivan was raised and spent half his life as a member of the Church of Ireland. He was born on Eccles Street in 1861, the son of Edward Sullivan who would become Lord Chancellor of Ireland and Elizabeth Bailey from Cork. He attended Portora Royal School near Enniskillen and then Trinity College Dublin before studying law in London.
He converted to Catholicism in 1896 at the age of 35 and was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1907. He taught at Clongowes Wood College until his death in 1933 aged 71. He was known for his life of prayer and work with the poor and ill.
His Cause was opened in 1944 and in 2014, Pope Francis declared him Venerable and said that he had lived a life of heroic virtue. The Congregation of Causes concluded that his prayers had cured a Dublin woman of cancer. One more miracle is needed before he can become a saint.
Previously, Archbishop Martin has said that “the holiness of John Sullivan was the fruit of his education in both Catholic and Church of Ireland traditions”.
Archbishop Jackson has said that Fr Sullivan’s “holiness has a strong ecumenical feel to it, as he never rejected the influence of the Anglican tradition on his spiritual flourishing”.
The beatification ceremony takes place at 11.00 am tomorrow. It will be streamed live at www.jesuit.ie/beatification.