Patsy McGarry,
Religious Affairs
Correspondent
Archbishop Michael Courtney, who was shot dead in Burundi last week, was an "extraordinary man" and an "outstanding archbishop", who was "reaching for the stars", from the beginning of his life, his brother, Dr Louis Courtney, said at the weekend.
Speaking after Archbishop Courtney's funeral Mass to a packed congregation in St Mary's Church in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, he recalled the words of their teacher, Mr Billy Campbell, at Clongowes that "Ireland is not big enough for Michael".
He remembered the Archbishop's "inner struggle, his Gethsemane" over Burundi, his "foreboding", and how by last summer he felt he had got to grips with the problems there, how "he was afraid at times".
He was a man "who absorbed human frailty without criticism", yet also "exercised a restraining influence, often on myself". On behalf of the Courtney family he said: "We send our love to his excellency (Burundi's ambassador to Belgium, Mr Ferdinand Nyabenda), the minister for finance (Mr Athanase Gahungu), and to the people of Burundi." Both the ambassador and minister were in attendance.
During the Prayers of the Faithful, the Archbishop's sister, Kathleen, quoted from a poem by their mother: "Alone my hour of truth has come . . . I am gone from all I know."
The former attorney general and a friend of the Archbishop, Mr Harry Whelehan, prayed for the family. "The town of Bujumbura will be forever etched into the memories of the Courtney family, William, Eileen, Kathleen, Louis, Jim and Mary," he said.
In his sermon, Cardinal Francis Arinze said the Archbishop "knew from the start his mission of Papal Nuncio to Burundi was a delicate one, difficult and dangerous". But he had made his own the exhortation of St Paul to the Corinthians, to be "ambassadors for Christ" - words read at the Archbishop's episcopal ordination by Cardinal Arinze in St Mary's three years earlier.
Expressing a hope that the Archbishop's "example and supreme sacrifice may bring fruits of peace to Burundi and the world", he pleaded that "people of violence not be allowed give an image of violence to an entire people [in Burundi\]".
At the graveside in Dromineer, a family friend, Dr George Henry, spoke of "this exceptional man" with a "zest for fun and living", who used to recharge his physical and intellectual energies on nearby "precious Lough Derg".
The Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Arinze, assisted by Cardinal Desmond Connell, Bishop Willie Walsh of Killaloe, Bishop John Kirby of Clonfert, and the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto. The Vatican was represented by Archbishop Carlo Mario Viganò, of its Secretariat of State.
Among other bishops present were the Catholic Primate, Archbishop Seán Brady, Archbishop Dermot Clifford of Cashel and Emly, Bishop Boyce of Raphoe, Bishop Buckley of Cork and Ross, Bishop Duffy of Clogher, Bishop Forristal of Ossory, Bishop Lee of Waterford and Lismore, Bishop Magee of Cloyne, Bishop Murphy of Kerry, Bishop Murray of Limerick, Bishop O'Reilly of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, Bishop O'Reilly of Kilmore, Bishop Smith of Meath, and Bishop Walsh of Ferns.
The President, Mrs McAleese, was represented by Capt Mick Treacy ADC, and the Taoiseach by Cmdt Michael Murray ADC. The Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, represented the Government.
Brig Gen Nash represented the Defence Forces, with Deputy Commissioner Fachnta Murphy representing the Garda.
Public representatives present included Mr Gerry Collins MEP, Dana (Rosemary Scallon) MEP, Mr Liam Hyland MEP, former Fianna Fáil minister Mr Micheal O'Kennedy, Mr Micheal D. Higgins TD, Senator Des Hanafin and Senator Kathleen O'Meara.