Monday, August 8, 2016

Bishop Edward Daly

From the BBC:
"Bishop Edward Daly: Bloody Sunday priest dies"



The retired Catholic Bishop of Derry, Dr Edward Daly, whose photograph became the iconic image of Bloody Sunday in 1972, has died aged 82. He had been ill in hospital and died in the early hours of Monday morning. Tributes have been pouring in for the bishop, who was from Ballyshannon, County Donegal. The image of the then Fr Daly waving a handkerchief over one of the Bloody Sunday victims, was one of the most enduring images of the Troubles. He was then a 39-year-old curate at St Eugene's Cathedral in Londonderry having been a priest in the city since June 1962.  He was appointed Bishop of Derry in 1974.  He was forced into full retirement in 1994 after he suffered a stroke but he continued in the role of chaplain to Derry's Foyle Hospice until February, 2016.  The bishop received the Freedom of the City of Derry in 2015.  Bishop Daly was "an iconic figure in the civic and church life of Ireland", said Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, the Catholic primate of Ireland.  "Bishop Edward will be remembered as a fearless peace-builder - as exemplified by his courage on Bloody Sunday in Derry - and as a holy and humble faith leader.   "Bishop Edward's bravery was also apparent in his lived conviction that violence from any side during the Troubles was futile and could never be morally justified."  Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry said: "Bishop Daly served, without any concern for himself, throughout the traumatic years of the Troubles, finding his ministry shaped by the experience of witnessing violence and its effects. "Through this dreadful period he always strove to preach the Gospel of the peace of Christ." Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said Bishop Daly was "a constant right throughout the course of the last 40 odd years in the city through the good times and bad". "Bishop Daly was inherently a shy person, he was not someone who sought the headlines, but he was propelled into the headlines because of Bloody Sunday, as he tried to help Jackie Duddy, for that iconic image," said the Sinn Fein MLA.  "He was a bishop and priest who was very in tune with the local community."


^ I learned about Bishop Edward Daly before my trip to Northern Ireland. During my trip there I saw many tributes to him (especially in Derry/Londonderry) - including the above mural - although I didn't take this picture. I also read his memoirs. Bishop Daly was a great man who helped the people in his community get through The Troubles. The iconic photo of him on Bloody Sunday (January 30, 1972)- when the British Army's 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment massacred 14 innocent men ranging from 17 to 59 years old and wounded 14 others) was shown on British and Irish TV while I was there since it was when the British Prime Minister officially admitted that the British Army had been at fault for the murders - yet nothing has happened to any of the murderers since the report was released. Bishop Daly will always be remembered as the man who witnessed one of the worst massacres carried out by the British Army on their own citizens as well as the man who helped the community in Derry/Londonderry for decades afterwards. ^

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-37005540

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