REOPENED SACRED HEART CHURCH TO HELP PROVIDE INSPIRATION
REOPENED SACRED HEART CHURCH TO HELP PROVIDE INSPIRATION AND STRENGTH
BISHOP EXPRESSES HOPE FOR THE FUTURE AT REDEDICATION CEREMONY
BY: JOHN McCUSKER
THE reopening of the Sacred Heart Church after extensive renovations will hopefully provide the inspiration and strength to rebuild, console and reassure the community of Omagh in the wake of the recent bomb attack.
The sentiments of Bishop of Derry, Dr Seamus Hegarty as he welcomed a large congregation at Sunday afternoon's dedication of the new altar in the century-old church.
Accompanying Bishop Hegarty at the reopening ceremony were Auxiliary Bishop Francis Lagan and retired Bishop of Derry, Edward Daly.
Over 30 priests and clergy from Drumragh and neighbouring parishes - many of whom were former curates in Omagh - also participated in the two-hour long dedication ceremony.
The tragedy of just two weeks ago largely overshadowed last weekend's reopening festivities, and a number of those in the congregation bore visible reminders of the bombing in which 28 people lost their lives and over 200 were injured.
Describing the church as a "microcosm of the entire community of Omagh," Bishop Hegarty said, in recent days, local people had been trying to come to terms with the events of 15th August and its aftermath.
And he hoped those people would now support and pray for one another throughout the difficult days which still lay ahead.
"The people have been emotionally and physically scarred by the trauma, the streets have been disfigured and the buildings are in ruins. Already tentative but courageous steps are being taken to return to normality. "It is good that the community as a whole, and especially those who have been most affected by the massacre, are trying to look to the future.
"I hope and pray that the streets of Omagh will soon become a meeting place for the people and that they will continue to witness to the goodness of God and to love of neighbour as they have done in such an exemplary way in recent weeks."
Bishop Hegarty added that the reopening of the church coincided with the rebuilding of the local community, as the people moved forward to support one another in their time of distress.
"May the newly renovated Sacred Heart Church be the focal point from which the inspiration and the strength to rebuild, console and reassure this community comes" he added.
In a moving homily delivered during the ceremony, Fr Paul Andrews SJ pointed to the fact that the people of Omagh had now, after six months, reclaimed their church, just as they had reclaimed their town in the aftermath of the atrocity.
A native of Omagh but now based in Dublin. Fr Andrews said he felt proud, during the days following the bomb attack, to have come from such a community which "rose to the occasion as you spoke to the world."
"The young, the middle-aged, the elderly, all found their own voices: the wee boy wanting to keep in touch with football from his hospital bed, the whole town breathless as they listened to the song 'Broken Things', the middle-aged man who had lost his soul-mate, the father who remembered with tears his last glimpse of his son, a young man in his prime, the girl who lost her speech after the bomb - her experience was literally speechless.
"Journalists spoke of both sides of the community. Watching the people who were hit, I was never conscious of two sides, but of a single community.
"The phrase was used: the people were reclaiming Omagh as their own. In a way, I had never sensed before, I felt the community was one, and the town was shops, but courthouse, the churches, all the clergy, the, police station, the fire service.
"They were all there without questions or distinctions at the service of all the needy, the dead, the broken. This is our place. We are the people and wisdom will die with us."
Fr Andrews went on to say that the thousands who had gathered to pray in the sun on the courthouse brae just a week earlier, formed a crucial movement in the history of the church.
"Since February, and long before it, the planners and the craftsmen have done their work well.
"This shining temple, soon to begin its second century, is a place for gathering people together, in a foretaste of paradise.
"After six months, you are reclaiming your church, as you have reclaimed your town."
One feature within the church which had not changed, Fr Andrews said, was Hogan's Pieta, which still recalled the price the town of Omagh had paid.
"Mary, the mother of all the bereaved, leans over her dead son as she leans over all the bereaved of Omagh.
"Like her, you have come - are coming - through your sorrowful mysteries. May the grace and growth of these terrible weeks remain as a blessing for all our community" he added.
On behalf of the priests of the parish, Fr Michael Keaveny PP acknowledged the contribution parishioners and workers had made throughout the past six months when Masses and services were held in nearby St Joseph's Hall.
Fr Keaveny said he had been greatly encouraged by the response and support shown by many throughout the entire restoration programme.
"The work of renovation and restoration has been very extensive, but it has only been possible because of the great generosity of the good people of the parish.
"We appreciate very much the continuous encouragement and support of so many in seeing this work brought to a successful conclusion, not to speak of the spiritual help of your prayers.
"Our reopening cannot be associated with the terrible events in Omagh on the Feast of the Assumption.
"May it be a symbol of a new beginning and the dawn of a new era in our land; and may it give hope to all the bereaved, the maimed and the wounded" he added.
Architect for the church's restoration programme was Martin O'Kane, HMD Chartered Architects, Derry, while the main contractor was the Omagh building firm of Kieran J McElroy.
BISHOP EXPRESSES HOPE FOR THE FUTURE AT REDEDICATION CEREMONY
BY: JOHN McCUSKER
THE reopening of the Sacred Heart Church after extensive renovations will hopefully provide the inspiration and strength to rebuild, console and reassure the community of Omagh in the wake of the recent bomb attack.
The sentiments of Bishop of Derry, Dr Seamus Hegarty as he welcomed a large congregation at Sunday afternoon's dedication of the new altar in the century-old church.
Accompanying Bishop Hegarty at the reopening ceremony were Auxiliary Bishop Francis Lagan and retired Bishop of Derry, Edward Daly.
Over 30 priests and clergy from Drumragh and neighbouring parishes - many of whom were former curates in Omagh - also participated in the two-hour long dedication ceremony.
The tragedy of just two weeks ago largely overshadowed last weekend's reopening festivities, and a number of those in the congregation bore visible reminders of the bombing in which 28 people lost their lives and over 200 were injured.
Describing the church as a "microcosm of the entire community of Omagh," Bishop Hegarty said, in recent days, local people had been trying to come to terms with the events of 15th August and its aftermath.
And he hoped those people would now support and pray for one another throughout the difficult days which still lay ahead.
"The people have been emotionally and physically scarred by the trauma, the streets have been disfigured and the buildings are in ruins. Already tentative but courageous steps are being taken to return to normality. "It is good that the community as a whole, and especially those who have been most affected by the massacre, are trying to look to the future.
"I hope and pray that the streets of Omagh will soon become a meeting place for the people and that they will continue to witness to the goodness of God and to love of neighbour as they have done in such an exemplary way in recent weeks."
Bishop Hegarty added that the reopening of the church coincided with the rebuilding of the local community, as the people moved forward to support one another in their time of distress.
"May the newly renovated Sacred Heart Church be the focal point from which the inspiration and the strength to rebuild, console and reassure this community comes" he added.
In a moving homily delivered during the ceremony, Fr Paul Andrews SJ pointed to the fact that the people of Omagh had now, after six months, reclaimed their church, just as they had reclaimed their town in the aftermath of the atrocity.
A native of Omagh but now based in Dublin. Fr Andrews said he felt proud, during the days following the bomb attack, to have come from such a community which "rose to the occasion as you spoke to the world."
"The young, the middle-aged, the elderly, all found their own voices: the wee boy wanting to keep in touch with football from his hospital bed, the whole town breathless as they listened to the song 'Broken Things', the middle-aged man who had lost his soul-mate, the father who remembered with tears his last glimpse of his son, a young man in his prime, the girl who lost her speech after the bomb - her experience was literally speechless.
"Journalists spoke of both sides of the community. Watching the people who were hit, I was never conscious of two sides, but of a single community.
"The phrase was used: the people were reclaiming Omagh as their own. In a way, I had never sensed before, I felt the community was one, and the town was shops, but courthouse, the churches, all the clergy, the, police station, the fire service.
"They were all there without questions or distinctions at the service of all the needy, the dead, the broken. This is our place. We are the people and wisdom will die with us."
Fr Andrews went on to say that the thousands who had gathered to pray in the sun on the courthouse brae just a week earlier, formed a crucial movement in the history of the church.
"Since February, and long before it, the planners and the craftsmen have done their work well.
"This shining temple, soon to begin its second century, is a place for gathering people together, in a foretaste of paradise.
"After six months, you are reclaiming your church, as you have reclaimed your town."
One feature within the church which had not changed, Fr Andrews said, was Hogan's Pieta, which still recalled the price the town of Omagh had paid.
"Mary, the mother of all the bereaved, leans over her dead son as she leans over all the bereaved of Omagh.
"Like her, you have come - are coming - through your sorrowful mysteries. May the grace and growth of these terrible weeks remain as a blessing for all our community" he added.
On behalf of the priests of the parish, Fr Michael Keaveny PP acknowledged the contribution parishioners and workers had made throughout the past six months when Masses and services were held in nearby St Joseph's Hall.
Fr Keaveny said he had been greatly encouraged by the response and support shown by many throughout the entire restoration programme.
"The work of renovation and restoration has been very extensive, but it has only been possible because of the great generosity of the good people of the parish.
"We appreciate very much the continuous encouragement and support of so many in seeing this work brought to a successful conclusion, not to speak of the spiritual help of your prayers.
"Our reopening cannot be associated with the terrible events in Omagh on the Feast of the Assumption.
"May it be a symbol of a new beginning and the dawn of a new era in our land; and may it give hope to all the bereaved, the maimed and the wounded" he added.
Architect for the church's restoration programme was Martin O'Kane, HMD Chartered Architects, Derry, while the main contractor was the Omagh building firm of Kieran J McElroy.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/0357
Published Date: 03-Sep-98
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