In Pace Christi

Ireland was, and is, a land of missionar­ies, sending out to all parts of the Church dedicated men and women in great num­bers. And Father Dominic Morley was the first Irish Comboni Missionary priest.

One of the things that strikes you in his correspondence is how he remained true, from the beginning, both to his nation's heritage and to his Comboni missionary vocation. In the summer of 1954, while at home for a period of rest and convalescence before continuing his studies, he was writ­ing to the Vicar General in Verona: "It is a great pity we have not a house over here. I am certain we would do very well if we had. Of course, people here don't know anything about us; but if they did they would treat us generously". And he was already a con­vinced mission promoter: "I was thinking of doing a bit of propaganda in my free rime. All I would have to do is to hand out some literature to the people and if they should want to subscribe to our magazine, well and good. In that way they would come to know our Society. Perhaps, Father, I am too zeal­ous. You can let me know if I am!"

When, thirty-three years after he wrote those words, Dom (as we knew him) heard that a community was being opened in Ire­land, he could not but exult, in a letter to Father General: "I hope the house in Ireland is now a reality ... Full marks to the General Council!"

Dom had a strong sense of belonging to the Comboni family and one of the ways he expressed this was his interest in the devel­opment of the Society, often expressed to the Superiors. Soon after Father Pierli had preached a retreat in Kenya in 1986, Dom was writing: "I hope you got back to Rome safe and sound. Thanks for the retreat. It did me much good. The same can be said for the rest of the confreres. The general opinion was positive. So keep up the good work".

The beginnings

Dominic Morley was the son of Dominic Morley and Margaret Prendergast, one of their nine children. The family were small farmers, and a little had to go a long way. One of the consequences of this was that Dom was able only to study at primary school and in due course he moved to Eng­land for work.

It was while he was working in Conven­try in 1946 that he wrote to the Superior at 61 Helm Park Gardens: "I take great p1eas­ure in writing to you, to ask you for some information as regards entering a college to become a priest".

His limited scholastic preparation must have given some cause for thought, but he was nevertheless warmly recommended by his parish priest: "I have pleasure in testify­ing to the excellent character of Dominic Morley. He is a daily communicant, before going to his day's work, and has been most helpful with manual and other work around the presbytery".

So Dom was admitted to the novitiate at Sunningdale, were he appears to have been the perfect novice! His Novice Master, Fr. Albertini, has only good to write of him, describing him as being "As transparent as a glass of water". Community life was not a problem for him, despite the fact that he was now living in an international community. His good humour did not desert him either: fellow-novice, Fr. Christopher Herons, recalls how, in the silence of the study room as the novices pored over their Rodriguez, Dom would be heard chuckling from the back of the room at some of the holy man's more bizarre examples.

The cross of illness

Following the normal course of studies at the time, Dom went to Venegono to begin his theology and it was while he was there that he began the acquaintance-ship with serious illness that was, in one form or another, to mark his life. He was diagnosed as suffering from tuberculosis and had to spend three years (1951-1954) apart from his companions, at Arco. Arrangements were made for him to continue, at 1east par-­time, with his studies. In 1954 he was able to resume his norma1 studies and he was ordained a priest in 1958.

Later in life, Dom was to suffer from serious bouts of a deeply distressing mental illness that surely must have caused him great pain. God was good though. At the most difficult moments, Dom always found those to help and encourage him. In the end the doctors found the true cause of illness (an imbalance of a certain substance in his system). By being faithful to his medication and regular check-ups the last years of his life were clear of serious problems in this area.

How Dom lived this cross is highlighted by a fellow-Irishman, Fr. Vincent Maguire: "This was one of the greatest things about him: he did not lack humour when talking about the problems created by his break­downs, although they caused him great distress and humiliation".

A missionary first and last

It is Fr. Maguire who sums up what was essential about Dom: "He had a real mis­sionary vocation. He loved missionary work. He loved Africa and he was a worker."

Apart from some brief periods of service in our houses of formation and in mission promotion work and times of hospitalisa­tion and convalescence, Fr. Dom spent all his priestly life in Africa, especially among the Alur of Uganda's West Nile: Warr, Angal, Orussi, Zeu.

How much Dom loved Africa and his mission is perhaps best illustrated by his impatience at returning there after one of his periods of illness and his persuasion of the Superior to let him try something new in Kenya, were he went in 1985. His deepest desire was, in fact, to return to Uganda, but he accepted the decision that there it would be difficult to guarantee him the regular and specialised medical check-ups that he needed. Going to Kenya was no easy thing for him: a new country, a new province and a new language.

That these things were no barrier to his communication of God's love is testified by how the people of his mission, Kapenguria, behaved during his last illness. His parish priest, Fr. Jorge Martinez, writes: "People loved Fr. Dominic. On the day he died in Kitale, hundred of people began to gather at the mission, waiting for the coffin to arrive. In fact, Fr. Dominic's remains only arrived the following day, when the Bishop of Eldoret came to celebrate a solemn Re­quiem Mass, attended by more than one thousand people who packed the church to capacity.

"The people of Kapenguria received such good example from Fr. Dominic. His death among them will help them to be more united. The night the Father's remains were left in the church the people, especially the young people, stayed all night to pray for him, despite the cold.

I remember how many people asked me to see him when he was sick in Kapenguria before being brought to KitaIe hospital. They knelt by his bed and prayed; it seemed that they were asking for his blessing. On Tuesday May 4th, when he was taken to be buried in Nairobi, people embraced the coffin. It was really something extraordinary!"

Africa's for ever

Father Dominic's cause of death was given as double pneumonia. After the Re­quiem in Kapenguria on Monday May 4th, his body was taken to Nairobi. On Tuesday May 5th Requiem Mass was celebrated in St. Augustine Church, Nairobi, by Cardinal Maurice Otunga, and then Dom's body was laid to rest in African soil in St. Mary cemetery, near several other Comboni mis­sionaries, including another member of the London Province, Fr. Franco Pettenuzzo.

Dom would have been happy about this, to have his body buried in the continent that he loved so much and served so well, de­spite his illnesses and difficulties. His grave is only a few yards from that of the Servant of God, Edel Quinn, who began the Legion of Mary in Africa. Another Irish mission­ary, her movement was one that Dom al­ways encouraged and fostered in his various parishes.

Little more than a month after Dom's death, the Comboni Missionaries finally took possession of their new house in Dub­lin. It is a community which now has a friend in heaven.                          Fr. David Glenday MCCJ

Da Mccj Bulletin n. 155, ottobre 1987, pp.109-111