How one priest saved countless souls in the First World War

by KV Turley

posted Thursday, 27 Jul 2017

The sun sets behind the Cross of Sacrifice in Passchendaele (Getty)

   

Fr William Doyle showed staggering courage at Passchendaele

Like so many caught up in the conflict that came to be known as the Great War, Fr Willie Doyle was buried where he fell, without a marker, just another casualty among millions. He might have been forgotten; however, it proved not to be the case.

Before his death, he had requested that his private papers be burned. Thankfully, his wishes were ignored. The discovery of the papers, and their subsequent publication as part of a biography published in 1920, were a surprise to those who had known him.

After days spent giving retreats, hearing confessions and, above all, saying Holy Mass, his spiritual notebooks revealed another dimension of Fr Doyle. Hours were spent at night in long watches in front of the Blessed Sacrament, praying for the sanctity of priests. Then there was the frequent use of the discipline (whip), immersion in cold lakes, and nocturnal, barefoot pilgrimages in reparation of sins. All this was hidden from view, but, importantly, with the knowing approval of the Jesuit’s spiritual director. And then there was his less dramatic daily “war” on self: for instance, the “Butter Tragedy” – some days butter on his toast, others not, just one example of a constant spirit of mortification in everyday matters.

The personal papers revealed an intense inner life that edified some. Others deemed his mortifications too harsh, his prayer life too extreme; and yet, this was a man with a reputation unlike that of any gloomy ascetic. He was a much loved, affable priest, a perpetual prankster. This paradox only seemed to deepen the mystery surrounding Fr Doyle.

Willie Doyle was born in Dublin on March 3, 1873. His parents were both well-to-do and devoutly religious. Four of their seven children entered some form of religious life. Having been educated in both Ireland and England, Willie entered the Society of Jesus.

Finally, he was ordained in 1907, and soon after was assigned to the Jesuit mission to parishes throughout the British Isles. From the start he excelled as preacher and confessor. Crowds flocked to him, but only after his death was the secret of his “success” revealed: penance.

When war broke out in 1914, Fr Doyle volunteered immediately. He understood that, with thousands on their way to death, a priest was needed for what would prove to be the decisive hour for many souls, with all lost or gained, and for all eternity.

In 1915, he landed in France with the Royal Irish Fusiliers. From then on, he marched every mile alongside these soldiers – forgoing all privileges that his officer rank afforded him. By the end, these battle-hardened troops would come to love their Padre. It was no surprise, as he suffered as much as they did. Through barbed wire, and in spite of bullets, shells and gas, Fr Doyle sought out the dying, who often lay terrified and alone in mud-filled battlefields, administering the last rites, bringing Viaticum.

For his bravery, Fr Doyle was mentioned in despatches and recommended for the highest award for gallantry, the Victoria Cross. He was passed over, deemed by some to have had a triple disqualification: Irish, Catholic and Jesuit. It was to make little difference. His eyes were on an altogether greater prize: the sanctity and the salvation of the men in his charge.

As if the dangers and privations of the Front were not enough, throughout it all Fr Doyle continued his own inner “war”. When possible, in those flooded, fetid trenches, with the sounds of hell reverberating all around, the priest, with a pyx containing the Eucharist around his neck, spent hours on his knees adoring the Prince of Peace.

His letters home to his widowed father reveal the strain of it all as he marched on through the bloodstained fields, with names later synonymous with suffering: Loos, the Somme, Passchendaele … Like his comrades, he was shot at, shelled and gassed, narrowly missing being killed on numerous occasions, his only rest being in the same rat-infested trenches. Despite his brother officers’ pleas, he refused to leave the Front, determined to remain until the end.

On August 16, 1917, during the seemingly never-ending Passchendaele offensive, Fr Doyle was desperately trying to drag a wounded comrade back to safety from No Man’s Land. He was blown to pieces by a German shell. Unlike the many to whom he had given a Christian burial, his remains were hastily interred in a makeshift communal grave.

As the 100th anniversary of his death draws near, it is worth recalling that on the Western Front alone an estimated 40,000 military personnel converted to the Catholic faith. No doubt, this was due in no small measure to the exemplary service of Catholic chaplains – holy men such as Fr Willie Doyle.

KV Turley is a writer and filmmaker. He is the author of Fr Willie Doyle & World War I: A Chaplain’s Story (CTS)

This article first appeared in the July 28 2017 issue of the Catholic Herald. To read the magazine in full, from anywhere in the world, go here

Orange Order calls on Protestants not to use the phrase 'RIP' 

Image caption The Orange Order dates from the 17th century battle for supremacy between Protestantism and Catholicism

The Orange Order has asked its members to stop using the term 'RIP' to express grief or sympathy after a death.

It said the phrase is unbiblical, un-Protestant, and a form of superstition connected to Catholicism.

RIP is an abbreviation of 'rest in peace' or in Latin, 'requiescat in pace'.

In a publication marking the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, the order called on Protestants to stop using the phrase.

Wallace Thompson, secretary of Evangelical Protestants Northern Ireland, wrote a Facebook post on which the article was based.

'Prayers for the dead'

He told the BBC's Talkback programme: "Observing social media, we have noticed that the letters RIP are used a lot by Protestants, and by some evangelical Protestants."

Mr Thompson explained that for him, 'RIP' is a prayer and he did not encourage prayers for the dead.

"From a Protestant point of view, we believe, when death comes, a person either goes to be with Christ for all eternity, or into hell.

Image caption Wallace Thompson believes that the phrase 'RIP' is effectively a prayer for the dead and therefore un-Protestant

"That's what we believe the gospel to be and in this 500th anniversary year of the Reformation, I think Luther, when the scales fell off his eyes, realised that it was all by faith alone, in Christ alone, the decision is made during life, on this earth, so that when death comes it has been made and no decision has been made after death," he said.

'Remembrance'

Speaking on the same programme, former Presbyterian moderator Dr Ken Newell said he did not use the phrase very often.

"I think when people use [RIP] in social media, there's a remembrance and a good wish in it, almost a blessing," he said.

He disagreed that people are praying for the dead when they used the phrase.

"If folk in the Orange Order want to take this line that's perfectly up to them, they are making a good point.

"I think ordinary people have not worked out the issues. This comes out of the human heart," he added.

In response to a request for a spokesperson of the issue, the Orange Order referred the BBC to comments made by the county grand master of County Fermanagh Grand Orange Lodge, Stuart Brooker, in the Impartial Reporter newspaper.

In it he said: "I think the message in the article is very clear and well put together, and I couldn't add anything further to it.

"This article clearly explains why we as Protestants, and members of the Orange Institution, shouldn't use the term 'RIP'.

"It also reminds us that if we need guidance in any matter, we should refer to what the bible teaches."

The Orange Order is the largest Protestant organisation in Northern Ireland.

It regards itself as defending civil and religious liberties of Protestants and seeks to uphold the rule and ascendancy of a Protestant monarch in the United Kingdom.

What a bolus of nutters!

GENE

The cycling legend and devout Catholic who risked his life to protect Jews

by Aili McConnon and Andres McConnon

posted Friday, 21 Jul 2017

Italian cyclist Gino Bartali at the Parc des Princes, Paris, after winning the Tour de France for the second time on 25th July 1948 (Getty)

   

Gino Bartali won the Tour de France twice and defied Mussolini. He also helped a cardinal to save Jewish lives in the 1940s

If Chris Froome triumphs this Sunday in the final stage of the Tour de France, he will have more than confirmed his place among the greats. But there is one record that he won’t have broken: for the longest time span between victories. That is held by the Italian legend Gino Bartali, who won in 1938 and 1948. He was also known as “Gino the Pious” because of his passionate devotion to his Catholic faith.

Bartali’s most lasting accomplishment, however, was one few people know about. During the Second World War Bartali helped Jews hiding in Tuscany and Umbria escape detection by the Nazis and Fascists. Bartali secretly sheltered a family of Jews in an apartment he owned and he travelled between Florence and Assisi, transporting false identity documents hidden in the frame of his bicycle. In both his humanitarian work and his cycling, Bartali’s Catholic faith was the cornerstone of his life at all of its critical junctures. As he put it: “My faith in God, my heartfelt love for religion, have always given me the strength to overcome all the things that were first thought impossible.”

From a young age, religion played a pivotal role in Bartali’s life. Born into a humble labourer’s family living in a working-class hamlet on the outskirts of Florence, Gino became involved in devotional life early on. At the age of 10 he joined the lay group Catholic Action and remained involved throughout his life. Formed in 1867, Catholic Action organised a wide range of activities for young boys and men, ranging from prayer meetings and Bible classes to summer camps and athletic associations.

Catholic Action became even more important to Gino after the first big tragedy rocked the Bartali household. In an amateur race in Turin, soon after Gino had won his first Giro d’Italia in 1936, Gino’s younger brother, Giulio, raced in rainy, slippery conditions. On a precarious downhill descent Giulio was hit by a car that had either missed or ignored instructions about the race. Doctors operated on Giulio, trying to save his life, but the 19-year-old died a few days later.

Gino was devastated and quit cycling. As he grieved for his lost brother his way of viewing the world transformed. Already an active Catholic, he devoted himself further to the Church and turned to his faith to ground him in the world. At Catholic Action meetings he began taking a more visible role, speaking frequently to young boys at meetings, explaining the role of his faith in his success. In their family home, Gino built a small chapel and dedicated it to Giulio so that the Bartalis would have a private place to offer daily prayers for the repose of Giulio’s soul. With few other career options, Gino made the difficult decision to return to cycling. Through prayer he found a new motivation: he would race to honour his brother’s memory.

As Bartali reached the summit of his sport in 1938, his faith came into the glare of the political spotlight in Europe. In a stunning victory, Bartali won the Tour de France in 1938. By this point, Mussolini’s Fascist government tried to use every Italian athletic victory as proof of the strength of the Fascist ideology. In this environment, it was expected that athletes, particularly those competing abroad, would dedicate their victories to Mussolini. Bartali behaved very differently after his Tour win. Instead of thanking Mussolini, he thanked his fans in his victory speech and the next day he was photographed taking his victor’s bouquet to a local church in Paris, where he laid it at the feet of the Madonna. The Fascist regime took note. Just a few days later Mussolini’s press office sent a secret missive to newspapers throughout the country (which Mussolini controlled at this time), and ordered them to avoid any discussion of Bartali’s personal life – including his religion – in any news articles about his cycling.

Bartali, like so many other young men of his era, saw his life upended by World War II. At a moment when his future appeared uncertain, his faith served once more as an important pillar in his life. In the early days of war, when he was conscripted into the army, it offered him an inviting escape from the dreariness of military life and his growing frustration with Mussolini’s government. “I plunged myself into reading the lives of the saints. I frequently read St Anthony, St Catherine, St Thérèse of Lisieux,” he said.

By the autumn of 1943, when the German army occupied Italy, Gino was challenged like never before. As Jewish refugees flooded into Florence, hoping to escape deportation to camps, they turned to the Archbishop of Florence, Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa, for help with shelter, food and false identity documents. The cyclist and the cardinal had been friends since well before the war through the Catholic community; Dalla Costa had married Bartali and baptised his son. Dalla Costa was a spiritual mentor to Bartali, but his request was a very perilous one. He was asking Bartali to risk his life for a community of strangers, and if Bartali was caught his own life would be endangered, not to mention those of his wife and young son.

Bartali understood the dangers involved but he also knew his conscience would not let him stand idly by. As one fellow member of the resistance put it: “One made the choice to be on the side of the Fascists or to defend the people.” Bartali mustered his courage through prayer and made his decision to help.

After the war, Bartali struggled to re-establish himself as a cyclist. As he returned to the Tour de France in 1948, he performed poorly in the first half of the race. Many journalists declared that Il Vecchio (“the old man”), as Bartali was known because he was 10 years older than most of his competitors, had no chance. But Bartali showed the power of his resolve once more.

On the 13th stage, hampered by a more than 21-minute disadvantage behind the race leader, Bartali felt his legs surge beneath him. Not only did he make up much of the lost ground, he also pulled into the lead of the race the next day. A few days later, as Bartali was preparing at his hotel for one of the final stages of the competition, he was surprised by a visitor. It was an emissary from the pope who had appeared to give Bartali a special medal, telling him that “His Holiness wishes that you win the Tour, as a loyal and athletic champion”.

Off the bike and in the years following his retirement, Bartali’s faith would continue to be a source of happiness. In the autumn of 1947, Pope Pius XII referenced Bartali in an address to a crowd at St Peter’s Square when he linked Bartali’s battles on the bike to the larger moral battle to lead a virtuous life. Bartali had the honour of meeting Pope Pius XII, and later met popes John XXIII and Paul VI.

In his early 80s, as Gino’s health began to fail him, he shared his wishes for his final arrangements with family members. He requested a traditional funeral Mass and asked to be buried in the brown robes of the Carmelites, of which he was a lay member. On the afternoon of May 5 2000 Bartali quietly passed away. News of his death was broadcast on Italian television and Pope John Paul II joined those in mourning, hailing Bartali as a “great sportsman”. A few years later, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, commended Bartali’s “great strength” and “great character”. Giorgio Goldenberg, the surviving member of the Jewish family who Bartali sheltered in one of his apartments during the war, offered his own appraisal of the cyclist’s legacy in 2011. “There is no doubt whatsoever for me that he saved our lives,” he said. “He was a hero and he is entitled to be called a hero of the Italian people during the Second World War.”

This is an adapted version of an article which first appeared in 2012. Road to Valour, Gina Bartali: Tour de France Legend and Italy’s Secret World War Two Hero by Aili McConnon and Andres McConnon is available for purchase online.

Gene's blog returns. And Detterling? The news may not be good.

Gene's blog returns. And Detterling? The news may not be good.

Ahoy! there me hearties! Shiver me timbers if it isn't good to be back. Yes Gene's blog is back in business - and what delights are in store.

And Detterling I hear you ask? I have a sinking feeling that the news may not be good. I fear that Detterling may have died. He hasn't been seen or heard of since 13th July. And whether on the TES website, Gene's blog or his own blog such a lengthy disappearance is unprecedented. He had posted last year that he has serious health issues and wasn't expecting to live much longer.

If he has died God rest his soul. Okay, we had our battles, but deep down we had the ultimate respect for each other. I treasure great memories of the barbed exchanges between myself and the old phony. My favourite? Undoubtedly this one from the TES Opinion Forum:

Detterling: I know that you probably despise me Gene

Gene: Well if I ever gave it any thought I probably would.

So we will not now see his memoirs published - not I guess that there was ever any real chance that this would ever happen. But, I guess that the fantasy of their publication was comforting to him

You know I think that Detters was becoming influenced by my writing style and my approach to writing - particularly in respect of the searing honest displayed in such works as the account of my life as a young man: HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN SUCH A PRAT?

But every cloud has a silver lining as they say and Detterling's demise means that the coast is clear and Gene's blog returns. And, as I said, what treats and delights are in store!