"Wilfrid Harrington had a scripturally inspired passion for justice: especially justice and decency (or the lack of it) in the structures of the church and how it related to its members and the wider world.
"To say anything about Wilfrid, to venture into this direction, would be to move into a theological-political area, which would mean addressing his continuous, radical, scripture-based critique of the way the church actually behaves in the modern world. As opposed to Gaudium et Spes - Vatican II's beautiful, hopeful vision of, literally, 'the Church in the Modern World'.
"The Wilf I knew, and I don't think he changed much on that, was inspired by three sources;
• his deep, personally rooted faith
• his profound knowledge of Scripture
• the beautiful, hopeful vision of a church ministering to the World expressed in Vatican II
"You could perhaps add in a typical West Cork stubbornness/rebelliousness combined with a typical West Cork sense of justice!
"But all such thoughts lead any reflection on Wilf and his work into the political. As they must. Wilf never shied away from the radical political implications of the scripture he knew so well. And when he contrasted this with the hypocrisy he saw at every level of the exercise of power and authority in the church, he didn't pull his punches.
"That's the Wilfrid Harrington to whom Sinead O'Connor dedicated her album."
- A former student of Fr Wilfrid Harrington OP
Happy and blessed Easter to all readers.
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