The plaque outside the Unitarian Church on St Stephen's Green, Dublin, states that this church "wishes to welcome all who wish to worship in a spirit of freedom, reason and tolerance". A woman and her adult son stood beneath it as the remains of Christopher Geoghegan (23) were carried inside yesterday morning. Mr Geoghegan was found dead at his Dublin home early on Tuesday.
The woman nudged her son. "Come on, we can go in now. The cameras have gone."
Mr Geoghegan's uncle, the dissident Catholic priest, Father Pat Buckley, who earlier this week was refused permission by the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Desmond Connell, to say Mass in a Catholic church for Mr Geoghegan, welcomed everyone to "this beautiful old church". The Unitarians offered the use of their church following Dr Connell's refusal.
Father Buckley led the congregation of family, neighbours and friends in Amazing Grace, one of his nephew's favourite hymns.
The eight Beatitudes are inscribed in marble beside the lectern from which he spoke. "Blessed are those who mourn. . ." reads one. "Blessed are the merciful. . ." is another.
Christopher's sister, Patricia, read from the prayer of St Francis of Assisi, her voice aching, and all sang The Lord is my Shepherd. Christopher's aunt, Linda Graham, read the poem, Death on the Wind. She was followed by Father Michael Keane, who quoted from Paul to the Romans ". . . where God acquits can anyone condemn?. . . no angel or prince, not any power of height or depth can come between us and the love of God".
In his homily, Father Buckley spoke of Saint Christopher, who used to be represented as carrying the world on his shoulders. He imagined the burden must have prompted the saint, in the words of a 1960s song, to want to "make the world go away. Take it off of my shoulders".
Saint Christopher had been "decanonised" following Vatican Two, said Father Buckley, and referred to "another Christopher who was no saint either" but who had the world on his shoulders too.
This Christopher, "our son, our brother, our nephew, our friend", had struggled with a darker side "which always seemed to catch up". Once he said that if he died he would like his ashes to be spread in the Dargle Valley, where he had often hiked. Then and only then would his spirit be free, he had said. And now "he had made the world go away in the most tragic of circumstances".
Johnny and Susan Ward sang All I ask of You, from Phantom of the Opera, after which Father Buckley asked for prayers for "all who suffer in any way, particularly those who struggle with addiction and depression". He also asked for prayers "for those who have hurt us".
At the end, Father Buckley thanked all who had rallied round Christopher's family, "especially the Unitarians and their stunning act of charity and compassion in not just opening their building to us, but their hearts and arms also. We will never forget the kindness of their action". He hoped "God and goodness will reward you all". The congregation responded with loud applause.
A spokesman for the Archbishop of Dublin, responding to a claim by Father Buckley that his mother was refused an assurance by the Archbishop that her son would be allowed to officiate at her funeral, has said that "to give a definitive answer for a hypothetical situation in the future is difficult. Circumstances change and reconciliation is possible. It is those changes which determine the kind of decision that would be made".
