Searches are continuing in the United States for a Belfast-born priest who has been missing since a boating accident on Sunday evening.
Fr Stephen Rooney, who is the pastor at St Joseph’s parish in Trenton, Michigan, and parishioner and friend Robert Chiles were reported missing after Mr Chiles’ boat capsized on the Detroit River near the island of Grosse Ile.
Seven children and three adults were rescued.
The sheriff’s office in Wayne County, Michigan, confirmed on Wednesday that Mr Chiles’ body had been recovered.
A spokeswoman said the sheriff’s office, working in conjunction with the Grosse Ile police department, resumed the search on Wednesday morning, and were using site scanning and divers.
A socially-distanced prayer vigil was due to be held in the Short Strand area of east Belfast, where Fr Rooney grew up, on Wednesday evening, and prayers have been said at the local St Matthew’s church.
“We join the priests and parishioners of St Joseph’s in keeping Fr Stephen Rooney and Mr Robert Chiles in our thoughts and prayers,” the church said on its Facebook page. A vigil was also held for Fr Rooney and Mr Chiles at St Joseph’s earlier this week.
Sinn Féin senator Niall Ó Donnghaile, who is from the Short Strand, said the area was “numb” with shock.
“Father Rooney is really, really highly-thought of, really respected, and comes from a really highly-thought-of family,” he said.
“Of course with the climate we’re in [because of coronavirus] we don’t really have the opportunity to show solidarity properly, but there’s been such an outpouring of lovely messages for Stephen and how much he impacted on people’s lives.”
Mr Ó Donnghaile said that while Fr Rooney had spent more than 30 years as a priest in the United States, he had been a “regular feature” back in Belfast, and had said Mass at St Matthew’s.
“The area was so proud of him and proud of his achievements over the years, and he held his roots very tightly to him.
“That’s why people, old and young, who knew him, and people who maybe just encountered him in his role as a priest, everyone feels connected to his family and to Stephen right now.”
According to the Detroit Catholic, 66-year-old Fr Rooney had been a priest in the Archdiocese of Detroit for 30 years, and had been the pastor of St Joseph’s since 2018.
The Archdiocese of Detroit said it was with “great sadness” that it shared the news, but it was “grateful to God for the Good Samaritan who rescued several others from the water.
“Let us unite in prayer for the missing, for the rescued, and for first responders searching the waters today.”
