Bishop Willie Walsh, or ‘Willie’ as we normally referred to him – he was the most unclerical of bishops – has died at the age of ninety, having lived a life in all its fullness. After his ordination in 1962 he studied Canon Law, something which hardly suited his flexible nature. The study of Church law can often have a substantial effect on a person, making them legalistic and somewhat rigid. That certainly didn’t happen to Willie, I suspect because his basic humanity was so much a part of him that it trumped all the laws. After twenty five years teaching in St. Flannan’s College he was made a bishop in 1994. This was in the era of Pope John Paul II, and those of us who knew Willie wondered how did it happen that he was chosen for the mitre. These were the years when the Church turned away from the teachings and direction of the Second Vatican Council, and was mostly led by men who wanted to bring it back to the more traditional ways of the early years of the twentieth century. Most of those chosen to be bishops during those years tended to be orthodox, quiet by nature and submissive to the Vatican. By and large, they did what they were told and kept their heads down. Somehow Willie got through the net, maybe because of his Canon Law background and maybe due to the fact that he did not put his ideas into print.
During all those years those of us who grew up in the spirit of the Vatican Council, and who longed for change, looked to Willie as a shining light. In him we had a bishop who understood us and could speak our language and share our longings for change. He was willing to take a public stance on issues around family life, sexual teaching, admission to the Eucharist, and relationships with the other Christian churches. As a result of this he became something of an outsider among the Irish bishops, an isolation that must have been difficult for him, but didn’t in any way deter him from speaking the truth as he understood it. Those of us connected with the Church Reform movements loved him for that, and drew a sense of hope in the future from him.
But most of all what stood out in Willie Walsh was his humanity, his compassion and his understanding of human nature in all its manifestations. Everyone was the same to him, and he had a welcome and an acceptance for all. The notion that some people were not worthy to be in the Church or to receive the Eucharist was abhorrent to him, and he did not stand in judgment on anyone. He was bishop through the worst years of revelations about clerical sexual abuse. He received the victims of abuse with open arms and listened to their stories with complete acceptance. During those years it wasn’t easy to be in a position of authority in the Church. So much that was unchristian about the institutional Church and the behaviour of some priests was being revealed. People generally reacted strongly to known abusers who were often despised and treated as outcasts. But Willie, because of the depth of his compassion and without in any way minimising the actions of the abuser, was able to look behind that and still see a struggling human person His compassion extended to them also.
When bishops reach the age of seventy five they are required to submit their resignation to the Vatican. Often this would not be acted on by the authorities for a few more years, as long as the bishop was still healthy and functioning well. But Willie’s resignation was accepted immediately, almost with unseemly haste.
I am aware that he was called to Rome on occasion and questioned about some positions he had adopted relating to Church teaching. We wondered that they didn’t remove him from his post, as they were doing to other bishops around the world during those years of the papacy of John Paul and Benedict. I think the reason might have had something to do with one fundamental and important characteristic of Willie. The Vatican were capable to using threats to get people back into line, and the obvious threat to a bishop was that he would be forced to stand down. But that would not have been a threat to Willie. He never wanted to be a bishop, or to have any position of power in the Church. He would quite happily have let go of it all.
There will be many a tear shed at his funeral. He was deeply loved. May he rest in peace.
