Fr Willy Doyle SJ cause for canonisation
The cause of canonisation of Father Willie Doyle SJ
In 2022, Bishop Tom Deenihan, the Bishop of Meath, opened the cause for the beatification and canonisation of Fr Willie Doyle SJ. To assist in the process, he asked the assistance of Archbishop John in gathering evidence in London. Archbishop John set up a canonical commission led by Mgr Canon James Cronin with Fr David Howell, Deacon Michael Kennedy and Mrs Sharon Da Silva as notary. Having gathered the testimony of various witnesses, their submissions have now been sent to Bishop Deenihan.
Fr Doyle was renowned for his heroism as a military chaplain during World War I, and since his death on 16 August 1917, he has developed a reputation for sanctity and intercessory power.
Willie Doyle SJ was born in Dublin in 1873 to an affluent Catholic family and entered the Society of Jesus in 1891. He taught in two Jesuit schools, Clongowes Wood College and Belvedere College and was ordained in 1908. He volunteered as a chaplain in WW1.
Willie Doyle SJ has touched the lives of many people, especially those he ministered to in the hellish trenches of the First World War. He was renowned for his selfless care of the young soldiers in that war, for his heroism, and his deep penitential spirituality. Many draw attention to his sense of humour, positive attitude, and upbeat disposition which supported the soldiers to whom he was chaplain during dark and dangerous times in the trenches.
He was also known as a practical joker who from an early age displayed tender care for all those he came in contact with, and from an early age. he continues to fascinate people today, one hundred years on from his death in the First World War. He died attempting to save injured soldiers from the battlefield at Passchendaele. The cause for his canonisation has become increasingly popular in recent times and it is hoped that this espousal of that cause by the Bishop of Meath will help hasten the day when he will be declared 'blessed, and 'saint.'
Visit the official site for the canonisation cause of Fr Willie Doyle SJ: https://williedoyle.org/
Story provided by Monsignor James Cronin
