Priest attacked at St Patrick’s Church in Downpatrick ‘will make good recovery’

A priest attacked at his church will make ” restoration”, the Bishop of Down and Connor has mentioned.

Fr John Murray was hit on the pinnacle with a bottle whereas getting ready to rejoice his final Mass earlier than retirement at St Patrick’s Church.

Bishop Alan McGuckian, who visited the senior priest in hospital, mentioned Fr Murray is “grateful” for prayers from the general public.

A 30-year-old man remains to be being held on suspicion of murder after a man’s death in Downpatrick, which police mentioned is likely to be linked to the “brutal” assault on the priest.

Fr Murray was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast for therapy to his accidents.

Chatting with BBC Radio Ulster’s, Evening Extra programme, Bishop McGuckian mentioned: “He had been crushed across the head and there was defensive accidents with damaged bones in his arms.”

He mentioned there was a whole lot of blood and it regarded “very, very critical at first”.

“On first impressions, it regarded extraordinarily critical however thank God it has turned out to be critical however not important,” he added.

Fr Murray has served the diocese for 50 years and was scheduled to retire subsequent weekend.

The bishop mentioned “a really particular second was simply shattered”.

The Downpatrick Household of Parishes mentioned on Monday that Fr Murray “continues to obtain distinctive care” and he’s “steady and cozy”.

It added that St Patrick’s Church and its grounds remained closed.

Police mentioned a person walked into the church on St Patrick’s Avenue at 10:10 BST on Sunday and hit the priest earlier than leaving.

Det Ch Insp McBurney mentioned it was “a very surprising and brutal assault and has left the priest with a critical head damage”.

Fr Eddie McGee, a priest from the Diocese of Down and Connor who is aware of Fr Murray effectively, instructed BBC Radio Ulster’s Good Morning Ulster programme the person requested Fr Murray if he would hear his confession simply earlier than the morning service was attributable to begin and “it was at that stage that he was attacked”.

He mentioned the parishioners who witnessed the assault then known as the emergency companies, describing it as an “absolute shock” for individuals who noticed the “horrible occasion”.

Fr McGee mentioned the Bishop of Down and Connor, the Most Reverend Alan McGuckian, went to the hospital on Sunday evening to fulfill Fr Murray’s household.

He described Fr Murray as a “very well-known” and “very well-respected priest” of the diocese who had been appointed a canon by the bishop in recognition of his work as a senior adviser.

Parishioner Raymond Rooney was within the church when the incident occurred.

He mentioned he heard girls saying Fr Murray was injured.

“Then the police arrived – there was commotion, everybody was speaking after which I heard the ambulance arrive,” he mentioned.

“It was mayhem within the church. Individuals had been aghast at what had occurred, completely shocked. Individuals cannot take it in.”

Mr Rooney described Fr Murray as a “actually sensible man”.

Tons of of individuals attended a vigil in St Brigid’s Church in Downpatrick on Sunday night.

Fr Martin Graham, who took the service, mentioned it allowed folks to be with different parishioners and pray for Fr Murray and likewise “for the opposite poor man who misplaced his life”.

Fr Graham mentioned Fr Murray is “so effectively considered by the folks right here”.

“It’s simply heartbreaking for them in what was alleged to be a poignant farewell this morning that it changed into one thing which was simply grotesque,” he mentioned.

Sinn Féin MP for South Down Chris Hazzard instructed BBC Information NI that the “sense of disbelief, and shock and devastation remains to be as palpable at present because it was yesterday”.

He mentioned he had obtained messages from “proper throughout the county and additional afield” from folks asking about Fr Murray’s well being and that he’s grateful to listen to he’s “recovering effectively in hospital”.

Hazzard added that there was a “sense of palatable group spirit” rallying across the parish and the household of the person who was killed and that point was wanted for the investigation to be performed and for folks to “begin to heal” after the occasions.

Sinn Féin councillor Oonagh Hanlon, who attended the vigil, described it as a “very sombre and really respectful” occasion which additionally remembered the person who was killed.

She mentioned it was a close-knit group and there was “deep shock” at what had occurred.

Social Democratic and Labour Get together (SDLP) meeting member Colin McGrath described it as a “surprising” and “graphic” assault on Fr Murray.

He mentioned that being carried out in a “public method and in daylight uncovered an terrible lot of vulnerabilities of clergy”.

“We should put this within the wider context that this can be a very uncommon occasion, and that folks hopefully will take consolation in the truth that this does not occur regularly however it does present that when it does occur that these vulnerabilities are there,” he added.