The ordination of Fr Pat Corkery SJ

“There are the naysayers and prophets of doom who will emphasise the challenges of the ministry you have taken on today…What is a challenge and what is an opportunity will be decided by how you understand your priestly task in the life of the People of God. If your vision of Church is that of reliance on social prestige or a means of authority then you will find our present context a challenge. But if your vision is of a future not reliant on social power or prestige but rooted in a charismatically creative imagination, a deep sense of history, and a prophetic awareness of the gospel, then the future is full of opportunity.” So said the Irish Jesuit Provincial Fr Shane Daly SJ to Fr Pat Corkery SJ at a celebration marking his ordination to the priesthood. (Read Fr Daly’s full address at the end of this article).

Just a short while earlier Pat Corkery SJ was ordained a priest by Bishop Alan McGuckian SJ on Sunday 7 September, 3pm, in Gardiner St Church, Dublin. Fellow Jesuits, family, friends and colleagues packed the church. Responding to the question from Bishop McGuckian, “Is he [Patrick] deemed worthy for ordination?” Irish Jesuit Provincial Shane Daly replied “Yes”.

Addressing the congregation in his homily, Bishop McGuckian referenced the first reading from the prophet Samuel in which Samuel, as a young boy, wakes three times in the night to respond to a voice calling him. According to the reading, in those days, “It was rare for the Lord to speak.” But the Bishop noted that Patrick chose this reading because, in these days, he knows the Lord is speaking. He went on, “The truth is that our creator God is in constant communication with us. The Holy Spirit is closer to me, to us, than we are to ourselves. I invite you all, along with Patrick, to have that sense and to say ‘Speak Lord, your servant is listening.'” Bishop McGuckian said that Patrick had listened, and heard the call from God, and step by step was led to this day.

Referencing Patrick’s vocation to serve the people of God as a Jesuit priest, he said this called for his participation in the four apostolic preferences of the Jesuit Order ». Bishop McGuckian explained how the preferences were announced by the Jesuit Fr General, Arturo Sosa SJ, after worldwide consultation within the Order. They concern the renewal of the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius, walking with the poor of the world, accompanying youth, and caring for the earth. “These four preferences, Patrick, are a call to you to be united with your brothers day to day, serving in places of great suffering,” said Bishop McGuckian, adding, “And it is your privilege to respond to that call.”

Noting that this call may sound “too idealistic” to some, the Bishop said it has to be acknowledged that we are all sinners, just like St Peter, who wanted to lay down his life for Jesus but betrayed Him in His hour of greatest need. “We are always beginning again, falling and rising. The awareness of his past did not hold St Peter back. We Jesuits acknowledge our failings, we Bishops acknowledge our failings, and together we hear Jesus say, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?”

Bishop McGuckian concluded his homily by quoting St Paul, “‘All I want is to know Christ and the power of His resurrection,” and addressing Patrick directly said, “Let that power stay with you Patrick all your life.”

The sacrament of ordination followed, including the laying of hands on Patrick by his fellow Jesuits.

At the end of the ceremony Patrick spoke warm words of thanks to all those gathered to share this special day with him, and to all those who had helped make it possible including the musicians, and the staff of Gardiner St Church. And he singled out by name his two young nieces Grace and Sarah who, he quipped, ”almost survived” the two hours of prayer, invocation and celebration!

At a celebratory meal in Belvedere House after the ordination, the Provincial Fr Shane Daly said the following.

‘Chosen But Not Superior’

Provincial’s Address at the Celebration Marking the Ordination of Pat Corkery SJ to the Priesthood

Welcome. My first task is, on behalf of Pat’s Jesuit family, to welcome you as we gather to give thanks for Pat’s ordination to the priesthood.

The 7th of September is already a special day for many in the Province as it marks day most Irish Jesuits entered the Society with one of our brothers marking 75 years today.

We gives thanks firstly to God for his call to Pat, and thanks to Pat for his ‘yes’ to that call. Pat’s ‘yes’ is made possible through grace working in the lives of people, and experiences both remembered and possibly now forgotten.

I want to speak directly to you Pat.

There are the naysayers and prophets of doom who will emphasise the challenges of the ministry you have taken on today. Your own pastoral experiences to date leaves you with no doubt as to the challenges facing those who take on priestly ministry but where there are challenges there are also opportunities.

What is a challenge and what is an opportunity will be decided by how you understand your priestly task in the life of the People of God. If your vision of Church is that of reliance on social prestige or a means of authority then you will find our present context a challenge. But if your vision is of a future not reliant on social power or prestige but rooted in a charismatically creative imagination, a deep sense of history, and a prophetic awareness of the gospel, then the future is full of opportunity.

How you understand yourself as priest will profoundly shape how you minister and how you stand before God’s people. For me, the Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner offers profound insights into who we are as priests and what we do.

So, Pat: Remember you are a human being, you are one of the People of God chosen from among them, you are not superior. You are not an angel living above the human situation. You share the general situation of all men and women, experiencing weakness, failure, brokenness, vulnerability and needing to live by faith and hope.

Yet in your weakness you are called to proclaim the Word, to say something about God – not your word but God’s Word – to tell of eternal life, to speak of sin, and judgement, and the love and mercy of God, to say something of God’s grace give to redeem our broken world and wounded lives. You will speak of these things having experienced the freedom promised by God.

Let your heart be pierced to allow yourself to be affected by the ungodliness of our world and the cost of love and in that way to journey with others into their hearts and core existence where they come to recognise that they are loved.

In a word, Pat, you are called to be a minister of consolation to those to whom you are sent. In giving of yourself you will receive – consolation given will be matched by consolation received. Many here today celebrating with you are friends who give testimony to consolations received in the course of your different pastoral ministries to date. So trust that the Lord will continue to put across your path a hundredfold of consolation and friendship through your priestly ministry.

So, as scripture consistently reminds us, “do not be afraid,” go proclaim the Good News of salvation – integral salvation in the here and now and not simply the promise of future salvation – to all you are sent to minister to. And remember – let God carry the burden of the Church, and you simply trust that as Julian of Norwich reminds us, “all shall be well…and all manner of thing shall be well.”

Fr Shane Daly SJ,

Irish Jesuit Provincial,

07 September 2025.