Novices with a history

Two Irishmen, one joining the Birmingham noviciate, the other graduating, illustrate how different the scene is from twenty years ago. Shane Daly pronounced his vows of perpetual poverty, chastity and obedience before Provincial Tom Layden on Saturday 4th. Shane, aged 37, is from Kildare, worked as a teacher in the juvenile remand service before joining, and had been in Maynooth before that. His first mission as a Jesuit is in Coláiste Iognaid, Galway. Gavin Murphy has just joined the novitiate. A past pupil of Belvedere and psychology graduate of Scranton University, he worked with the Jesuit Volunteer Community in the last year, and had a placement with Peter McVerry as a counsellor. Of the five who entered the noviciate, one is from Ireland, three from Britain, and one from Latvia.