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Father Dominic McKenna with delighted parishioners outside Our Lady of Hal’s Church
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Cardinal sees church salute cleared priest
Parishioners’ applause marks return after two years
IT was standing room only at Our Lady of Hal’s Church on Christmas Eve as the head of the Catholic Church in England paid a surprise visit to mark the return of suspended priest Father Dominic McKenna to his ministry.
Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor returned overnight from a trip to the Holy Land with the Archbishop of Canterbury to welcome Fr McKenna back to the Camden Town church after child abuse charges against him were dropped earlier this year due to lack of evidence.
Cardinal O’Connor told parishioners at the Arlington Road church: “It gives me great pleasure to welcome Fr Dominic back into the parish after a two-year absence. You know the allegations that were made against him. He has been completely cleared of all the charges by the courts and by the church’s own processes.
“I have had to wade through pages and pages of petitions signed by parishioners asking that Fr Dominic be allowed to return to Camden Town.”
Cardinal O’Connor led the packed 10am service, where the worshippers included Labour peer Baroness Helena Kennedy and her children, while Fr McKenna took the noon mass himself.
The first hymn of the day was interrupted by applause as Fr McKenna, who had been away from the church for two years, walked up the aisle.
During the mass, he spoke of his two years as a “non-person”, telling how he even struggled to explain to his hairdresser why he wasn’t working.
He described how newspaper claims that he was in hiding at a secret location made him feel like some sort of “secret agent” when he was actually staying in Waltham Cross.
Thanking parishioners for their support, he said the Camden Town church was his reason for existence. He revealed how he missed Camden’s many restaurants during his time away and how rumours had spread overseas, with false claims that he was in “the Scrubs” reaching parts of Ireland.
Fr McKenna announced he was taking the next three months off on sabbatical to “clear his head” and regain his sleep patterns.
He also joked about his need to lose weight, saying: “I need to make less of myself. There’s a bit more of me than when I left.”
Speaking after the service, he said: “I’m just overjoyed. The cardinal was very touched by the reception. He said it’s been a terrible two years.
“I’m going to Ireland for a bit to see some relatives and I’m certainly going to Australia for a while to see friends who have been really superb.”
He plans to return in time for a celebration on St Patrick’s Day.
After mass, jubilant parishioners clamoured to snatch a few words with Fr McKenna as he stood outside the church greeting people by name, catching up with two years of lost contact, learning new babies’ names and asking after pensioners.
A well-wisher, Mike Power, 64, said: “It was standing room only. No one knew the cardinal was going to be there.
“Dominic’s a one-off. Halfway through I had to remind myself he’d been away for two years. The atmosphere has lifted so much – it had gone down and many people had drifted away. A lot of people who hadn’t been there for a long time returned.”
Another parishioner, Tara McKeown, added: “We’re pleased to have him back. It’s long overdue. Everyone’s happy now.”
Fr McKenna had remained in touch with parishioners, and written in the church newsletter.
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