President Michael D. Higgins has led tributes to Irish Jesuit Fr Michael Kelly who died in Zambia last week aged 91.
Professor Kelly was a well-known educationalist, researcher and author who won numerous awards for his tireless efforts to combat HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa.
In his tribute, President Higgins spoke of the missionary’s “immense contribution to improved health outcomes for many people in Sub-Saharan Africa”.
He said Fr Kelly “epitomised the great work of Irish missionaries in the education and health spheres in so many parts of the world. His humanity shone through in his work and in his encounters with all who were fortunate enough to have met him.”
Born in Tullamore, Co Offaly in 1929, Fr Kelly was one of seven children, three of whom became Jesuits. He studied at University College Dublin and was awarded a first-class honours BA in maths and mathematical physics in 1952. He obtained a licentiate in philosophy in 1955 and was ordained a Jesuit in 1961.
On completion of his studies, he moved to Zambia. Initially, the Irish missionary taught at secondary level. During the period just before and after Zambian Independence, he served as Head of Canisius High School.
In April 1968, he became a Zambian citizen.
Fr Kelly was awarded a PhD in child and educational psychology in 1974 and subsequently became a senior lecturer and Dean of the School of Education in the University of Zambia (UNZA) in 1975 and he also served as pro vice chancellor and deputy vice chancellor.
Throughout his period at the University of Zambia, Fr Kelly was closely involved with the development of education in Zambia, and he campaigned for better educational opportunities for girls.
He participated in the educational reform movement in the 1970s, and the production of the 1991 policy report ‘Focus on Learning’, and the development, in 1996, of the education policy document, ‘Educating Our Future’.
From the late 1980s, as Zambia felt the devastating impact of the AIDS pandemic, Fr Kelly redirected his attention to addressing HIV/AIDS. Zambia was one of the worst affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
His focus was not treatment and care of those with HIV/AIDS but prevention. He was a consistent advocate of education as the most effective ‘social vaccine’ against HIV and AIDS. He argued that the longer children could be kept in school, the higher the chances were of delaying sexual activity and the better equipped young people were to understand and protect themselves.
He also stressed that getting more children into school, especially girls, and ensuring they got a quality education was critical if the numbers of people becoming infected by HIV was to be reduced.
Fr Kelly also supported the use of condoms to stem the spread of the disease and he reaffirmed his stance to the journalist Margaret Ward last year in an article in the Irish Times in which he expressed his admiration for the way nuns dealt with those infected. “I got my inspiration and my courage from them. They were going ahead and offering people condoms, which the priests wouldn’t do, the men wouldn’t do,” he said.
He also related how on one occasion he had heard that the Zambian bishops wanted to send someone to reprimand him, “but it never happened”. He added, “I said in another interview I look forward to the day we might have a female pope, and I don’t expect anyone to reprimand me about that either”.
Last February, An Post issued a stamp featuring Fr Kelly in recognition of his 65 years of Jesuit ministry in Zambia in education and HIV/AIDS advocacy.
In 2012, Fr Kelly received the President’s Award for the Irish Abroad and the annual Fr Michael Kelly lecture to mark World Aids Day is hosted by the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin.
“This event will serve as a reminder of the outstanding work and rich legacy of Fr Michael Kelly. I offer my condolences to his family and many friends. Ireland and Zambia mourn the loss of a true hero,” President Higgins said.
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