Bishop Brendan Leahy of Limerick has appealed for a culture of respect, care and protection for women in the wake of the killing of schoolteacher Ashling Murphy.
The 23-year-old was attacked while jogging along a canal bank in Tullamore, Co Offaly last Wednesday afternoon and died in what Bishop Leahy described as “horrific circumstances”.
Thousands of people took part in vigils across Ireland, Britain and beyond in solidarity with the popular teacher, musician and GAA sportswoman, demanding better safety for women and more to be done to confront misogyny and male aggression.
Bishop Leahy said the shock and grief that overwhelmed people was not just because of the circumstances of Ashling’s death but also because she was “obviously someone very, very special”.
“Let’s acknowledge … just how vital it is to promote a culture that is clearly and unambiguously opposed to violence, especially violence against women,” he said in his homily at Ashford Church in Killeedy parish at the weekend.
He appealed to people to shout it “from the roof tops” across all organisations and communities, from schools to sporting bodies, to the Church and families, that “violence against women is unacceptable”.
The Bishop of Limerick recalled how he had been present last October at Ashling Murphy’s graduation at Mary Immaculate teacher training college in Limerick.
He said people owed it to her memory “to ensure her journey did not end on Wednesday but rather marked a new and better beginning for how women are treated, how they are respected and, indeed, protected.”
A large crowd gathered at the London Irish Centre in Camden on Saturday to commemorate the young woman and to sign a condolence book and lay flowers and candles.
Anna Johnston of the London Irish Centre told those at the vigil: “Today, along with Ashling, we remember all the women who have had their lives stolen through gender-based violence. We shouldn't be here, and Ashling should be.”
In Co Limerick, parish priest Fr Roy Donovan said: “I think a discussion on how we men look at women and how we see them is something that could be encouraged within the Church itself.”
The Funeral Mass for Ashling Murphy will take place at 11am today, 18 January, in the Church of St Brigid, Mount Bolus, Co Offaly. It is being livestream and can be watched here and here.
Schools across Ireland will observe a minute’s silence at 11am.
Loading ...
