As tributes continue to pour in for the Labour MP Jo Cox who died after she was shot and stabbed, details of her dedication and commitment to her local community have emerged.
The MP for Batley and Spen in West Yorskshire was attacked after a constituency surgery on Thursday by a man who some eyewitnesses said shouted: “Put Britain first”.
The parish priest of St Mary of the Angels in Batley, Fr Eamonn Hegarty, remembered how Mrs Cox had welcomed him to the area when he first arrived. He said: “She was very much involved in the area and people who are parishioners here, they knew Jo.”
“She came into the church about three weeks ago and gave a donation to us. She had a tour around the church and took an interest in what we were doing. She gave a donation to the church roof fund and when I explained that we were having to go through the planning application process she said that she could help us through the whole process; she was so generous with her time.”
Fr David Bulmer from St Patrick’s in Birstall spoke of her commitment to the community and the way she went out of her way to help others: “She was somebody who was tenacious in dealing with things that affected people.” He gave the example of a parishioner who had been struggling with a problem for months, yet Mrs Cox sorted it out in ten days.
The death of Jo Cox is terrible, most for her family & friends, but also for what the whole country has lost. We pray for those who mourn.
— Justin Welby ? (@JustinWelby) June 16, 2016
“People are in shock to be honest,” Fr Hegarty told The Tablet. “Some of the parishioners here knew her very well because we have a number of councillors or ex-councillors in the parish, and they are just devastated.”
The school connected to St Mary’s this morning held a special Mass in honour of the much-loved MP. Fr Hegarty spoke to the children about peace and read from the powerful statement by Jo Cox’s husband. Brendan Cox had paid tribute to his wife, saying:
“Jo believed in a better world and she fought for it every day of her life with an energy, and a zest for life that would exhaust most people.
“She would have wanted two things above all else to happen now, one that our precious children are bathed in love and two, that we all unite to fight against the hatred that killed her.
“Hate doesn't have a creed, race or religion, it is poisonous. Jo would have no regrets about her life, she lived every day of it to the full."
This weekend a notice will appear in St Mary’s parish bulletin calling for prayers for the Cox family. It will say that Jo Cox was “a true loving lady who sincerely cared about the people she served in her constituency. She really is a sad loss to our area. May she rest in peace”.
A spokesman for the Bishops’ Conference said in a statement that "the Catholic community throughout England and Wales will be praying for Jo, her husband Brendan and their family."
This evening (17 June) there will be a special vigil in Westminster for the Labour MP who is survived by two young children and a husband. Masses this weekend across the country will remember Jo Cox and her family.
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