Ann Widdecombe – committed champion of human dignity and for the unborn

Politicians in Ireland joined members of the diplomatic corps and representatives of civil society in St Teresa’s Church, Clarendon Street, in Dublin on Wednesday for a Mass for the repose of former MP, Ann Widdecombe.

The liturgy was organised by Independent Senator Rónán Mullen, who in 2015 arranged the visit of the former Tory MP to the Irish parliament at the invitation of the Oireachtas Human Dignity Group, where she addressed a number of TDs and Senators.

Speaking at the end of Mass, Senator Mullen described Ann Widdecombe as “a committed champion of human dignity” and recalled her also as a champion for the unborn and committed to animal welfare.

“In encountering Ann I would say her style was formidable – forthright – fearsome in ways but also fun. She had a great turn of phrase and sense of humour. She was also very humble. People will know from Strictly Come Dancing that she wasn’t afraid to play up her slightly bizarre side and, in a sense, she created space for her deepest convictions to be heard through the affection people developed for her.”

“I think she could sometimes be misunderstood. She was very sincere and very direct.”

The Mass was concelebrated by Fr Vincent O’Hara OCD, Fr Seán Forde OCarm and Fr Damian Farnon of the Archdiocese of Dublin.

In his homily, Fr O’Hara, drew on the Gospel theme: “Come to me, all you labour and are overburdened and I will give you rest.”

He said these words of Jesus have resonated down through the ages and have been “a comfort to all those who experience ‘the heavy and the weary weight of all this unintelligible world’. And they are particularly comforting at a time of bereavement like the present, as we mourn the untimely passing of Ann Widdecome, for whom this Mass is being offered.”

He told the congregation, “We are comforted that Ann Widdecome’s strong Catholic faith prepared her for this and is now her passport into eternal life.

“So, we who believe are not like people that have no hope. Most of all, we believe that death, far from being an end, is the gateway to a new life, and one that will never end – for which, in fact, this life is but a preparation. In the Christian vision of things, as the preface of the Mass has it: ‘The sadness of death give way to the bright of immortality, and life is changed, not ended’.”

In his eulogy, Senator Mullen noted that Ann Widdecombe “was a particularly great supporter of the pro-life campaign” and that was how he had got to know her first, through Lord Alton.

Speaking to The Tablet, Senator Mullen said two government ministers had attended the Mass, Noel Grealish, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Frank Feighan, Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation.

Prayers of the faithful were read by the two ministers as well as Aontú senator, Sarah O’Reilly, Sinn Féin TD, Sean Crowe, and Independent TD Gillian Toole while other members of political parties were present in the congregation.

Civil society representatives included Alice Leahy of the Alice Leahy Trust for the homeless and Fearghus Ó Beára, head of the EU parliament office in Dublin, a representative of the British Embassy, and former Irish ambassador Philip McDonagh who knew Ann Widdecombe as a student in Oxford in the 1970s.

Senator Mullen recounted how Philip McDonagh and Ms Widdecombe had worked together a quarter of a century after Oxford when she was Minister of State at the Home office and was responsible for the prison system. Professor McDonagh, who is now Director of the Centre for Religion and Human Values and international Relations at Dublin City University, had raised a series of issues with her in the light of his visits to Republican prisoners in Whitemoor and Belmarsh prisons and later Holloway. “It was under Ann’s authority that the issues he had to raise were quietly resolved.”

Speaking to The Tablet, Senator Mullen recalled how Pope Benedict in January 2013 made her a Dame of the Order of St Gregory for her services to politics and public life. “It was a recognition of her very public defence of the teachings of the Church around marriage but especially around the pro-life cause.

“She was clearly a person who had a deep sense of tradition and a very sincere Christian belief. She understood what her faith had to teach about life and she sought to commit to political values that were harmonious with that.

“She was a professional politician living within the tension of sincere Christian belief and the sense of the obligation to be faithful and to help the world understand the goodness and rationality of what the faith has to propose in society. She was faithful and courageous.”

At the end of Mass Senator Mullen said that while it was too early to say what exactly was the cause of her death, it was a “reminder to us that we should hope and pray for a society where anybody who is involved in public discourse can be involved in a way that they know they can be safe in doing so. Our democracy needs that.”

He added, “All of us need to be careful in our own utterances so that we don’t add fuel to the fire in such a way that unstable people might feel in any way encouraged towards violence action.”

The joy of Ann Widdecombe

Good company

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