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Hundreds honour priest who died praying Rosary By Peter Rosengren
Although one Archbishop, three Bishops and more than 60 priests of the Archdiocese of Perth concelebrated his Requiem Mass, in the end it was the parishioners and congregation of St Michael's, Bassendean, who became for a short while the most eloquent testimony to the life and work of Fr Alexius Morahan. St Michael's parish priest, who would have turned 80 on Mon-
day, died of a massive heart attack after celebrating Mass and while saying the Rosary on Wednesday morning, 13 July. At his funeral Mass on Thesday morning this week in the parish church he had served for 29 years, hundreds of people came to grieve, and to show the love and affection in which they held their former pastor. Not even standing room was left and the crowd spilled outside onto the steps of the church. Many were former parishioners who had travelled from all over Perth and further abroad to be there. The event was the biggest at St Michael's for years. Police cordoned off the street leading to the church and redirected traffic to alternative parking sites. Afterwards, hundreds of mourners formed an honour guard along both sides of Hamilton Street as a hearse carried away Fr Morahan's mortal remains. Not bad for a man who, in his younger days, had been asked by his first seminary in Ireland not to return to his studies because he was too light-hearted to be a priest but who, it was revealed, as a priest would rise at 4.30am every morning of his life to begin his day in prayer. And as the massive turnout for Fr Morahan's funeral proved, he had been in parishioners' eyes a pastor and a priest par excellence. After all, they were the fruits of
his years of dedicated work. In his homily, Archbishop Barry Hickey paid tribute to Fr Morahan's years of dedication, telling the congregation that when final arrangements for the funeral were being planned he had wondered if the church would be big enough to hold everyone. "But really, what better place could we find than the parish church in which he was pastor for 29 years," he said. "Therefore it is appropriate to farewell Father Alex from here the parish that he loved." He described Fr Morahan as it quiet priest who had "devoted himself completely to the spiritual welfare of his parishioners." To his brother priests, Fr Morahan had embodied the ideal of a priest, he said, a fact attested by the turnout of Perth priests for the funeral. "He was not well known. He did not hold high office (in the Church). He was not in the public eye - but the response has been great." he said. Continued on Page 4
Bishop Peter Quinn of Bunbury, at left Fr Hubert Kelly, retired Bishop Myles McKeown of Bunbury, Archbishop Barry Hickey and Auxiliary Bishop Robert Healy were just some of the approximately 70 clergy who concelebrated Fr Alex Morahan's funeral Mass at St Michael's Church in Bassendean on Tuesday morning.
As students of St Michael's school in Bassendean formed an honour guard durThe nephew of the late parish priest, also named Fr Alex Morahan, places a ing the Mass, Archbishop Hickey received gifts symbolising Fr Morahan's picture on top of the coffin that a young girl had drawn for the dead priest. priestly ministry to place atop the coffin.
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