HONG KONG (SE): On January 28, Columban Father Tommy Murphy was bid a final farewell as he was sent on his final pilgrimage to the house of the Father with a funeral Mass celebrated at 11.00am, at St. Joseph’s Church, Central, in Hong Kong.
Father Murphy, passed away on January 8, at the Columban house in Kowloon Hong Kong (Sunday Examiner, January 10).
Bishop Stephen Chow Sau Yan, SJ, bishop of Hong Kong, presided at the service which was concelebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Ha Chi-shing, John Cardinal Tong Hon, the retired bishop, together with Father Murphy’s Columban confreres and some 25 priests of the diocese. Around 300 people were in attendance at the service which was also streamed online for those not in Hong Kong, especially Father Murphy’s family and friends.
Tapping the discussions and reminiscences Father Murphy shared with him through his collection of photographs [photography being skill he nurtured in seminary], Columban Father Dan Troy delivered a eulogy that brought those in attendance on a pilgrimage through Father Murphy’s life from the earliest times in County Mayo, Ireland, through seminary and his various mission assignments, to his final days.
“He was happiest when with people, outdoors and on pilgrimage,” Father Troy observed.
May he rest in peace.
