Write a commentSean McMillan from Dublin Road in Newry has been made an Honorary Chaplain at Mountjoy Prison in Dublin.
Sean, an altar server at St Catherine’s Dominican in Newry travels down to Dublin every few weeks with his father John and Dominican priest Fr Vincent Travers.
It’s thought that Sean is the only person ever to have been given this honour. He was presented with a special plaque in January by Governor Walsh in Mountjoy, giving him the right to go into the prison, any time he wants.
Sean is altar server and lay Eucharistic Minister at the Sunday morning Mass for prisoners and staff at the prison and takes time out to chat to the prisoners. He and his father drive down from Newry around eight in the morning, returning in time for Sean to serve at 12.15 Mass in the Dominican.
Commenting on his visits Sean just says “Love it, love it, love it” and what makes it so special is “Good friends, good company, friends that like you so much”
Fr Travers has been assigned to Newry for four years and is part time chaplain at Mountjoy and Arbour Hill Prisons in Dublin and he encouraged Sean and his father to visit Mountjoy with him in 2016.
The Dominican has held chaplain posts in prisons around the world including death row in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago as well as Iran and Vancouver.
Commenting on chaplaincy Fr Travers said “It’s been part of my life, a very rich part of my life and that’s why it was so precious to bring this guy (Sean) in to Mountjoy Prison with me. He is what a prison chaplin should be, he goes in there with all his vulnerability and all his love and everybody loves him” adding “Their faces light up when they see him”
Sean’s father John sees it as a privilege to be involved. “It’s a great honour for the Dominican community, it’s a great honour for Newry and it’s a great honour for Fr Travers and Sean actually to take part”
“A year ago you never would have thought that we would have been in ‘prison’ … for the right reason”
A prolific writer Fr Travers has produced 13 books to date and his latest “Beauty Saves the World” is just published with any money from the book going to a project in Haiti.
He explains “There’s a group of Irish Sisters working with the tent people in Haiti, particularly with the oppressed and depressed youth” Seven years after the massive earthquake that hit the area, 50,000 are still living in camps.
The book is available from the Lectio Centre at the Dominican.
