Priest calls for action to help the homeless

A PASSIONATE plea for something to be done to help the homeless was made by an Ennis priest this week at the funeral mass of Josef Pavelka, the Czech national found dead in a laneway earlier this month.
Fr Ger Fitzgerald, speaking at Ennis Cathedral on Tuesday, said, “To those in power, here in Ennis and Ireland, I ask you, I plead with you on my knees to you as a representative of Jesus here in Ennis. I ask you to please review the policies towards the homeless and the weak.”
In a touching tribute to his friend, Fr Fitzgerald gave “one last little present” to Josef, carefully laying the stole he wore on his ordination to the priesthood on the coffin. “Josef always wanted it,” he said.
In his homily to more than 100 people, Fr Fitzgerald described Mr Pavelka as “almost like an enigma”. “Many people will recall happy memories of Josef outside the church here or maybe inside, or across from the hotel with Piotr. Many will remember him wandering up O’Connell Street looking for one or two euro. However, many more will remember a man who had a lot of opportunities to improve and yet he did not. Ultimately, it is not important whether Josef wanted one euro or two euro or whether he was an alcoholic. What is important here is Josef’s humanity,” he said.
Fr Fitzgerald described Mr Pavelka as “no Holy Joe”, adding, “I’m not here to laud his praises or to make him what he was not. Because I can tell you there were times when Josef drove me nuts. But Josef taught me that it is in the hearts of the poor where Jesus is to be located.”
He went on, “It would be so easy to be up here and to moan and complain about the State-sponsored bodies, to lament about what I have heard called ‘killing Josef with generosity’ and to whinge about the denials of the two lads living in the public toilets. However, we must remove that. Because behind all of that is the tragic truth of a human life being lost here in Ennis. The worst of the tragedy is it is a scene which is being repeated everywhere, all over Ireland. Every night people in Ireland are homeless, lost, lonely and wondering what will happen.”
He described Josef’s passing as a “tragedy” that has brought publicity to Ennis, not all of which has been positive.
“Yet it is not a time to be angry or to be annoyed. It is a time to unite, to take action. We need to work with each other to improve on the wonderful work already happening. We need to unite to ensure that what happened to Josef will not happen to anyone else.”
Fr Fitzgerald emotionally turned to the coffin and told his departed friend, “I love you, I will miss you and when we meet in heaven, we will have our wrestling match like we always promised each other”. When he finished his homily, the cathedral erupted with spontaneous applause.
Offertory gifts presented at the ceremony included the Czech flag symbolising Mr Pavelka’s love for his homeland, his trademark hat and a bunch of flowers.
Mr Pavelka was laid to rest at Drumcliff Cemetery following the funeral mass.