Emotional graveside hymn

Press, 5 February 1987, Page 1

Emotional graveside hymn

By

JOHN HARFORD

A touching graveside hymn ended an otherwise solemn funeral yesterday for the Catholic Bishop of Christchurch, the Most Rev. Denis Hanrahan. About 300 people gathered at the priests’ plot in Bromley Cemetery for a simple service after a 90minute Mass at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Eight Catholic priests carried the coffin from the hearse to the grave and Cardinal Thomas

willlarhs, the Archbishop of Wellington, led the service. • At the end of the short service, the 160 clergy gathered by the grave began to sing “Salve Regina” arid were joined by many others. The Latin hymn is traditionally sung at priests’ funerals. As the singing began, family and friends threw small handfuls of earth on to the coffiri as they filed past. The simple act and the singing moved many to tears; When most people had

left' the cemetery, Mr William Hanrahan, the Bishop’s brother, his wife, Judith, and other family mertibers remained to fill the grave themselves. About 2000 people had earlier packed the Cathedral to pay their last respects to a bishop who had served in his office for just 19 months. The Mass began with a long procession of Catholic clergy into the cathedral. They were led by a server carrying an incense-filled thurible. The two files of clergy

stretched along the aisle from the altar to outside the main doors. They led Bishop Hanrahan’s family and special guests. Cardinal Williams, Archbishop Antonio Magoni, the Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to New Zealand, the Very Rev. Matthew Duggan, the diocesan administrator, and six New Zealand bishops followed. The Samoan and Maori Catholic communities sang during the service. A Samoan woven mat was placed on the coffin during the singing. The mat

accompanied the coffin into the grave. A Maori chant was given as the coffin was escorted from the cathe-. dral. A hush fell on the crowd gathering between the cathedral and hearse as the cathedral bell tolled and the coffin appeared outside. The solemnity of the occasion even touched young children who moments before had been restless. The Funeral procession took 30 minutes to reach the graveside in Bromley.-