‘God scored an own goal’ after Fr John Cummins was killed in freak accident his funeral hears

The death of a priest in a freak accident ‘feels as if God scored an own goal’, his funeral heard.

Father John Cummins, who worked in Abbeyleix, Co Laois for the last 18-months, died in an accident involving his vehicle at the parochial house last Wednesday.

In his homily, Bishop Denis Nulty praised the 52-year-old cleric as being ‘not just a good priest, he was a great one as tributes of recent days vouch’.

Noting the amount of texts and emails that have poured in since his sudden death, he said that every message, every tribute said the same thing.

‘John was gentle, loyal, he was so pastoral, he was the essence of kindness. J ohn was a great preacher. A great man to stay in touch with friends, as many lay as clerical, with couples he married, with former colleagues from Carlow IT, and of course with family.’

Recalling his familiar back-pack that was in the car with him last Wednesday evening, the bishop said that the priest was well travelled, adding: ‘It went everywhere, to Saint Leo’s College on the Dublin Road in Carlow, to the Ploughing at Ratheniska,

Article source: https://extra.ie/2019/02/05/news/irish-news/funeral-of-father-john-cummins-hears-death-an-own-goal-by-god