Since its publication two months ago my latest book, Unity Pilgrim: The Life of Fr Gerry Reynolds CSsR, has received more reviews and coverage in the media.
The initial print run has almost sold out, so if you are keen to read it over your summer holidays I would advise you to order online or purchase a copy at reception in Clonard Monastery, Belfast, as soon as possible. (There will be a second printing.)
Unity Pilgrim has been reviewed in the June edition of Reality, a publication of Redemptorist Communications.
The reviewer spends some time detailing Gerry’s early years in Mungret, Co Limerick, sharing the delightful story behind the proverbial saying ‘as wise as the women of Mungret’, before offering a full review of the book, concluding:
… [Unity Pilgrim] surveys many aspects of Gerry’s life and ministry … It does not flinch in acknowledging the occasionally tense relationships between Gerry and the various Redemptorist communities where he lived. The fault was not all on one side, but a strong bond of loyalty and genuine affection bound them together. If there was a single thread of devotion running through Gerry Reynolds’ life, it was probably devotion to the Eucharist which he had absorbed from his first days as a novice in Esker. … His ecumenical ministry was inspired by a desire to see all Christians feeding from the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. The pain of witnessing this separation at special times of shared faith was soul-searing, and occasionally put him at odds with the very explicit Catholic discipline of inter-communion, but this interior struggle makes for some of the most heartfelt pages of this book, which draws on Gerry’s own correspondence and diaries, as well as interviews with him and those close to him.
The book was also featured in the Irish News at the conclusion of Clonard’s annual June Novena, with the headline: ‘Clonard Novena a Reminder of Unity Pilgrim Fr Gerry Reynolds — and his Honesty about Love and Celibacy’.
This feature focused on Gerry’s friendship with a Religious Sister, quoting passages from the book:
There is also a moving passage which sheds light on Fr Reynolds’s experience of celibate love with a religious sister.
The friendship began while Fr Reynolds was based at the Redemptorist community at Esker, Athenry in Co Galway, where he served between 1978 and 1981.
Dr Ganiel writes: “Around this time, Gerry wrote in his journals of one group of religious sisters with whom he experienced a growing friendship: ‘They were very, very good to me. They loved me. It was quite an extraordinary experience.’
“Gerry developed a close relationship over time with one of these sisters, whose work called for their collaboration in ministry.
“Over time, they corresponded in relation to much wider areas of common interest.
“Gerry describes their sharing of scripture and prayer, and how they developed a deep personal bond.”
The Queen’s University academic says Fr Reynolds called it “love”. When she asked him about it, almost 40 years later, he said: “I fell in love with her… and she with me.
“She had an enormous influence on my life. We soldiered with [our love] and were faithful in it down the years…”
The unnamed sister died before Dr Ganiel’s conversation with Fr Reynolds took place.
“She died suddenly about two years ago and there’s an emptiness from her memory,” he said.
Dr Ganiel believes that the Irish term anam cara, or ‘soul friend’, is the best way to describe the relationship between Fr Reynolds and the religious sister: “In the Irish monastic tradition where this term emerged, it also acquired the sense of ‘spiritual guide’.”
… The story is just one of the many fascinating insights into not only the life of Fr Gerry Reynolds, but also the struggles and challenges encountered by those who follow Christian vocations and who commit to faithful celibacy.
Finally, the book was profiled in a feature story by Martin O’Brien in last week’s Irish Catholic (11 July), headlined ‘Pioneering a Shared Eucharist‘. The story covers other areas of my research, while having this to say about Unity Pilgrim:
… [Unity Pilgrim is a] meticulously researched biography of Fr Gerry Reynolds CSsR, the Irish ecumenist pioneer and peacemaker who died suddenly in 2015.
Fr Reynolds, a Limerick native, ministered in Belfast for more than 30 years, from the Redemptorist base at Clonard Monastery.
Four months before Fr Reynolds’ death, she was invited to write the book by Rev. Ken Newell, minister emeritus of Fitzroy Presbyterian Church, Belfast and Fr Gerry’s close friend and collaborator in reconciliation.
Given the suddenness of Fr Gerry’s death it was fortunate that Dr Ganiel wasted no time in getting down to work.
Dr Ganiel says that while his role in the peace process was secondary to that of his friend, Fr Alec Reid CSsR, there is no doubt that they worked as a team in a project of historical significance resulting in the IRA ceasefire”
Crucially, she recorded seven interviews with the priest before his death – and was granted full access to his journals and papers.
In her author’s introduction she writes: “…I thought Gerry’s story deserved to be told: the vision and example of modern Irish saints like Gerry are desperately needed as the Churches in Ireland struggle to find their place in a secularising, post-Catholic society.”
Although she wrote the book with the detachment of a professional academic her regard for Fr Reynolds is obvious.
“The first thing that struck you was the warmth of his personality. He was always interested in you, he was interested in people, something that can’t always be taken for granted. That interest in the people he met on his travels and in pastoral situations also came through vividly in his private journals.”
Asked to assess Fr Gerry’s legacy she points to three main areas, his contribution to the peace process, his role as “a pioneer of Irish ecumenism” and his indefatigable work in the cause of “a shared Eucharist”.