FORMER SOCIAL justice and anti-apartheid campaigner Fr Austin Flannery has died aged 83.
Born in January 1925, he entered the Dominican order in 1943 and was ordained in 1950.
Fr Flannery’s successor as president of the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement, the Rev Terence McCaughey, paid a warm tribute.
“He was an awfully good, gentle man. He was marvellous at getting people to work together.”
In 1957, Fr Flannery became editor of the journal Doctrine Life, which covered the second Vatican Council.
His translation of the council’s documents became the standard English-language version.
He was involved in the ecumenical movement, being a founder of the Glenstal ecumenical conference and a member of the council of the Irish School of Ecumenics.
His commitment to encouraging better artistic standards in churches was recognised when the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland offered him a place on the church’s advisory committee on church art and architecture.
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