THE Irish Jesuit Provincial from 1986 to 1992 and one of Europe's leading Jesuits, Father Philip Harnett SJ, died aged 53 in Dublin yesterday.
Educated at Belvedere College and UCD, Father Harnett worked as a drug counsellor in Gardiner Street, Dublin, before becoming the area's first-ever parish priest. He subsequently lived and worked in Ballymun and served in the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice before becoming Irish Provincial.
In 1993, he was appointed to the new post of President of the Conference of European Provincials.
Paying tribute, the current Jesuit Provincial, Father Lawrence Murphy SJ, said Father Harnett "was a man of deep faith and great charisma who made a huge impact on people".