Families invited to attend special Mass for victims of crime

VICTIMS of crime and families who have lost loved ones through murder have been invited to attend a special memorial Mass in Cork.

It will take place at 10.30am on Thursday in St Francis’ Church behind the courthouse.

Former Garda sergeant John Murray, who is president of the Secular Franciscan Order, is one of the main organisers.

He said the Mass, which will be celebrated by Fr Seraphin Kennedy OFM, whose father was a garda based in Cork, is designed to offer hope and support to people affected by crime.

“Crime of all kinds can have a devastating effect on people,” he said.

“This Mass shows people that we are thinking about them and that there is support out there for them.”

He encouraged anyone who has been affected by crime, from burglary or assault, right up to homicide, to attend. But he said a special emphasis will be placed on people who have lost loved ones through violent crime or murder, asking them to bring a portrait of their loved one to the Mass.

The photographs will be placed on the altar before the Mass and relatives will be invited to light candles in memory of their loved one.

Peter Keaney, the father or murdered Cobh teenager Sheola Keaney, will attend the event.

Since her murder in 2006, he has been a strong advocate for victims’ rights.

The body of his 19-year-old daughter was found in undergrowth near the grounds of Cobh Pirates in July 2006.

She had been missing for two days after attending a friend’s barbecue.

A week after she was last seen her ex-boyfriend Thomas Kennedy was arrested and subsequently charged with her murder.

He admitted the charge on the second day of his trial. He is serving the mandatory life sentence for murder.