After the horrific death of a 23-year-old teacher in a midland town, two Irish bishops questioned society's attitudes towards women and reiterated Pope Francis' comments that Violence against women is an insult to God.
Ashling Murphy's funeral took place on Tuesday, January 18, at St Brigid parish in Mountbolus, Offaly County, a small rural parish in the Diocese of Meath, where she was a choir leader before upon death. Irish President Michael D. Higgins, Prime Minister Michael Martin, as well as other government officials, civic and religious leaders attended.
A man was arrested at a Dublin hospital, where he presented last Thursday with unexplained injuries, some of which are believed to be self-inflicted, to confusing investigators.
He was taken into custody Tuesday morning after authorities assessed that he had recovered enough to face questions at Tullamore police station, where an investigation into the fatal assault was underway. . Gardaí, the Irish police force, said:
“Gardaí is investigating the fatal attack on Ms. Ashling Murphy that occurred around 4 p.m. Wednesday, January 12, 2022, along the canal in Cappincur, Tullamore, Offaly County; and arrested a man in his thirties on suspicion of murder.”
“The man is currently being held at Tullamore Police Station under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984. We have no further comment at this time.”
According to the Irish news agency RTÉ, the man arrested is a married man with four children. However, the Irish police force has not confirmed this news. The attacker may have intended to rape her. However, Ms. Ashling Murphy is an athlete, so she resisted fiercely and injured him.
Thousands of people lined the funeral route to show solidarity with Murphy's grieving family. Vigils were held across Ireland, England and beyond as far as New York, Los Angeles, Sydney and Paris over the weekend, in memory of Murphy and all the women who died as a result of violence. force in recent years. According to Women's Aid, since 1996, 244 women have been brutally murdered in Ireland.
Before the final service at the funeral, Bishop Tom Deenihan of Meath, the local diocese, told mourners, “A walk on a sunny afternoon in January should be a happy event. happiness, promising brighter and warmer days of spring and summer.”
Instead, a "degrading act of violence that took the life of a kind, talented, loved and admired young woman" brought the country to a painful reunification.
He said the crime has questioned “our attitude towards women, and it has questioned our values and ethics.”
We cannot allow violence and disregard for human life and encroachment on the integrity of dignity to take root in our time and culture.
Quoting from Pope Francis' New Year's Day homily on violence against women, Bishop Deenihan added, “We must all struggle so that no individual dies like Ashling, and no No family has to suffer like the Murphy family.”
Father Michael Meade, parish priest of Kilcormac & Killoughey, celebrant of the funeral Mass and a close friend of the Murphy family, urged, "Let us not be afraid to make our conversion a reality."
Bishop Brendan Leahy, of Limerick, said society is grateful to Murphy "to ensure her journey does not end on Wednesday but marks a new and better beginning for the way women are treated. treated, how they are respected and actually protected.”
He said Pope Francis' message that "violence against women is unacceptable" needs to be shouted from the rooftops in all institutions and communities.
AAddressing the Killeedy parish community, he said: “Let us recognize together the importance of fostering a culture that explicitly and candidly opposes violence, especially violence against women."