Download PDF version of this page24/09/2008
Press release
Issued by the CBCEW
Ann Noonan RIP
Praying for her eternal rest and with hope in the resurrection, the Secretariat of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales announces the death of Ann Noonan, Secretary to the Committee for Other Faiths. Ann died on Thursday, 18 September 2008 after a long illness.
A committed member of the Focolare Movement, Ann worked tirelessly with great enthusiasm and dedication to encourage Catholics to meet their neighbours of other faiths with friendship and Christian love.
Archbishop Kevin McDonald, Archbishop of Southwark and Chair of the Department of Dialogue and Unity, paid tribute to Ann’s vibrant and generous spirit and also her unwavering commitment to the Church:
“The death of Ann Noonan, after a long and distressing illness, is a great loss to the Church in this country and in particular, to the cause of inter-religious dialogue. Ann was a warm, generous and gifted person who was ideally suited to building up relationships with people in other religions. Utterly faithful to the Church, she was also a tremendous support to Catholics throughout the country who were practitioners in this vital area of Church life today. All those who knew her will miss her very special personality and our thoughts and prayers are with her husband, Eugene, and her son, Paul. We thank God for her life and work and entrust her confidently to the Lord.”
She will be greatly missed and remembered with fondness. Our thoughts and prayers are that she is at peace with God and that her family and friends will know the consolation of the Holy Spirit.
Let us pray
O God,
you are water for our thirst
and manna in our desert.
We praise you for the life of Ann
and bless your mercy
that has brought her suffering to an end.
Now we beg that same endless mercy
to raise her to new life.
Nourished by the food and drink of heaven,
may she rest for ever in the joy of Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Vigil, funeral and memorial service
The Church of Our Lady of the Angels,
Carlton Road,
Erith,
Kent.
DA8 1DN.
Ann’s body will be received into the church at 5pm on Tuesday, 30 September.
The Funeral Mass and Burial will take place at 11.30am on Wednesday, 1 October. The Most Reverend Kevin McDonald, Archbishop of Southwark, will preside at the Mass.
An inter-faith memorial service will be held at 6.00pm on 10 December 2008 at the St Ethelburga’s Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, 78 Bishopsgate, London. EC2N 4AG.
Archbishop Kevin McDonald's homily:
"Her death leaves a void in her family, in the Church, and in the whole community. Many will feel her loss keenly because of her person, her unique gifts and her role in the Church. We entrust her good and gracious soul to God confident that she will know new life, eternal life in Christ."
Homily: Archbishop Kevin McDonald at the funeral of Ann Noonan (pdf)
Book of remembrance
If you have any thoughts/memories/prayers to share, please email: ccn@cbcew.org.uk
Please help us by putting ‘Ann Noonan’ in the subject box of your email.
A selection of messages will be published here. If your message is private for the family, please clearly mark your email ‘not for publication’.
May she rest in peace.