Catholics here aid those in N. Ireland

Both are praying that Irish-loving eyes will smile upon a concert in Albany that will help keep the Doors of Hope open in the land where St. Patrick once served as bishop.

In a telephone interview with The Evangelist from Northern Ireland earlier this week, Rev. Desmond ("Des") Wilson, a diocesan priest in Belfast, said that the 22 benefit concerts organized by Rev. James Hayes of St. Mary's Church in Granville, "have literally kept the Doors of Hope open here in Northern Ireland."

Supportive effort

"The funds generated by his Doors of Hope concerts provide roughly a quarter of the amount we need to operate our educational and vocational projects," Father Wilson said. "Father Hayes has been a life-saver for us. Without the support of his concerts, our doors would surely have closed long ago."

Father Hayes, who has served as chaplain at the Great Meadow maximum security correctional facility in Comstock for the past 18 years, will personally hand-deliver the proceeds of the upcoming Albany concert to Father Wilson in Ireland this summer.

"Two years ago, I was able to give Father Des $25,000," he noted. "Last year wasn't quite as much -- only $15,000 because the concert took place on the date of one of the worst snowstorms of the year, and we had a very small turn-out. We're praying the weather cooperates better this year."

Where money goes

The money aids Father Wilson's Spring Hill Community House and The McBride Center in West Belfast as well as a facility in Derry known as Dove House and a summer program for disadvantaged children called Between.

The four programs provide much needed hope, something Father Hayes stresses is crucial to the well-being of every human.

"I see the need in my daily work, and Father Des sees it in his," said Father Hayes. The key difference, according to the prison chaplain, is that those he works with are locked behind "bars you can feel and see" while those touched by Father Wilson's ministry are fighting to break free from the "invisible bars" created by ignorance, poverty and despair.

Trying to help

"At the time Father Des started his special ministry, there was tremendous unemployment in Northern Ireland. I believe the rate around that time was about 80 percent and what he saw happening to the young people was just devastating," recalled the Irish-born Father Hayes.

"Many of their fathers and other close relatives had been put in prison following the upheaval of 1972. All of the terrible conditions caused them to become demoralized. They were so discouraged they couldn't see any reason why to bother going to school anymore. There were so few jobs anyway. But with no learning, no skills and no motivation, they had almost no hope of securing employment. Things were very bleak indeed.

"Father Des happened one day to visit an old flax mill that was lying dormant and empty in the North of Ireland. Seeing it gave him an idea."

Reaching out

Father Wilson set out to start a small educational and vocational project inside the abandoned mill. High-risk youth and others from the area who might otherwise be destined to spend their lives "on the dole" -- or worse -- were subsequently offered the opportunity to better themselves through Father Wilson's Spring Hill Community House and The McBride Center. The focus at Spring Hill is on academics while McBride zeroes in on teaching practical employment skills.

Soon, Father Wilson's programs expanded to include Dove House, which provides educational opportunities and job skills to the people of Derry, and Between, which enables disadvantaged children from Northern Ireland to spend two weeks each summer at the southern Ireland seaside in Cork.

Since founding his innovative program, Father Wilson has helped "a couple of thousand" individuals ranging in age from their early teens to their mid-'60s.

Filling potential

"One of the key things I've learned," Father Wilson told The Evangelist, "is that human beings are able and willing to take up an education at almost any stage of their lives and that many of those in the ranks of the unemployed have the potential to earn a first-class honors degree from college if only given the chance to do so.

"They have the potential to be not only adequate but often brilliant students and contributing members of society. The key is to raise their morale. Once you raise the morale of people, wondrous things happen. I've seen it so many times with my own eyes. Soon, you don't have to make jobs for them because, with education and training, ideas flow and things just take off!"

New jobs, he said, are sometimes created in the district by those who were once themselves looked upon as unemployable.

Thoughts of peace

Among the most rewarding aspects of his ministry, said Father Wilson, has been watching the focus shift in Northern Ireland from "thoughts of war to thoughts of peace."

For that, he said, Father Hayes and patrons of the Doors of Hope concerts in the Albany Diocese deserve a huge round of applause.

"I'm a bit embarrassed to confess that I underestimated Father Hayes when I first met him," added Father Wilson. "We have hundreds and hundreds of visitors every year who observe our programs and make promises of support. Looking back, I have to admit that Father Hayes did not make the impression of someone who would be able to do a great deal to help us. He was very quiet, very kind and very nice, but I didn't really think we'd see or hear much from him again. Ironically, Father Hayes was the one who made the biggest impact."

(The annual Doors of Hope concert will take place March 6, at The Empire Plaza Convention Center in Albany. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. with a performance by the Albany Police Pipe Band at 7 p.m. The Wolfe Tones take the stage at 8 p.m. Cabaret tickets are $20. Theater-style seats are $15. Tickets may be purchased in advance or at the door.)

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