Fr Denis O’Hagan SM died on Wednesday, 14 August. His passing came after a short illness.
CathNews rarely publishes obituaries; however, Denis, CathNews’ first editor, was ‘known’ to readers for nine years.
Mission at home
As a Marist and priest, Denis O’Hagan primarily considered himself as an ‘at home’ missionary.
Although he spent some time working in the local church in Western Samoa, which he thoroughly enjoyed, the home mission in a modern New Zealand context also attracted him.
Trying new boots for size
Some years after returning to New Zealand and when presented with the idea of CathNews, he saw the potential.
He also saw many of the pitfalls, but he was not beaten.
He required little convincing to get involved and given his manner and considerable experience in working with Church authorities and political structures these additional skills were a considerable bonus in getting the project off the ground and sustaining it over a long period of time.
His passion for social communication and engagement with people was a challenge he embraced.
When CathNews started Denis was 65, an age many people consider hanging up their boots, not trying on new ones for size.
As well as his administrative insight Denis also set about acquiring a new skill set to prepare himself to be the editor of a twice-weekly, entirely online publication.
This involved blending communications, immersing himself in new Internet technologies he was unfamiliar with, and combining these with a deep understanding of the Gospel, Church teaching, theology, history, and modern society.
Editorial training and writing came courtesy of UCANews.com, and journalist Fr Michael Kelly SJ.
A public-space product using a publication style that had not been done before in the New Zealand church, and Denis generously loaned his name, credibility and a wealth of Church experience to it.
Denis’ approach was to treat Catholic readers as adults. While sensitive to them, he did not favour hiding all sorts of tricky issues and was known to say that CathNews is not the news. It just reports it in a way that is of interest to New Zealand Catholics.
He believed in focusing the news in line with the first paragraph of the Church document “The Church in the Modern World” (Gaudium et Spes).
“The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ.
“Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community composed of human beings.
“United in Christ, they are led by the Holy Spirit in their journey to the Kingdom of their Father, and they have welcomed the news of salvation, which is meant for every person.
“That is why this community realises that it is truly linked with humanity and its history by the deepest of bonds.” Gaudium et Spes Number 1.
New times, new missionary approach
Denis entered the seminary before Vatican II. New Zealand society and the World were different.
In Church terms these were times when one priest would offer Mass in Latin with his back to the people.
He learned the Latin Mass but was ordained into a Vatican II Church, where sometimes several priests celebrated the Mass together, facing the people and speaking English.
These were times of significant change in the life of the Church, times he negotiated well. While wondering about some modern-day challenges, Denis did not dwell on what was, seeking to restore it. Instead, his eye focused on today’s people, their challenges, and the future.
The Church in the modern world was Denis’ ‘ministry beat’.
Colleague and teacher
For some time, Denis worked alongside CathNews’ writer Juliet Palmer.
She came to CathNews, having mainly worked with hardcopy.
Juliet says she found working with Denis accommodating in learning new skills for a new work environment. She said his instructions and ideas for writing a story were helpful, and he was gentle with his critiques.
“He was lovely to work with, reliable, happy, accepting, comfortable.
“It was a wonderful blessing to work with him.”
Other contributions
Before being involved with CathNews, Denis led the New Zealand Society of Mary in New Zealand for six years.
As a leader, he understood that Marists were not financially invested in the Congregation to earn a return but were emotionally invested, and their passion led them to contribute.
He knew that, like those he worked with and among, he was not perfect. He also knew he would not be perfect by the time his life was over, but it never stopped him from wanting to improve.
Four years ago, he celebrated his 50th jubilee of priesthood and his 75th birthday.
At the occasion, Tim Duckworth, the current leader of the Society of Mary, spoke of Denis O’Hagan, saying that Denis walked the talk as a leader.
“Denis’ compassion and kindness made a big change in our group. We became wiser, more gentle and caring of each other,” he said.
“By the time I finish as Leader, if I can be half as kind and compassionate, I will be happy.”
Denis’ other significant contributions to the Church and New Zealand were remembered over the past few days and at his requiem Mass, celebrated Monday at St Mary of the Angels church in Wellington, New Zealand.
Here, we have chosen to focus on his work as readers knew him, the first editor of CathNews New Zealand.
Death
Around five weeks ago, Denis collapsed in the pool at Kilbirnie Aquatic Centre and was taken by ambulance to hospital.
After undergoing scans, the doctors discovered that he had metastatic melanoma, which, among other things, included tumours affecting his brain.
Rest in peace, Denis.