A trinity of holy men are to be ordained in Aberdeen next week- including one who helped struggling Indian sailors through a harrowing year-long ordeal trapped in the city’s harbour.
Douglas Duncan will be made a permanent deacon, while deacons Emmet O’Dowd and Rafal Szweda will be ordained to the priesthood in a special ceremony at St Mary’s Roman Catholic cathedral on Huntly Street on Friday, July 6.
Mr Duncan was a prominent figure during the Malaviya Seven episode where Indian sailors were stranded in the north-east for more than a year due to unpaid wages.
An inspection in June 2016 found the 12 seafarers on board the offshore supply vessel had not been paid in months and the ship was forbidden from leaving Aberdeen harbour.
During this time Mr Duncan showed true Christian kinship, visiting the stranded sailors with gifts and even taking them to an Aberdeen football game as part of the Apostleship of the Sea charity until the ship was eventually sold.
Mr Daniel said: “As we near the day of ordination, I look back at the last five year of studies with satisfaction having achieved with the help of God more than originally expected.
“There have been highs and lows and during the Malaviya Seven saga, here in the Aberdeen port, it meant burning the midnight candle although it helped me focus on my vocation, which is to serve those in need.”
Mr O’Dowd said: “God’s call has taken me from Ireland to Aberdeen and Inverness, on to Rome, and now finally back to Aberdeen to be ordained a priest.
“Ordination is not the end of the journey, just the beginning of the next chapter.”
Mr Szweda added: “Since childhood I had the feeling that God was calling me to serve him in a special way but it was in Elgin that I understood he was not only calling me to be a priest but specifically to be a priest in Scotland.”
Bishop Hugh Gilbert said: “Douglas is based in Aberdeen, Emmet has a connection with Inverness and Raf with Elgin – so the three cities of the Diocese will be represented.
“It is the first time in many years that it has been possible to celebrate a triple ordination.”
