The canonisation cause of an Irish chaplain who was killed during the First World War while administering the Last Rites is set to move to its Roman stage. The diocesan enquiry into the cause of Fr Willie Doyle SJ is set to formally close on October 18, and is believed to be the first time in 40 years that a diocesan session has closed in the country.
Born in Dalkey, County Dublin, in 1873, Fr Doyle entered the Jesuits at Rahan in County Offaly in 1891. Following the outbreak of the First World War, he volunteered in the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department and was assigned to the Royal Irish Fusiliers. He was killed in 1917 during the Battle of Langemarck whilst administering the Anointing of the Sick to the wounded.
