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24 November 2011
Fritz’ book launches to raucous laughter
YOU WOULD be forgiven for thinking you had stumbled into the wrong room if you were present in the Riverbank House Hotel for the launch of Love From Zambia by Franciscan Friar Fr. Fritz O’Kelly, last Thursday night.
With a host of speakers, the large audience was regaled by tales of potholes, the London Underground and purgatory an eclectic mix.
All the speeches were incredibly humorous, much like the author himself and the crowd were frequently left wiping away tears of laughter.
The book itself contains photographs chosen from a selection of over 5000 spanning back to the 1920s and through World War II. It also reproduces letters written by Fr. Fritz to over 200 people over twenty years.
The 85 year old Friar, who spent more than 50 years abroad, in several different locations, signed books, sang a song and gave a taste of what life was like in Zambia and, indeed, what it was like on returning to England and Ireland after living in such a different culture for so long.
Officiating for the evening was Maurice McCarthy who described how Fr. Fritz, who is originally from Cobh, Co. Cork, had written an uncensored account of life in the bush in Zambia, encompassing tales of war, poverty and famine, witchcraft and death threats.
Mayor of Wexford, Cllr. David Hynes commended the Franciscan Friars on their work in the community. He also commented on his involvement in the Cornmarket Project and mentioned how Fr. Fritz had successfully battled alcoholism, going on to start AA groups in Ireland, England and Africa.
He highlighted how a person could turn their life around and become a whole person again and congratulated the friar on the magnificent book which he said you could dip in and out of at any time, such was its readability.
The Mayor finished saying that Fr. Fritz had given his life to god and so doing, had helped our less fortunate brethren.
Fr. Paul Miskiewicz, coordinator for the Friars in England and Ireland travelled from London to be present at the launch and admitted that he had not been aware that he was to make a speech.
“Many souls will be freed from purgatory tonight as a result,” he quipped. Fr. Miskiewicz continued that if he was asked to write a character reference for Fr. Fritz he would write ‘he is one’. He added that “it would be a tragedy if this book had never been written. We now have a record of his life that will inspire many people.”
Editor of the book, Michael Freeman thanked a host of people for their support including Wexford County Council, The Book Centre, The Riverbank House Hotel, Brother Vincent Doyle, subeditor Helen Ashdown, designer Sinead McKenna and many more.
He especially thanked Frank Sinnott, who worked tirelessly to bring Fr. Fritz letters into the public eye. He paid tribute to the friar for the work he put into the book, which he said was the story of survival, faith and hope.
Special Guest on the evening was Bishop Denis Brennan, Bishop of Ferns who spoke about the sadness in the town when it was discovered that the Brown Friars were leaving.
He said that Wexford had always been a friary town and there was the prospect that it be left empty on their leaving.
He said: “We were delighted when the Grey Friars decided to come in, in such a seamless fashion. The Brown Friars essentially just handed the keys over to the Greyfriars who are still trying to figure out what some of them are for.”
Speaking about the author, Bishop Brennan commended him on his decision to go out to Africa and stay. He stated that it was his love of god and of people that helped him to sustain his life in such places.
He also thanked Frank Sinnott for his hard work in making the book a reality but admitted that he would be mortified to know that, in his absence, he was being canonised.
The Bishop also suggested that Fr. Fritz could use some of the skills he learned in Africa to mend potholes, “starting in Killane and working your way around to Kiltealy”.
He finished saying that the book would be “a lovely memory for so many people, for so many years.”
Fr. Fritz himself stated that there was not much to say as he had written approximately 300,000 words and didn’t have too many more. He entertained the crowd with a story of how people liked a short homily at mass and how, in one instance, he mistook a shout of ‘That’ll do ya!’ for ‘Hallelujah’ causing him to continue speaking for up to twenty minutes.
He stated that he had visited several places in Africa but had never stayed long enough to do more damage than good and joked that his twelve years spent in England would shorten his time in purgatory.
On a serious note, Fr. Fritz admitted that he had a lot of people to be thankful for and that while he was writing and sending letters to people, he was able to think about them and in that way, remain in contact. He added that it had been nice to come home.
To finish, the humorous friar recounted the story of being on the London Underground one day, speaking to a young Zambian man whom he told that he was a priest. Another passenger, unconvinced by Fr. Fritz’ appearance (long hair and a leather jacket) told him to prove it.
“How do you prove you’re a priest on the London Underground? Start saying mass in Latin?” the author quipped, before ending with a song he wrote, In My Zambian Home.
The book is available from the Wexford Book Centre and costs €20. Proceeds from the book go to the Conventual Franciscan missions.
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