Enda McDonagh

Who is Enda McDonagh?

The Reverend Professor Enda McDonagh is a priest of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tuam.

He was born in Bekan, near Clanmorris, Co Mayo and had a distinguished academic career at St Jarlath's College, Tuam and at Maynooth, where he was ordained in 1955.

Following subsequent graduate work in Maynooth, he was awarded a Doctorate in Divinity and a Doctorate in Canon Law. He was appointed Professor of Moral Theology and Canon Law at the Pontifical University at Maynooth in 1958, a post which he held until his retirement from full time teaching in 1995.

He has written sixteen books and contributed to sixteen more. In the early 1960s, he founded the InterChurch Association of Moral Theology, and he is also involved with the conducting of ecumenical retreats with Church of Ireland and other Anglican clergy. In 2007 he was appointed an Ecumenical Canon at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.

McDonagh has been very critical about the Catholic Church's refusal to morally condone the use of contraceptives to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. One of his ex-students has written, "In my opinion one of the greatest tragedies to befall the Irish Church in recent times, was its inability to harness the messanic qualities of Enda MacDonagh in a leadership role. but his role of 'outsider' in the Church has played a vital role for many".[ THE GOOD SAMARITANS - MEMOIR OF A BIOGRAPHER BY ANTHONY J. JORDAN WESTPORT BOOKS 2008 P. 98-99. ISBN 978-0-9524447-5-6]