Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1914-04-08
THE PASSING OF A
WELL LOVED PRIEST
What Feir-minded Protestant, c. A.
WindIe, Says of Rev
Father Dorney

Published by Request.
Rev. Muarice J. Dorney the
famous "Stockyards' priest,'' is
dead.
He was a man.
AS man and priest, Father Dorney
was friend of the human race.
He loved all the children of men,
not only collectively but Individually.
His sympathy, like the sky, bent
above every soul in pain.
Father Dorney was acquainted with
the hopes, fears, ambitions, sorrows,
desires and secrets of the human
heart. He knew the strength, weak
ness, vices and virtues of mankind.
He sympathized with the sinful and
pitied the criminal. He was not
ignorant of the temptations, snares,
pitfalls which beset the pathway of
life. He trod its byways and high
ways that he might meet and
admonish the hayward, advise the
thoughtless, warn the wicked, uplift
the fallen, sustain the weak, rescue
the perishing, thwart evil, promote
good, cheer the brave and by force
and precept and example lead all
onward and upward in the paths of
light and love.
Father Dorney lived close to the
stars and on his forehead there fell
the golden dawn of a grander day.
His great brain was mine of gold
and glittering gems.
His lips were afame with eloqu-
ence.
His tongue was a silver trumpet
calling men to war for right - to
fight against their brothers, but
against wrong.
His life was song, his deeds were
of gold.
When ne spoke, none failed to
listen and learn. Lost women knew
him as brave brother who would die
to save them for their sin and shame.
Intimate companions called him a
prince.
Thirty -four years ago Father
Dorney organized the parish in which
he served, suffered and died. Time
tests the metal of every man. More
than once he passed through the fiery
furnace of trial but emerged without
the smell of fire on his garments. At
the time of his death, his church,
ST. Gabriel's, had $4,000 com
municants. His knew his people.
They knew him, and loved him for
what they knew.
frequently his parish was rent and
torn by labor troubles. During one
of these conflicts he said: ct know
my people and I am with them right
or wrong. " This sympathetic at
titude made it possible for Father
Dorney to lead his people away from
wrong lead them to the right. It
gave him power that Brute Force
could never command. He could take
labor by one hand, capital by the
both without hatred or fear. This is
why the great packers and many Of
their humblest employees stood with
uncovered heads, touching shoulders
at his grave. AS his dead body was
borne from the church, every wheel
in Packingtown ceased to turn and all
the workers and heads of departments
stood in reverent silence for five
minutes.
Archbishop Quigley celebrated
Requiem High Mass and Bishop Null
doom Of Rockford, preached the
funeral sermon. Mayor Harrison
headed delegation of public officials.
The greatest men in Chicago paid
their tribute of tears and love.
Father Dorney was an ideal priest.
Before the purity and greatness of his
life, criticism is stricken dumb.
At his bier, Bigotry offers abject
apology for its existence, while men
of every race and creed, refute with
their tears the infamous lies retailed
by ignorance about the lives of
Catholic priests.
He exercised the force of the sun,
not the wind. An advocate of
temperance, he was opposed to
prohibition. Three hundred saloons
exist in the stockyards district, but
they are confined to the business
streets. Every two years he held a
religious mission. 1t usually lasted
ten days. When these services were
in progress from to o. M, there
was not single saloon open in the
district. A request from Father
Dorney was sufficient Whether
Catholic, Protestant, Jew or infdel,
all gladly complied. He found the
influence of love greater than the
power of law.