It was with much sadness that Bishop Patrick heard of the death of Canon Anthony Dolan,
It was with much sadness that Bishop Patrick heard of the death of Canon Anthony Dolan, at 1.10am, on the morning of Saturday 16th March 2024. Canon Anthony died with his family at his side and tenderly cared for by the doctors and nurses at the Derby Royal Hospital. The Bishop asks that we now commend the happy repose of his soul to Almighty God in our prayers, remembering also his sister Moira and all his family.
Canon Anthony was born on 1st June 1939 in Bulwell, and studied in Saint Hugh’s College, Tollerton, and the seminary in Innsbruck, before ordination on 23rd July 1966 in Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Bulwell. He served on the staff of Oscott College, and as Vice Rector at Tollerton, as well as assistant priest in Holy Spirit, West Bridgford, Sacred Heart, Leicester, Our Lady of Good Counsel, Leicester, and Christ the King, Alfreton; he was appointed parish priest of All Saints, Ashbourne, in 1980, and then in Ilkeston (1983), Melbourne (1992) and Grantham (2003), before retiring on 8th September 2015 to the bungalow next to the church in Bulwell. He was appointed a Canon of the Cathedral Chapter in 2009, and as well as being chaplain to East Midlands Airport was the long-serving Diocesan Archivist.
As I write this in late June 2015 immediately after receiving a request from the Editor of the Year Book to do so by the middle of September, I am in the process of sorting out books, papers, clothing, etc. prior to my retiring from active priestly ministry later this year. Some of these items – clothes in particular, have accompanied me on my travels over the last half century and more. The cassock which I wore at my ordination on 23 July 1966 was given to me by my then parish priest when I began my course of theology four years earlier. I hope to wear it at my Golden Jubilee celebrations – if I can squeeze into it, and I intend to be buried in it when such a consideration will no longer be relevant!
In sorting out my material possessions, and trying to decide what I want or need to take with me into retirement, memories of all kinds come flooding into my mind. I think of all the people with whom I have come into contact as a seminarian and as a priest. Some of them have had an influence on me in ways neither they nor I could have ever suspected, and I am most grateful, to them and to God, for this. I think, too, of decisions I have made which have influenced the way in which my life has unfolded. A simple example was when, at the age of twelve, I was asked whether I would prefer to take up French or German. Having been told that French grammar was particularly difficult, I opted for German only to discover later on that German grammar is also very difficult! But because I had some slight knowledge (two years of it) of German, Bishop Ellis decided to send me, at the age of eighteen, to a major seminary in Austria, a decision I have never regretted! Those who know me are (only too) well aware of the influence my six years in the Austrian Tyrol has had on my life and on my ministry as a priest.
My prayer as I prepare to enter the next stage of my earthly existence is that, like the cedar and the palm tree mentioned in Psalm 91, I will still bear fruit even though I am old and that I will retain a certain youthfulness and vigour in spite of declining mental and physical powers. I hope that the readers of this article will pray for me and for my brothers in the priesthood who have retired from active ministry as I know we pray for you.
May Canon Anthony now rest in God’s peace, and rise in glory.
Reception of Canon Anthony’s body into Saint Barnabas Cathedral, Nottingham on Monday 8th April at 6.00pm, with Mass of the Annunciation.
Requiem Mass for Canon Anthony Dolan, in Saint Barnabas Cathedral, Nottingham, celebrated by Bishop Patrick on Tuesday 9th April at 11.00am. The Mass will be live-streamed on the Cathedral website.
Clergy wishing to attend are asked to contact the Dean of Nottingham, Canon Philipp Ziomek: philip.ziomek@dioceseofnottingham.uk
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