Tributes have been paid at Scottish Parliament to Canon Benedict (Benny) O’Keefe, a much loved priest of Paisley diocese, who died this month.
Labour MP Paul O’Kane placed the motion of tribute.
“Canon Benny was much loved in Paisley diocese and I have fond memories of him from time spent in Lourdes when I was younger,” he said. “May he rest in peace.”
The motion said that ‘Parliament notes with great sadness the passing of Very Rev Canon Benedict (Benny) O’Keefe, a well-known and respected priest in the Diocese of Paisley’ and ‘recognised that Canon O’Keefe, who came to Scotland from Ireland having been born in Ballyclogh, County Cork, served his parishes across the Diocese’.
It also noted ‘the positive impact that he had on communities throughout his service, especially in the areas of Barrhead, Clarkston and Greenock, and his ministry to young people and people who were sick or had life-limiting conditions through the annual Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes’.
The motion which was signed by 13 other MSPS also paid tribute to ‘the work of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Greenock and the staff of the Inverclyde Royal Hospital for their attentive care of him, and sends condolences to his family and the clergy and people of the Diocese of Paisley’.