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Rest in peace, Alan McKell,
10 December 2023Alan was a Life Member of the Craighead Institute in recognition of the enormous contribution he made to its work. Accredited as a professional associate soon after the Institute’s foundation in the early 1990s, he helped deliver the Social and Pastoral Ministry programme in various parts of Scotland, England and Ireland under its more usual name `Integrating Life and Faith` (ILF).
As early as 1993 he led a Craighead team delivering ILF in Lithuania at the invitation of the Jesuits there. It proved to be a powerful methodology to free up people's spirituality and thought processes. It helped give the life of faith, scripture and Christian social teaching practical expression in everyday life. The success in Lithuania led to the foundation in 1998 of 'Gyvenimo ir Tikejimo Institutas Lietuvoja' - The Lithuanian Institute of Life and Faith. By that time Alan was a full-time member of the Craighead Institute. He helped deliver ILF in other parts of post-communist Europe - Croatia, Bosnia-Herzogovina, Latvia, and most recently in Romania. We mourn his passing and give thanks for his life of faithful service.
At the Craighead Institute, Alan’s most particular contribution was in liaising with the Jesuits in Lithuania and introducing the Institute’s aims and methods to groups in that country, especially in Kaunas. This was a valuable contribution at a time when Lithuania was still discovering ways of living and working in community in the freedom that came in the 1990s. I remember the first post-Soviet head teacher at the Society's school in Kaunas, Gintaras Vitkus, describing how he had inherited a school staff of whom some had been longing for the day when the Society could return." Fr Kevin Fox SJ
"Yesterday I prayed for Alan during the Eucharist. He was such a kind man, his gentleness and attentiveness always impressed me, as well as his dedication to the teaching vocation. His mission together with the Eagle Aids was so crucial for us at that time. I will keep Alan and his family in my prayers." Fr Gintaras Viktus SJ