The owners of an Irish pub in Luxembourg said they initially thought a priest's emergency plea to use their bar to say mass was a prank call.
Irish Redemptorist priest Fr Michael Cusack set up his altar, near a Hop House Lager 13 sign, in the pub for two weeks to say mass after his church was closed for renovations
But bar owners Vincent and Adrienne Clarke first believed the telephone call from Fr Michael, who they never before met, asking to say mass in their pub until alternative accommodation could be found, was a hoax.
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The native Galwegian said mass on two Sundays at the end of January, in the pub to 250 of his congregation while a further 250 joined in the service online
Fr Michael reached out to his fellow expats Vincent and Adrienne Clarke after he was left with nowhere to go when his church was closed for lengthy renovations, which could take up to six years to complete.
"I am living in a Redemptorist Monastery but the Church has been closed for renovations by the State. At the moment there are archaeologists in there trying to discover if there are any city walls under the Church and these explorations have to be carried out before works can begin as it is a very old building
"So the closure meant that we were displaced. Our grouping of English speaking Catholics are up to 1,000 people in number.
"We spent two weekends in an Irish pub, thanks to Vincent and Adrienne Clarke who thankfully opened their doors to me and our community. We had mass there for two Sundays and then, I think that was enough to shame the Diocese into trying to find a new place for us," he told LMFM Radio's Late Lunch.
"I didn't turn water into wine as such for the bar but they are usually closed on a Sunday so we decided since it was our final day that we would have the bar open afterwards and we had a lovely celebration.
"We are in three Churches in Luxembourg now. At the moment, it's like you are on holidays going in and out of hotels each time because you have to bring everything with you in and everything back out.
"We have no storage and we have no place to call our own and it looks like that could last up to six years.
"In a way Redemptorists were always meant to be Missionaries so we are certainly that at the minute. We have the biggest group of worshipping Catholics in Luxembourg and it is a very vibrant group so our numbers are growing all the time
"So, there is something good about having no church too but it would do your head in at my age now," he laughed
"There are so many expats here that there is a great sort of togetherness. I have great friends across all religions, all nationalities and all genders and there are no dividing lines here.
"Everyone is here together and we just get on with life. It's a microcosm for what the world could be."
Speaking more seriously about the decline in numbers of Catholics across Western Europe, Fr Cusack said: "It has been very, very difficult in Ireland because of all the terrible scandals and the terrible way they've been handled.
"All of that history has been so negative and I'd be the last one to say it's not absolutely true and absolutely horrid and been very hard for any family and indeed, for any young person to say they want to be part of a group that have that in their recent history or not so distant history and I find that all very upsetting in ways
"It's not the narrative in Luxembourg but you're hearing of the scandals in Germany and Holland and Portugal and France now.
"I'd be the first one to say I don't like focussing on stories of abuse but the reality of it is that it's there and I think the shame is that the Christian message, which is so wonderful, gets sidelined in some ways.
"The Church has got things very badly wrong and you wonder how we went from the last Supper in a simple room 2000 years ago to all the complexities and all the screwed up things that have happened in the Church.
"It's a shocking gaffe and yet, at the heart of it is still the same for me, because I think what holds these people together in our community is that they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and the message of hope and positivity and good.
"That message certainly came into its own when we were offered a place to say mass in an Irish bar."
Owners of 'The Irish Bar', Vincent and Adrienne Clarke said they were glad to be able to help out.
The couple, originally from Sligo and Louth, renovated an 800 sq.m warehouse into a pub, restaurant and whiskey shop in 2016 and are often the first point of call for any Irish moving to Luxembourg.
"The pub is very lively. We have eight dart boards where the Luxembourg darts team play as well as many karaoke nights and live music so this request left us, at first, questioning if it was true," said Adrienne at the weekend.
"We were actually away on holidays when I got a phone call from Fr Michael saying that his Church was being renovated and he urgently needed a premises to say mass
"He had heard that we had a very large space with loads of parking and asked if we would consider opening our pub on Sunday to welcome his parishioners.
"I initially thought this has to be a scam. I said to Vincent, you won't believe it but an Irish priest has just rang asking to say mass in our pub! Vincent fell around the place laughing and then said, no, seriously, who was on the phone?
"When we found out that the call was, indeed, real, we didn't hesitate to help out..
"Fr Michael arrived with his congregation and musicians and it was such a success, we agreed to host another mass which was followed by an Irish session. He got sorted with a Church afterwards but he knows we are here if he ever needs us again.
"We are Catholics but not mass goers so we had never heard of Fr Michael until he rang us. Once we got into the pub business, we had no time for ourselves, never mind mass.
"I have to admit though that a unique priest like Fr Michael might at some stage bring us back to Church!"
"I think we can safely say we were all in good spirits! I wonder if we can claim to be the first Irish Pub to hold a mass? I certainly haven't heard of any other"
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