Brother Kevin Crowley has been described as a “living saint” as he retires following over five decades of service to the homeless. 

In 1969, Brother Kevin was upset to see men in Dublin eating food out of bins and decided something had to be done about it. He set up the Capuchin Day Centre in Smithfield and in the half a century since it has provided meals and company for the needy of Dublin. 

Today it serves 900 meals every day and hands out a further 1,500 food parcels every Wednesday. 

“A living saint and he’s so humble to everybody and everybody’s so special. It’s never about himself,” volunteer Barbara enthused. 

“One client described him this morning as ‘Always having a dinner for a sinner’ - I thought that was a lovely way of putting it,” the centre’s manager, Alan Bailey, summarised. 

2CC9C9N Homeless man sleeping in winter, homeless man in sleeping bag on the street, sidewalk

While President Michael D Higgins noted that: “Pope Francis has spoken of a ‘culture of indifference’ and has challenged us all not to avert our gaze or to turn away from those who suffer on our shared planet. Brother Kevin, and those who work alongside him, in their work are meeting this challenge every day.”

Brother Kevin will be returning to his native Cork but says he is sad to be leaving Dublin at such a troubling time: 

“We noticed the number of people [who] were working and finding things very difficult,” he said. 

“I’m really worried about the future for unfortunate families trying to make ends meet.” 

He added: 

“It’s very sad to see so many people coming in 2022 for food - that saddens me.”

Main image: Brother Kevin Crowley and the Pope. Picture by: Rolling News.ie