Converting the ‘continent’ of today’s Irish

A small group of Irish pilgrims to Rome for the beatification of Blessed John Paul II, filled the parish church of Santa Maria in Domnica alla Navicella Monday as they celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving, presided over by Primate of all Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal Sean Brady.

In his homily the Cardinal said “As pilgrims from Ireland we are here to give particular thanks for the vision and hope of an extraordinary man, an outstanding disciple of Jesus Christ who came to the shores of our own land as a pilgrim in 1979. He came at a decisive moment in the history of Ireland, a decisive moment in terms of our search for peace in the North; our response to materialism in our society and the ‘Celtic Tiger’ that was to emerge, and; our approach to the very future of the Christian faith and heritage of our country”.

Ireland was the third country that Pope John Paul II visited after his election in the very first year of his Pontificate. Emer McCarthy spoke to Cardinal Brady about message Blessed John Paul II brought to that generation of Irish people, asking him whether it was heard:

“The appeal for peace that he made in my diocese on bended knee, I wouldn’t say that he was totally unheeded, it took a while, the seeds were sown. We are talking about 1978/79, there were people who were committed to violence then and aren’t now, so they were listening”.

“The other big one where we didn’t listen was about greed and materialism, which again he was warning us. We thought we were bigger and better then all that and now we are paying the price, but again his words, the way he came through adversity offers hope to all of us”.

Q: The Ireland of today is very different from the one Pope John Paul II visited in ’79. The Church in Ireland has changed dramatically. Its still reeling from the impact of sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy. In his homily for the beatification mass on Sunday Pope Benedict XVI said John Paul II gave millions the strength to believe, not to be afraid to say they were Christians. Are Christians in Ireland today afraid, almost ashamed, to say they are Christian?

“Especially in the wake of the scandals there is [the tendency] to be distancing oneself, especially from the institutional Church and from the hierarchy in particular. But we have to work on that and again appeal to the assistance of Blessed John Paul II to help us to know how to get beyond the personalities involved, to get to THE person of Jesus. He once said ‘each generation is a new continent to be converted’, the present generation of Irish people is a new continent and we will have to do our utmost, and get help from wherever we can, to bring people back to Christ”.

The Irish church may not be launching an SOS quite yet, but the fact remains that a Church once renowned for its missionary zeal, a country that has gifted thousands of its sons and daughters to bringing Christ to the farthest reaches of the world, is now calling on those younger more vibrant Churches to lend their energies and help it back on its feet.

Decades of scandals and crises, have left – in the words of Pope Benedict – “serious” and “tragic” wounds on the body of Christ in the country. As an Island nation, there can be little doubt that an encounter with believers from other realities would have a beneficial effect on the Irish Church, in encouraging Irish Catholics to see and experience the reality of a Universal faith, to help them understand they are not alone. And there is no better platform for other churches to do so then the 2012 International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin.

“When one part of the body of Christ is hurting, then the whole is hurting”, says Cardinal Brady, adding; “I would like to invite all Vatican Radio listeners to come join us, come pray with us. We Irish are famous for our welcome, and for us the Mass, the Eucharist, really is the source and summit of our faith”.

And while the Irish Church awaits the outcome of the Apostolic Visitation, wanted by Pope Benedict XVI, it also looks forward to celebrating the Eucharist in communion with the Universal Church, humbled, hopeful and full of faith. Listen to full interview: