THE time of crisis which the Roman Catholic church has been undergoing as a result of scandals from within and challenges to its authority from without has generated proposals for renewing the institution and its structures. Foremost has been that of a synod of the whole church.
However, in recent articles Prof Enda McDonagh put forward the most exciting suggestion yet made, one which promises revitalisation in the long rather than the short term and one which merits public discussion if it is to find the kind of support it deserves. Basically, it involves a kind of Annaghmakerrig in a religious context.
Dr McDonagh's idea was prompted by the vigorous cultural and intellectual life which this country enjoys at present, a form of life which he describes as "the present artistic renaissance in Ireland". But he notes that this artistic renaissance seems to matter very little to the churches in this country, and the churches seem to matter very little to it.
However, Dr McDonagh observed that the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig has contributed substantially to the present flowering of the arts in Ireland in a practical, useful and symbolic way. It offers practical and useful help in that it provides a place where poets, writers, painters, playwrights and musicians can work until a particular project is completed.
MOREOVER, by virtue of its very existence, it symbolises a commitment to the arts on this island and an acknowledgment that works of art are a valuable contribution to society. The Tyrone Guthrie Centre is supported by bursaries from the two arts councils in Ireland, North and South, as well as by contributions from those granted a residency there.
Dr McDonagh proposes the establishment of a centre for faith and culture along the lines of the Tyrone Guthrie centre, sponsored by some university or religious institution. However, what he suggests is not any simple imitation. The inspiration certainly is derived from the centre at Annaghmakerrig, but its form and rationale might differ.
The form would in all likelihood be an ecumenical centre where artists, philosophers, scientists and theologians would be welcome and could find the time and space to dream and create. The rationale of such a centre would be the regeneration of the faith and culture of individuals, communities, society and the country as a whole. The question that remains to be answered is simply: How?
In his Nobel lecture, Alexander Solzhenitsyn noted that there is a particular feature in the very essence of beauty which is a characteristic trait of art itself. That is, the persuasiveness of a true work of art, like beauty, is completely irrefutable; it prevails even over a resisting heart. It was this redemptive quality to which Dostoevsky alluded in his enigmatic remark:
"Beauty will save the world".
In proposing the idea of a centre for faith and culture, Dr McDonagh is indicating that excellent artistic and intellectual work is redemptive in character because it enables one to see the experience of others in a way that mere arguments do not or cannot.
In fostering an awareness of the different experience of others, artistic and intellectual work opens a window towards a pluralism rooted in the richness of diversity within which one and all can flourish.
At the present time, the Roman Catholic church as an institution is oblivious to the power of art to redeem the world, just as it is fearful of any intellectual critique of its own structures and modus operandi. Yet this is the church which accepts that the Christ of the gospel of St John said of himself: "Before Abraham was, I am."
This is the church which accepts the declaration of St Thomas Aquinas that Christ is to be considered the head of the mystical body that embraces, not only all Christian, but all mankind from the creation of the world to its end. Thus it is incumbent on this church to recognises the challenge to itself.
In practice, this means it has to recognise and make intelligible the presence of Christ in a Babylonian hymn or a Taoist speculation or a Platonic dialogue or a feminist theology, just as much as in a gospel. That is, it has to go back to the experience of "the mystery" on which its truth depends.
But who will lead the way back to the experience of the mystery? The Pope? The cardinals? The bishops? The priests? Given the extent to which the male celibate hierarchy has allowed doctrine to be separate in public consciousness from the experience of the mystery on which the church was founded, one is not particularly hopeful that there is among them someone with the vision to do so.
An enormously challenging task presents itself to artistically and intellectually gifted people to sensitise themselves to the experience of all, including not only those who live within the promise of the words "the truth will set you free", but also those for whom God is dead or absent from their lives and the world. They then have to symbolise such experiences artistically, philosophically, theologically and in other ways.
In this way, the experiential dimension of human life can be uncovered so that its richness may build liberating structures to replace those structures which oppress. This work can be fostered by the establishment of a centre for faith and culture which provides the support and the setting which makes it possible for artists and intellectuals to flourish as they set about the task of regeneration.
