TOWARDS the end of the 1980s and into the early 1990s the four main Christian churches in Ireland ban producing analyses of the economy that focused on the need for new employment policies, for a war on poverty and for an end to emigration. They fell on deaf ears.

In 1992 the Catholic bishops published a pastoral entitled Work is the Key which was successful in provoking discussion in trade union and community circles where ecclesiastical discussions were hitherto anathema.

Long term workplace and community campaigners were surprised to see familiar objectives dressed up in the strange language of the bishops' pastoral, such as

. any job is not better than no job at all

. women at home and work are the main victims

. the benefits system intimidates and penalises the poor

. people have a right to a decent wage.

The knee jerk condemnation of strikes was completely absent. Strikes were accepted with certain guidelines which sensible workers apply anyway. Absent too were the romantic ("Blessed are the poor in spirit") and fatalistic ("The poor you will have with you always") notions of poverty.

Poverty was an evil which could and should be eliminated. The recognition by the Catholic bishops that unemployment was "the greatest single social issue confronting Ireland today" was welcomed.

Some reaction was critical. Why were the bishops suddenly getting involved in the issue of unemployment? What right had this conservative body of privileged men to pontificate about poverty? Were they serious or were they simply laying down a politically correct line on unemployment?

Time did not permit an answer to this last question because no sooner had the ink dried on the pastoral letter than the crisis of child sexual abuse erupted, most notably the case of Brendan Smyth.

The debate between Christians and the left was stillborn. The bishops' focus switched from the daily grind of poverty to celibacy and sex. Most radicals dismissed the pastoral as a flash in the pan.

This isn't entirely fair. There are radical Christians who are pursuing the jobs issue with determination and imagination. For example, the Conference of Religious in Ireland (CORI) initiated a pilot project to create 1,000 part time jobs and, unlike other schemes, the involvement of the unemployed was entirely voluntary.

While CORI has focused on the real world, some liberal Christians are running away from it. Prof Enda McDonagh wants to establish an ecclesiastical version of the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig, Co Monaghan, "where artists, philosophy, scientists and theologians would be welcome and could find the time and space to dream and create", says Ms Noreen O'Carroll.

Such a centre would foster the uncovering of "the experiential dimension of human life ... so that its richness may build liberating structures to replace those structures which oppress." What does this mean?

The 1996 British Catholic Directory provides a healthy dose of reality. Between 1988 and 1995, 200,000 Catholics stopped attending Mass and the biggest decline is taking place in working class areas.

These are the areas where people find little "time and space to dream and create" but struggle daily and grimly to maintain their health and self esteem and resist feelings of inadequacy, failure and humiliation.

These are the areas where those Christians who are more interested in the plight of their fellow man than in dreaming up theories must establish their centres of action and campaigning.

These are the areas, too, where trade unionists and community activists must organise in order to challenge the system of inequality and injustice.

They are the natural meeting place of those Christians and socialists, who realise that interpreting the world is all very well, but the point is to change it.

This is not to say that ideas play no role. It is to say that the emphasis must be on praxis and common action conducted alongside a "pick and choose" exchange of ideas on a trial and error basis.

The people who control and grow rich from the system of injustice and inequality have never been known to give up their power and wealth with out a fight. They will not be persuaded to give up by pastoral letters, papal encyclicals or beautifully crafted theories from some remote dream factory.

Nor for that matter will they be persuaded by ICTU conference motions, community development project reports or political speeches. They will only give up when forced to do so.

It is in the struggle of the poor and unemployed, of the victims of injustice and inequality to force change that Christians and socialists can and should make common cause.