Standing here in this pulpit this morning I can't help reflecting with some degree of sadness that this second millennium, now drawing to a close, opened with the first major schism in the Christian church, the schism between East and West. Midway through the millennium the further sad division within the Western church occurred.
The scandal of a divided and at times divisive Christendom is still with us. Thankfully over this past 50 years considerable progress has been made in healing these divisions. The journey towards unity is a slow one but one we must continue to follow. We can however be certain that to treat each other with anything less than mutual respect, affection and love is a betrayal of all that Christianity is about.
Reflecting on the century just ending, we recall the gaining of our independence as a people with our own democratically-elected government. We remember and celebrate and give thanks to God for all the people who have worked generously down the years to preserve and enhance that democracy - our politicians, civil servants, local authorities, our army and gardai. At a time when there is so much emphasis on the failures of the few it is important to recognise the generosity and dedication of the many.
Side by side with that independence there was the sadness and tragedy of division - division of North and South, and especially the division within the Northern part of our country. That division of course resulted in the enormous pain of the past 30 years. We hope and pray that there will be no more Omaghs or Warringtons, Black Fridays or Bloody Sundays, Enniskillens or Greysteeles.
This final decade of our century and millennium has been characterised by a sometimes bewildering pace of change. The traditional trust given to the authority of many of our powerful institutions has been eroded.
It has been revealed that in times of serious economic difficulties a significant section of powerful people in our society effectively withdrew their support from the Irish economy and that they were colluded with in doing so by banks and politicians.
A series of scandals has undermined the trust of many in my own church. All of these reservations have been deeply disturbing and painful. Nonetheless we must be grateful to those who have worked to replace that culture of concealment which has operated in these institutions in the past with a culture of openness and accountability.
From here onwards those who take on positions of authority must be prepared to have their authority subjected to constant testing. Trust must be earned rather than assumed as it was in the past.
Before leaving the subject of wrong-doings which have been revealed, could I dare to suggest a note of caution? Is there some danger that we may become slightly addicted to a daily dosage of the wrong-doings of others, making us feel good that we are above all that and that all the wrong-doings of the world are the monopoly of the powerful?
There is, I believe, a danger that we might forget our own frailties and become an unforgiving people ready to cast the mote from my brother's eye and failing to see the mote in my own. I'm reminded of the older son who stayed at home in that wonderful parable of the prodigal son.
I BELIEVE, however, that by far the greatest challenge which we face as we enter the new millennium comes from our new-found prosperity. If we wish to espouse Christian values and Christian standards as we enter the new millennium we must commit ourselves to working towards a society where every human person has a rightful place and where no person or group of people is left powerless.
If I can be allowed to be a little parochial: I live in the town of Ennis in Co Clare. We had a very exciting conference there recently, a conference which reflected on our need for balance in our value systems as we enter the new millennium.
One of the speakers, journalist Fintan O'Toole, suggested to us in a most convincing and indeed challenging way that while we often speak about how power can corrupt we tend to forget that powerlessness can be even more corruptive.
By leaving people powerless, by treating them as mere clients in need of our help rather than people with a right to participate, by leaving them without the possibility of choice we destroy them as people.
We can never develop a sense of responsibility unless there is the possibility of choice. Experience shows that people who grow up in a society where they are powerless will very often abuse whatever little power they can find. The victims of powerlessness often become oppressors themselves.
It is not surprising that the vast majority of people who are in our prisons come from the poorest and powerless sections of our society. It is not surprising that most of those who are guilty of violence in the home are people who have no power outside the home.
We need to ask if the increased violence among some groups of our travelling people in recent years is a symptom of their sense of powerlessness in our society? Is the horror of violence perpetrated in some of our institutions linked to the powerlessness of those who inflicted it? Is much of the violence which has occurred in Northern Ireland rooted in a sense of past powerlessness of the perpetrators?
The recently acquired prosperity which we enjoy in this country is to be welcomed. The great challenge ahead is how we use our prosperity. It is not prosperity which erodes our moral standards. It is rather our moral standards which determine how we use our prosperity.
It is all too easy to suggest that this is a task for politicians, trade unions, the business world. It is up to each one of us to play our part in creating an environment in which there is a rightful place for each person in our society. If each one of us has the will, politicians, trade unionists and others will find the way.
The Great Jubilee 2000 is almost upon us. We can use our new found prosperity in a corruptive and ultimately enslaving way, or we can use it in an empowering an liberating way. The choice and challenge is ours.
The above is an edited version of Bishop Walsh's sermon
