CHURCH HOMILIES:CATHOLIC PRIMATE Cardinal Seán Brady emphasised the need to rebuild confidence in the church in his St Patrick's Day homily yesterday.
He said religious faith was very important to many Irish people, a fact that deserved due recognition and respect in public life and policy. “Yes, in Ireland, confidence in many institutions, including the Catholic Church, has been profoundly shaken in recent years because of its failures. We must continue to try to rebuild that confidence. For the church, this means a humble discernment of the path to renewal.”
Speaking on the RTÉ radio broadcast Mass, Cardinal Brady said the historic link between the Christian legacy of Patrick and Irish identity was often ignored, if not denied outright.
“This is evident in the increasing disconnect between so many St Patrick’s Day celebrations and the faith and hope which Patrick came to bring. It is part of a wider European problem. Despite the fact that the roots of European and Irish culture are profoundly Christian, there are those who would prefer to deny that reality.”
In a homily at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, retired Catholic Bishop of Killaloe Willie Walsh said the Irish people “cannot and will not” overcome the financial crisis “unless we find a new sense of solidarity in which those of us who are lucky to have jobs are willing to share the pain involved in trying to get it right.”