Immense progress is being achieved in Ireland, but there is "a growing sense that we may have lost, or may be losing, something precious and important", the Catholic primate, Archbishop Seán Brady, has said. Patsy McGarry reports.
At a Mass in Clonmacnois yesterday, one of many events planned to mark the Pope's visit 25 years ago, Dr Brady said that recently in Ireland life had become cheap. "Violence is very common - whether on our roads, or in the markets, people have become competitors and commodities. Recklessnesses and aggression are the order of the day.
"Basic courtesy and respect for others becomes an option rather than an obligation. It is despicable to learn, for example, that in some places, attacks on people with disabilities have become a significant problem," he said.
Among an estimated 5,000 attendance at Clonmacnois yesterday, were the papal nuncio Archbishop Lazarotto, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, Archbishop Michael Neary of Tuam, Bishop Colm O'Reilly of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, Bishop Michael Smith of Meath, Bishop John Magee of Cloyne, Bishop John Kirby of Clonfert and Bishop Donal Murray of Limerick.