Sunday, September 11, 2011

Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz - Irish Church crisis

The former aide to the late John Paul II, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Poland, has conveyed his solidarity to the Irish Church in its present crisis.

Cardinal Dziwisz, who is Archbishop of Krakow, was speaking to Irish delegates attending a conference on human trafficking entitled, When We Hear the Cry that is taking place this week in Trzebinia in Poland.

He told the eight Irish delegates, “I am aware of the present difficulties experienced in the Church in Ireland.  You are experiencing sorrow now, but I am sure the Church will renew itself and play an evangelical role in whole world.” 

The Cardinal also praised the Irish Church, which he said had “a great value and traditions.”

He added, “You will get over this crisis.”  

Referring to the bond existing between Polish Catholicism and Irish Catholicism, Cardinal Dziwisz said, “We in Poland look carefully at what is happening in Ireland.  You have always shown us the roots of Christianity.”

The Cardinal, who gave almost 40 years of service to the late pontiff, addressed the opening session of the conference, which is organised by RENATE (Religious in Europe Networking Against Trafficking and Exploitation).  

The participants include a representative of the International Union of Superiors General and a representative from the Union of Conferences of Religious of Europe.

Six of the Irish participants represent the faith-based group Act to Prevent Trafficking (APT) which was instrumental in establishing the European Network RENATE in 2009.  

Sr Mairead Moran, a Presentation Sister has been working in Slovakia while Sr Clare O'Mahony of the Sisters of Good Shepherd works in Albania.

Cardinal Dziwisz told the 75 conference participants representing 17 countries from eastern, central and western Europe, “You are involved in a ministry that is very important in contemporary times, in which, as John Paul II said, the horizons of the European continent, which despite great signs of faith and witness and an atmosphere undoubtedly more free and unified, feels the consequences of moral and spiritual havoc.”

He underlined that “Physical, emotional and mental violence is spreading out and its victims are vulnerable people, deprived of their dignity and often treated as an object of trade.”

Referring to Ecclesia in Europa, Cardinal Dziwisz said, “Preferential love for the poor is a necessary dimension of Christian existence and service to the Gospel.  To love the poor, and to testify that they are especially loved by God, means acknowledging that persons have value in themselves, apart from their economic, cultural, and social status, and helping them to make the most of their potential.”

He continued, “Through your inter-congregational co-operation and international structures, you can work with redoubled power and effectiveness.  You are in possession of the biggest potential, which is not to be found even in the wealthiest organisations: your potential is your union with Christ, Redeemer of the world.”

The international Conference is being facilitated by US-born Sister Clare Nolan of the Good Shepherd Sisters and conducted through English, with simultaneous translation to Polish, German, Italian, French and Portuguese. 

In his keynote address, British analyst, Dr Ian Linden, outlined the opportunities, challenges and dangers in the situation of human trafficking.

On Thursday, the theologian, Professor Mary Grey delivered an address, Created for Dignity and Well-being – a Theology and Spirituality Responding to the Trafficking of Women, which was aimed at helping conference delegates and the groups they represent develop a theology and spirituality as they take up the issue of trafficking of people.

Conference delegates on Wednesday got accounts of hands-on experiences of running shelters for survivors of trafficking in Albania and visited some examples of projects in Poland.

These practical aspects of the conference were backed up with workshops on law and trafficking, lobbying, women's rights, Catholic social teaching, and the question of demand for purchased sex, the prophetic role women religious can play in countering this world-wide crime.