ARCHBISHOP Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has lashed out at the negative impact the cultures of celebrity and "empty spin" are having on Irish society.
Speaking in Bray, Co Wicklow, the leader of the
Catholic Church in Dublin claimed that these two empty values were
undermining modesty in lifestyle and tempting people into a false view
of life based on words and images that are the product of spin.
The
archbishop suggested that the "culture of celebrity" and "the culture
of empty spin" dominated the media, advertising, fashion and politics
and undermined people's ability to look at life as a mixture of
challenges and successes, opportunity and failure.
"A culture of
spin, because it is empty, will always end up as a culture of arrogance
on the part of those who use it, and of frustration on the part of those
who fall for it," he warned.
In his homily at a Mass to mark the
retirement of Marie Dunphy as principal of St Fergal's national school
in Bray, Archbishop Martin warned that education must not be just about
enabling young people to pass examinations and follow a curriculum.
"It
is about constantly working with young people to challenge them, not to
allow themselves to get blocked in their own limitations and anxieties
and mediocrity," he suggested. "Education is about bringing the very
best from within young people; it is about challenging them to go beyond
themselves and to be able to dream great things and realise great
things."
On the issue of religious education, he warned that
education in the faith was not just about commandments and laws but
authenticity marked by modesty in lifestyle.
EXTRAVAGANT
The
archbishop's comments follow Pope Francis's decision last week to
suspend the German Bishop of Limburg, Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, from
his diocese over his extravagant spending of €31m renovating his
bishop's palace.
The conservative prelate is also accused of giving false evidence under oath in a row with 'Der Spiegel' magazine over his alleged use of a first-class ticket on his flight to India to visit the slums of Bangalore.