CARDINAL Sean Brady has issued an indirect rebuke to right-wing Catholic groups who campaigned in the Lisbon Treaty referendum against a "Godless Europe".The cardinal was speaking yesterday in Belfast at the installation of the new Bishop of Down and Connor, Noel Treanor, who for three decades represented the Irish bishops at the EU institutions in Brussels.
Calling on Irish Catholics to recall Europe's Christian roots, Cardinal Brady quoted how Pope Benedict on the eve of the Irish poll described the Irish missionary monk, St Columbanus, as "one of the Fathers of Europe".
In a clear warning against Ireland becoming isolated from the rest of Europe, Cardinal Brady stressed that St Malachy, a former bishop of the diocese of Down and Connor, introduced the Cistercians and Augustinian monks as agents of monastic reform into the Irish Church.
This important development for the life of the Church at that time, Cardinal Brady added, showed that Ireland, as well as sending missionaries to Europe, also received help from Europe in times of need, in the form of new initiatives and new ideas.
"In these post-Lisbon Treaty referendum days, it could be salutary for all of us to reflect on that European help and to consider what help we might accept today."
Referring to Bishop Treanor's vast experience in Europe, Cardinal Brady highlighted how the new head of Ireland's second-largest diocese could play an influential role in connecting both Ireland and Europe and renewing their Christian roots.
Appointment
From Monaghan, Bishop Treanor (57) was secretary general of the Commission of the Bishops' Conference of the European Community (COMECE) before his appointment by Pope Benedict to succeed Bishop Patrick Walsh.
In his first public address, Bishop Treanor stressed the importance of Ireland's links with Europe.
"I spent almost two decades of my life working in the service of the Church in Europe, more precisely on an emergent interface between Church and that historic, unique and precious project which is the European Union," he said.
"These were happy, enriching and formative years. I saw at first hand how reconciliation between erstwhile enemies is possible and can be achieved."
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