Libertas leader Declan Ganley posted his colours to the Christian and pro-life culture mast at a family conference in Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon during the weekend. Strongly affirming his personal commitment to the Catholic faith, the Tuam-based founder of the No to Lisbon campaign group said that in Ireland and in Europe today, ‘’there is a desperate need to heal the flaws inflicting modernity, to end a dictatorship of relativism and to put the person, her rights, and her needs, back at the heart of the political agenda."
Speaking at the Abbey Field Hotel before 350 people, late on Saturday he said, "My faith in God is not a threat to my neighbour. In fact my faith in God is my neighbour’s best guarantor of his safety and freedom."
Declan Ganley added there was a need for those sharing a belief that “man is the crown of creation and not some parasitic presence on this earth" to stand up and defend those beliefs.
Over a wide ranging speech, frequently quoting Pope Benedict XVI, he said “Our Holy Father teaches us that once society does not treat every life as precious and inviolable from conception to natural death then man becomes a product subjected to ‘pragmatism’ and 'utilitarianism’ such that abortion, euthanasia, and the destruction of human life are promoted as false rights and choices."
He called on people at the meeting organised by the lay-based John Paul II Society, to commit to "no longer apologising for our beliefs. To unabashedly love our Lord, love our neighbour and to be prepared to sacrifice and serve."
Making reference to the sustaining effect that religious faith had on previous generations, particularly in times of hardship, he added that there was a need that "public figures should never to afraid to speak of their faith, their beliefs and their values."
Also addressing the conference, entitled Render Unto Caesar: Personal Faith and Public Duty’ was the internationally known Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver who asked listeners to be "vigorous and unembarrassed about our Catholic presence in society."
Archbishop Chaput, who is half-American Indian stressed the importance of individual integrity and called on people to give public witness to what they believed in their family, workplace and also in the way they vote.
Saying that while Christians "owe secular leaders our respect and prayers; respect for the law; obedience to proper authority; and service to the common good", this was not to be confused with "subservience, or silence, or inaction, or excuse-making or acquiescence to grave evil in the public life we all share".
On his first trip to Ireland, the archbishop said, "Critics like to say that religion is divisive, or intellectually backward, or that it has no proper place in the public square. … But this is nonsense. Democracy depends on people of conviction carrying their beliefs into public debate - respectfully, legally and non-violently, but vigorously and without apology. If we are uncomfortable being Christians in a public debate, then we've already lost the war. In America the word "pluralism" is often conjured up like a kind of voodoo shield to get religious people to stop talking about right and wrong. In reality, our moral beliefs always shape social policy. Real pluralism actually demands that people with different beliefs should pursue their beliefs energetically in the public square. This is the only way a public debate can be honest and fruitful. We should never apologize for being Catholics.”
"The early Christians," he told the gathered participants, "understood that they were members of a new worldwide family of God more important than any language or national borders......They saw the culture around them, despite all of its greatness and power, as a culture of despair, a society that was slowly killing itself,” Archbishop Chaput said.
He concluded his address saying,"If the world of pagan Rome and its Caesars could be won for Jesus Christ, we can do the same in our own day. But what it takes is the zeal and courage to live what we claim to believe."
A large range of speakers also included Senator Ronán Mullan from Dublin, Senator Jim Walsh of Wexford, former Wicklow councillor and current political analyst Susan Philips and Roger Eldridge, chairman of the National Men’s Council of Ireland.
Fine Gael TD, Lucinda Creighton had to cancel at the last moment due to sickness. The second day of the conference was hosted by Patrick McCrystal of Human LIfe International.
In a question and answer session, Declan Ganley said that while still opposing the Lisbon Treaty, he remained, very pro-European and strongly opposed to euroscepticism.
It has been speculated in recent months that Ganley wishes to run for the Connacht-Ulster constituency in the next-European Parliament election, but at the Roscommon conference, he refused to confirm whether he would be running or not.
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(Source: CIN)