The Church must regain the courage of its convictions, the North's Former Chief Probation Officer has said.Breige Gadd, the first ever Catholic to hold such a senior post in the region, was speaking at the annual St Oliver Plunkett Lecture in the Church of St Oliver Plunkett, Lenadoon, Belfast at the weekend.
She said she believed that ''the Church is suffering from a dip in the confidence of their convictions''.
To overcome this, she said, the Church needs to regain its voice by listening to the people in the pews. ''It may look like an immediate loss of power, but it will win out in the end,'' she said.
Mrs Gadd outlined her belief that the Church should emphasise the fact that its teachings make for a happier life. ''All the evidence shows,'' she said, ''religious people are happier and they live longer''. She encouraged Church leaders to show that religious belief is a positive thing rather than something that is prohibitive.
Speaking about some of the issues facing modern Ireland, Mrs Gadd said ''values are more relevant now than ever".
''People are lost without a sense of morality and without Christ's values,'' she said.
The lecture, now in its seventh year, aims to encourage and stimulate debate about the role of religion in the community and society at large. Previous speakers have included Cardinal Seán Brady and former Methodist President The Reverend Harold Good.
The event is part of the Féile an Phobail West Belfast Festival and local parishioners were joined by Bishop Donal McKeown, Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams, Belfast's Lord Mayor Cllr Pat Convery and local councillors and political representatives.
DUP Culture Minister, Nelson McCausland was a guest at St Oliver's during the week for a talk on the history and meaning of local Irish place names.
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