FEWER THAN one in five Catholics attend Mass on any given Sunday in
Dublin with many young people only retaining a marginal interest in
religion, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said.
At the
ordination of seven young deacons Sunday at St Patrick’s College
Maynooth, the archbishop warned that the Irish church faced challenges,
and that the next few years would be crucial.
He said the overall
culture and demographics of Irish society were changing and young people
did not have the same interest in religion as the older generation.
The
archbishop said about 18 per cent of the Catholic population in the
archdiocese of Dublin now attend Mass on Sundays, which was lower than
diocese in other parts of the country that had an older age profile.
“Many
young people, despite years of religious education, have only marginal
interest in the message of Jesus. Many who come to us today possess only
a sort of cultural Catholicism which can easily deceive us about the
depth of people’s faith,” said the archbishop.
“Faith in Jesus Christ
and in his church is not a free-for-all of opinions in which anything
goes. Faith in Jesus has content and context. It is about knowing Jesus
intimately.
The archbishop said the years ahead must be ones of
renewal for the Irish church and he urged the seven deacons to play a
critical role in that renewal.
“I encourage you to reach out to the
coming generations, presenting them in unambiguous terms the teaching of
Jesus and challenging them not to be afraid to let the message of Jesus
change their hearts,” he said.