Church is alive and well – Abp Martin

In spite of all the criticism launched at the Church, it is “alive and well” and at the “heart of the community” according to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin.

The Archbishop of Dublin said that from his experience of travelling to parishes around the archdiocese he has witnessed “the real contribution” that the activities of parishes bring to building community.

“Housing estates are not changed into communities without effort and animation,” he said.

Speaking at the 200^th anniversary Mass in St Finian’s Church, Newcastle in Co. Dublin last Sunday, Archbishop Martin said the ceremony was celebrating the history of a building which has been at the “heart of the community” and which “like a healthy heart has pulsed values and solidarity, care and good neighbourliness, spirituality and faith into the wider community”.

“Today we hear much criticism of the Church. I can tell you that today the Church is alive and well and bringing to a society which seeks fundamental values the extraordinary answer which comes from the message of Jesus Christ,” he said.

“A jubilee like this inevitably means that we look back on what has been achieved but also that we look forward. The Church of the future will only win hearts and minds if it more clearly witnesses to how we live our faith and how the truth and the love of Jesus’ message is reflected in the way we live.”

Archbishop Martin said younger generations will be called to live their faith in a very different culture and atmosphere, and the challenge of the parish is to ensure that for the future, priests and people will address these challenges. 

“We have to ensure that the good which radiated from the life of the parish continues to flourish and that is translated into the language of today and tomorrow,” he said.