Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has warmly praised the work of
Catholic development agency, Trócaire, at a special Mass this week to
mark the 40th anniversary of its founding.
In his homily at St Mary’s Pro Cathedral in Dublin on Monday, the
Archbishop described Trócaire as “a fruit of the renewal of the Church
in Ireland in the immediate aftermath of the Second Vatican Council.”
Discussing the role of a Catholic agency, he said that even when it
is working alongside others and is receiving aid from governments and
international organisations, it can never renounce its Catholic identity
and fail to bring to the debate on development the fundamental vision
of the human person and the human family which springs from its
Christian inspiration.
Referring to Pope Benedict’s Encyclical Deus Caritas Est, he
noted that it stressed the centrality of witnessing to the love of
Jesus Christ in the activity of all Catholic organisations.
He recalled the Pope Emeritus’ warning that, “This love does not
simply offer people material help, but refreshment and care for their
souls, something which often is even more necessary than material
support.”
He added, “In the end, the claim that just social structures would
make works of charity superfluous masks a materialist conception of man:
the mistaken notion that man can live ‘by bread alone’ a conviction
that demeans man and ultimately disregards all that is specifically
human.”
Elsewhere in his homily, Archbishop Martin recalled that in the
aftermath of the Second Vatican Council and especially with the
publication of Pope Paul VI’s Encyclical Populorum Progressio,
the Bishops of Ireland felt that, alongside their support for missionary
activity, there was a place for the Catholics of Ireland to have their
own international development agency, like those which existed in many
other European countries.
“Trócaire has been a beacon of the care and mercy and support of the
Irish Catholic community for development and disaster relief for forty
year now. Many people around the world place their hopes and trust in
the work of Trócaire, as a reliable and honest partner,” he commented.
He said the agency was an inspired idea and over the past 40 years it
had lived up to its inspiration. “It has become a household name not
just in Catholic homes, but as part of Irish national public discourse
and indeed worldwide. Every child knows what Trócaire is about. The
term Trócaire Box has earned a place, one could say, almost in The New Oxford Dictionary,” the Archbishop said.
But he also stressed that Trócaire’s success is due to the generosity
of Irish Catholics who have risen again and again generously to support
Trócaire in its every day work and in response to emergency appeals.
But he also sounded a note of realism, saying, “Like every
development agency Trócaire has to admit to failure. I do not mean this
in terms of blame, but in terms of the sad reality that despite best
efforts and best practice the challenges of development still remain.
Despite all analysis and identification of the concrete measures needed
to be taken, for example, the UN Millennium Development Goals will not
be universally attained.”
The Archbishop also paid tribute to Irish missionaries who have had
and have a remarkable tradition of responding to broad human needs,
especially in education and health and community development.
“Irish missionaries have at times been the strongest and most reliable partners of Trócaire and supporters of its aim,” he said.