Clerical Whispers

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Pope gives palliums to archbishops, says church's mission is to unite

The mission of the Catholic Church is to overcome the divisions of the world and bring God's healing power, love and peace to all people, Pope Benedict XVI told new archbishops from more than 30 countries.

The permanent mission of St. Peter and his successors is that the church "never be identified with only one nation, only one culture or only one state. That it always be the church of all people," the pope said June 29 during Mass in St. Peter's Basilica for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the patron saints of Rome.

An Orthodox delegation led by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople also attended the Mass. Each year the pope and the patriarch normally send official delegations to the feast day celebrations of each other's patron saints.

During the Mass, the pope gave the archbishops named within the previous year a pallium, a circular band of white wool marked with six black crosses. The pallium symbolizes an archbishop's authority and unity with the pope.

The pope and archbishops were dressed in red vestments. The pope did not wear the longer, more traditional style of pallium he had reintroduced after his installation as bishop of Rome in 2005.

Instead he wore a pallium similar to the kind worn by his predecessors -- a closed circular wool band with a foot-long strip hanging from the center down the front and the back with six red crosses.

The 40 archbishops, who concelebrated the Mass with the pope, included U.S. Archbishops Edwin F. O'Brien of Baltimore, John C. Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis and Thomas J. Rodi of Mobile, Ala.; and Canadian Archbishops Anthony Mancini of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Martin Currie of Saint John's, Newfoundland.

Two archbishops, who were unable to travel to Rome, will receive their palliums from the Vatican nuncios in their home countries.

Before the Mass, the pope greeted Patriarch Bartholomew and a six-member Orthodox delegation at the entrance of St. Peter's Basilica.

The patriarch said he made the trip to Rome to help celebrate the opening of the Pauline jubilee year June 28 and to "reciprocate the honor and love" shown by Pope Benedict when he visited Constantinople in 2006 to celebrate the November feast day of St. Andrew, the patron saint of Constantinople.

Seated alongside each other in front of the basilica's main altar, the pope and the patriarch both delivered homilies and recited together the Nicene Creed in Greek as it is used in the liturgy of the Byzantine churches. The two leaders also blessed the faithful -- the pope in Latin and the patriarch in Greek.

At the end of the Mass, Pope Benedict and Patriarch Bartholomew descended the stairs under the basilica's main altar to pray together at the tomb of St. Peter.

In his homily, Patriarch Bartholomew said despite the "the notable difficulties" between the two churches the Orthodox church is praying that these problems may be overcome "as quickly as possible" so glory may be given to God.

Pope Benedict, in his homily, said the unity of the church is needed to help heal a divided world.

Because of globalization and new technologies, people can more easily be linked to one another; but this superficial unity is based on "material things, (and) we are in greater need of inner unity that comes from God's peace," he said.

The world needs "the unity of all people who through Jesus Christ have become brothers and sisters," the pope said.

Archbishop Nienstedt said after the ceremony that the patriarch's presence "was a very symbolic gesture" which was borne out of the hard work of Pope John Paul II establishing closer relations with the Orthodox church.

"I think Pope Benedict XVI is reaping the harvest of those efforts" and the patriarch's participation at the Mass brings the churches "one step closer to that unity for which Christ prayed," he said.

"That they all might be one" is his own episcopal motto, the archbishop said, and ever since he was a bishop his prayer has been for greater unity in the church, among the churches and in the world.

In his homily, the pope said Sts. Peter and Paul became brothers through their martyrdom in Rome and together they became "the founders of the new Christian Rome" and a new kind of city.

He said true hope for humanity lies in this new city, which "must be continually created anew in the midst of the old human city, which remains threatened by the opposing forces of sin and egoism."

St. Paul's mission was to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth, the pope said, but the apostle came to Rome because he saw it as part of the universality and catholicity of his mission.

The apostle saw that "Rome must make the faith visible to the whole world; it must be the place of encounter in the one faith," the pope said. St. Peter's mission was to create unity in this catholicity, he said.

His permanent task and that of his successors is to "unite humanity beyond every border and, in the midst of the divisions of this world, make present God's peace, the reconciling power of his love," Pope Benedict said.

When the pope gave the Eucharist, communicants knelt and received the Eucharist on their tongues.

Before the eucharistic liturgy, the pope blessed and placed the pallium over the shoulders of each archbishop as they knelt individually before him.

"The pallium becomes a symbol of our love for the shepherd, Christ," and reminds those who wear it to love all people as Jesus does, the pope said. The pallium also symbolizes collegiality and unity among the world's archbishops and with the pope, he said.

After the ceremony, Archbishop Rodi said "it was such a moving day to have the patriarch present" and "to share a very special day with my brother archbishops who are all part of the family of God throughout the whole church."

He said it was a "special privilege" to be able to tell the pope during the brief exchange they had when he received his pallium that the Archdiocese of Mobile was praying for the pope.

Archbishop Currie said receiving the pallium "was very emotional" because he could feel "a bond and feel bonded to the pope, a closeness" that he found to be very moving.

He said he had the joy of being accompanied to Rome by friends and family members including his 87-year-old mother who told him the ceremony was "the next best thing to God."

Archbishop Currie said his mother was going to meet the pope after a June 30 audience with archbishops and pilgrims.

"She's all excited and wants to know: 'What do I say? What do I do?' I told her to just be yourself," he said.
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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

Papal Homily for Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul

Here is a translation of Benedict XVI's homily for the Mass celebrated in St. Peter's Square on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, which was Sunday. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I was present at the ceremony.

At vespers on Saturday, the Pope inaugurated the Pauline Jubilee Year, which ends June 29, 2009.

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Your Holiness and fraternal Delegates,Lord Cardinals, Venerable brothers in the episcopate and priesthood, Dear brothers and sisters

From the earliest times, the Church of Rome has celebrated the solemnity of the great apostles Peter and Paul as a single feast on the same day, June 29. Through their martyrdom, they became brothers; together, they are the founders of the new Christian Rome. They are sung of as such in the hymn of the second vespers, which goes back to Paulinus of Aquileia (+806): "O Roma felix -- Oh happy Rome, adorned with the crimson of the precious blood of such great princes, you surpass every beauty of the world, not by your own merit, but trough the merit of the saints whom you have killed with bloody sword". The blood of martyrs does not call for revenge -- but reconciles. It does not present itself as an accusation but as a "golden light," according to the words of the hymn of the first vespers. It presents itself as the power of love which overcomes hate and violence, founding, in this way, a new city, a new community.

By their martyrdom, they -- Peter and Paul -- are now part of Rome. Through martyrdom, even Peter became a Roman citizen forever. Through their martyrdom, through their faith and their love, the two apostles show us where true hope lies, and are the founders of a new kind of city, which must again and again form itself in the midst of the old city of man, which continues to be threatened by the opposing forces of the sin and egotism of men.

By virtue of their martyrdom, Peter and Paul are in reciprocal relationship forever. A favorite image of Christian iconography is the embrace of the two apostles on the way to martyrdom. We can say that their martyrdom itself, in its deepest reality, is the realization of a fraternal embrace. They die for the one Christ and, in the witness for which they give their lives, they are one. In the writings of the New Testament, we can, so to speak, follow the development of their embrace, this unity in witness and in mission.

Everything starts when Paul, three years after his conversion, goes to Jerusalem "to consult Cephas" (Galatians 1:18). Fourteen years later, he again goes up to Jerusalem to explain "to the most esteemed persons" the Gospel that he preaches in order so that he might not run the risk of "running, or having run, in vain" (Galatians 2:1f). At the end of this meeting, James, Cephas and John give him their right hands, thus confirming the communion that unites them in the one Gospel of Jesus Christ (Gal 2:9). A beautiful sign of this growing interior embrace, which develops despite the difference in temperaments and in tasks, I find in the fact that the co-workers mentioned at the end of the First Letter of St. Peter -- Silvanus and Mark -- were equally close co-workers of St. Paul. This having of the same co-workers makes the communion of the one Church, the embrace of the great apostles, visible in a very concrete way.

Peter and Paul met each other at least twice in Jerusalem; at the end their paths take them to Rome. Why? Was this perhaps more than just pure chance? Is there perhaps a lasting message in it? Paul arrived in Rome as a prisoner, but at the same time as a Roman citizen who, after his arrest in Jerusalem, as a Roman citizen appealed to the emperor, to whose tribunal he was brought. But in a more profound sense, Paul came to Rome voluntarily. Through the most important of his letters, he had already drawn close to this city interiorly: to the Church in Rome, he had addressed the writing which, more than any other, is the synthesis of his whole proclamation and his faith. In the opening salutation of the letter, he says that the whole world speaks of the faith of the Christians of Rome and that this faith, therefore, was known everywhere as exemplary (Romans 1:8). And then he writes: "I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you, though I was prevented until now" (1:13). At the end of the letter he comes back to this theme, now speaking of a plan to travel to Spain. "When I go to Spain I hope to see you when I pass through and to be helped by you on my way to that region, after having enjoyed your presence for a little while" (15:24). "And I know that, having come to you, I shall come in the fullness of Christ's blessing" (15:29). There are two things made evident here: Rome is for Paul a stage on the way to Spain, that is -- according to his conception of the world -- towards the extreme end of the earth. He considers his mission to be the fulfillment of the task received from Christ, the bringing of the Gospel to the very ends of the world. Rome is along this route. While Paul usually only goes to places where the Gospel had not yet been announced, Rome is an exception. There he finds a Church whose faith the world speaks about. Going to Rome is part of the universality of his mission as one sent to all peoples. The way to Rome, which, already before his external trip, he had traveled interiorly with his letter, is an integral part of his task of bringing the Gospel to all peoples -- of founding the Church, catholic and universal. Going to Rome is for him the expression of his mission's catholicity. Rome must make the faith visible to the whole world, it must be the meeting place in the one faith.

But why did Peter go to Rome? About this the New Testament does not say anything directly. But it gives us some indication. The Gospel of St. Mark, which we may consider a reflection of the preaching of St. Peter, is intimately oriented towards the moment when the Roman centurion, facing the death of Christ on the cross, says, "Truly this man was the Son of God!" (15:39). At the cross the mystery of Jesus Christ is revealed. Beneath the Cross the Church of the gentiles is born: the centurion of the Roman execution squad recognizes the Son of God in Christ. The Acts of the Apostles describe the episode of Cornelius, the centurion of the Italic cohort, as a decisive stage for the entrance of the Gospel into the pagan world. Following a command of God, he sends someone to get Peter, and Peter, also following a divine order, goes to the centurion's house and preaches. While he is speaking, the Holy Spirit descends on the gathered domestic community and Peter says: "Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people, who have received the holy Spirit even as we have?" (Acts 10:47).

Thus, in the Council of the Apostles, Peter becomes the intercessor for the Church of the pagans who do not need the Law because God "has purified their hearts with faith" (Acts 15:9). Certainly, in the Letter to the Galatians, Paul says that God gave strength to Peter for the apostolic ministry among the circumcised, and to Paul himself, the ministry among the pagans instead (Gal 2:8). But this assignment could be in force only as long as Peter remained with the 12 in Jerusalem in the hope that all of Israel would adhere to Christ. In the face of later developments, the 12 recognized the time in which they too must go forth into the world to announce the Gospel to it. Peter who, following divine order, had been the first to open the door to pagans, now leaves the leadership of the Christian-Jewish Church to James the Less, in order to dedicate himself to his true mission: to the ministry of the unity of the one Church of God made up of Jews as well as pagans. The desire of Paul to go to Rome highlights above all, as we have seen, the word "catholica" ["catholic"] among the characteristics of the Church.

St. Peter's journey to Rome, as representative of the peoples of the world, is above all associated with the word "una" ["one"]: he has the task of creating the "unity" of the "catholica," of the Church made up of Jews and pagans, the Church of all peoples. And this is the permanent mission of Peter: to make sure that the Church never identifies herself with any one nation, any one culture or any one state. That it may always be the Church of all. That it may unite mankind beyond every frontier and, amidst the divisions of this world, make God's peace present, the reconciling power of his love. Due to technology that is now the same everywhere, due to the global information network, and due also to the linking of common interests, there are new modes of unity in the world, which have caused the explosion of new oppositions and given new impetus to old ones. In the midst of this external unity, based on material things, we have all the more need of interior unity which comes from the peace of God - the unity of all those who, through Jesus Christ, have become brothers and sisters. This is the permanent mission of Peter, as well as the special task entrusted to the Church of Rome.

Dear confreres in the Episcopate! I wish now to address those of you who have come to Rome to receive the pallium as the symbol of your rank and your responsibility as archbishops in the Church of Jesus Christ. The pallium is woven from the wool of the sheep that the Bishop of Rome blesses every year on the Feast of Peter's Chair, thus setting them apart, so to speak, to be a symbol for the flock of Christ, over which you preside.

When we put the pallium on our shoulders, this gesture reminds us of the Shepherd who puts the lost sheep upon his shoulders -- the lost sheep who by himself can no longer find the way home -- and takes him back to the sheepfold. The Fathers of the Church saw in this sheep the image of all mankind, of human nature in its entirety, which is lost its and can no longer find the way home. The Shepherd who takes the sheep home can only be the Logos, the eternal Word of God himself. In the Incarnation, he placed us all -- the sheep who is man -- on his shoulders. He, the eternal Word, the true Shepherd of mankind, carries us; in his humanity he carries each of us on his shoulders. On the way of the Cross, he carried us home, he takes us home. But he also wants men who can "carry" together with him. Being a shepherd in the Church of Christ means taking part in this task, which the pallium commemorates. When we put it on, he asks us: "Will you also carry, together with me, those who belong to me? Will you bring them to me, to Jesus Christ?" What comes to mind next is the order Peter received from the Risen Christ, who links the command, "Feed my sheep" inseparably with the question, "Do you love me? Do you love me more than others do?" Every time we put on the pallium of the shepherd of Christ's flock, we should hear this question, "Do you love me?" and we must ask ourselves about that "more" of love that he expects from the shepherd.

Thus the pallium becomes a symbol of our love for the Shepherd Christ and our loving together with him -- it becomes the symbol of the calling to love men as he does, together with him: those who are searching, those who have questions, those who are self-assured and the humble, the simple and the great; it becomes the symbol of the calling to love all of them with the strength of Christ and in view of Christ, so that they may find him, and in him, find themselves. But the pallium which you will receive "from" the tomb of Peter has yet another meaning, inseparably connected with the first. To understand this, a word from the First Letter of St. Peter may help us. In his exhortation to priests to feed the flock in the correct way, St. Peter calls himself a "synpresbýteros" -- co-priest (5:1). This formula implicitly contains the affirmation of the principle of apostolic succession: the shepherds who follow are shepherds like him; together with him, they belong to the common ministry of the shepherds of the Church of Jesus Christ, a ministry that continues in them. But this "co-" (in co-priest) has still two other meanings. It also expresses the reality that we indicate today by what is said today about the "collegiality" of bishops. We are all "co-priests." No one is a shepherd by himself. We are in the succession of the apostles thanks only to being in the communion of the college in which the college of apostles finds its continuation. The communion -- the "we" -- of the shepherds is part of being shepherds, because there is only one flock, the one Church of Jesus Christ. Finally, this "co-" also refers to communion with Peter and his successor as a guarantee of unity. Thus, the pallium speaks to us of the catholicity of the Church, of the universal communion of shepherd and flock. And it refers us to apostolicity: to communion with the faith of the apostles on which the Church is founded. It speaks to us of the "ecclesia" that is "una," "catholica," "apostolic," and naturally, binding us to Christ, it speaks to us of the fact that the Church is "sancta" us that the Church is holy, and that our work is a service of this holiness.

This brings me back, finally, to St. Paul and his mission. He expressed the essence of his mission, as well as the most profound reason for his desire to go to Rome, in Chapter 15 of the Letter to the Romans, in an extraordinarily beautiful passage. He knows he has been called "to be a 'leitourgos' of Christ Jesus for the Gentiles, serving the Gospel of God as a priest, so that the pagans become an acceptable offering, sanctified by the holy Spirit" (15:16). Only in this passage does Paul use the word "hierourgein" -- serving as a priest -- together with "leitourgos" -- liturgist: he speaks of the cosmic liturgy, in which the world of men itself must become worship of God, an offering in the Holy Spirit. When the whole world will have become the liturgy of God, when in its reality it will have become adoration, then it will have reached its goal, then it will be whole and saved. And this is the ultimate objective of St. Paul's apostolic mission and of ours. It is to such a mystery that the Lord calls us. Let us pray in this hour that he may help us carry it out in the right way, to become true liturgists of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

Patriarch's Homily for Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul

Here is a translation of the homily from Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I for the Mass celebrated in St. Peter's Square on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, which was Sunday.

At vespers on Saturday, Benedict XVI inaugurated the Pauline Jubilee Year, which ends June 29, 2009.

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The Holy Father's Introduction to the Patriarch's Homily

Brothers and Sisters,

The great feast of Saints Peter and Paul -- patrons of this Church of Rome and, together with the other apostles, pillars of the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church -- brings to us every year the welcome presence of a fraternal delegation of the Church of Constantinople which, this year, because of the opening of the "Pauline Year," is led by the Patriarch himself, His Holiness Bartholomew I. I address my cordial greeting to him as I express my joy of once again having the happy opportunity of exchanging the kiss of peace with him in the common hope of seeing the coming of the day of "unitatis redintegratio" -- the day of full communion between us.

I also greet the members of the patriarchal delegation, the representatives of the Churches and ecclesial communities, who honor us with their presence, offering with this presence a sign of the will to intensify the movement toward the full unity of the disciples of Christ. We dispose ourselves now to listen to the reflections of His Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch, words that we desire to receive with an open heart because they come from our dearly beloved brother in the Lord.

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Homily of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I

Your Holiness,

Having again experienced, in November 2006, the joy and emotion of the personal and blessed participation of Your Holiness in the patronal feast of Constantinople, the commemoration of the St. Andrew the Apostle, the First Called, I set out "with a joyous step" from Fener in the New Rome, to come to you to participate in your joy in the patronal feast of Old Rome. And we have come to you "with the fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ" (Romans 15:29), returning the honor and love, celebrating with our beloved brother in the land of the West, "the certain and inspired heralds, the coryphaei of the disciples of the Lord," the holy apostles Peter, brother of Andrew, and Paul -- these two great, central pillars of the whole Church stretched out toward heaven, which, in this historic city, also offered the ultimate shining confession of Christ and gave their souls to the Lord here through martyrdom, one on the cross and the other by the sword, and thus sanctified this city.

We greet, with the deepest and most devoted love, on the part of the Most Holy Church of Constantinople and her children throughout the world, You Holiness, desired brother, wishing from the heart "those who live in Rome beloved of God" (Romans 1:7), good health, peace, prosperity and progress day and night toward salvation "fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, joyful in hope, strong in tribulation, steadfast in prayer" (Romans 12:11-12).

In both Churches, Your Holiness, we duly honor and greatly venerate Peter -- he who made his salvific confession of the divinity of Christ, as much as Paul -- the vessel of election, who proclaimed this confession and faith to the ends of the universe in the midst of the most unimaginable difficulties and dangers. Since the year of salvation 258 we have celebrated their memory in the West and in the East on June 29. In the East we also prepare for this feast by a fast observed in their honor on the preceding days, following a tradition of the ancient Church. To strongly emphasize their equal importance, but also their weight in the Church and her regenerative and salvific work through the centuries, the East honors them in an icon in which they either hold a little ship in their hands, which symbolizes the Church, or they embrace and exchange the kiss in Christ.

It is indeed this kiss that we have come to exchange with you, Your Holiness, emphasizing the ardent desire and love in Christ, things which are closely related to each other.

The theological dialogue between our Churches "in faith, truth and love," thanks to divine help, goes forward despite the considerable difficulties that exist and the well-known problems. We truly desire and fervently pray that these difficulties will be overcome and that the problems will disappear as soon as possible so that we may reach the desired final goal for the glory of God.

We know well that this is your desire too, as we also are certain that Your Holiness will neglect nothing, personally working, together with your illustrious collaborators, through a perfect smoothing of the way, toward a positive fulfillment of the labors of dialogue, God willing.

Your Holiness, we too have proclaimed the year 2008 "Year of the Apostle Paul" on the 2,000 anniversary of the great apostle's birth. In regard to the events of the anniversary celebration, in which we have also venerated the precise place of the St. Paul's martyrdom, we are planning, among others things, a sacred pilgrimage to some of the monuments of the apostolic activity of the apostle in the East: Ephesus, Perge, and other cities in Asia Minor, but also Rhodes and Crete, the places called "good ports." Be assured, Your Holiness, that on this sacred journey, you too will be present, walking with us in spirit, and that in each place we will offer up an ardent prayer for you and our brothers of the venerable Roman Catholic Church, fervently asking the divine Paul's intercession with the Lord for you.

And now, venerating the sufferings and the cross of Peter and embracing Paul's chains and stigmata, honoring the confession and martyrdom and the venerable death of both for the name of the Lord, which truly leads to Life, we glorify the Thrice-Holy God and we supplicate him, so that through the intercession of Saints Peter and Paul, who are his protocoryphaei and apostles, he will, here below, grant us and all his children of the Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Church throughout the world "union of faith and communion in the Spirit" in the "bond of peace" and there above eternal life and great mercy. Amen.
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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

What happened to the boy they couldn't break?

The cruelty inflicted on boys in industrial schools is perhaps the darkest stain on our history since independence.

Boys, who were frequently incarcerated at the schools simply because they were orphans, were routinely flogged naked, and many were sexually abused by Christian Brothers.

Those in powerful positions in the Catholic church and in government turned a blind eye to the evils inflicted in institutions that have been aptly described as the "Irish gulags''.

Back in the early 1990s, Patrick Touher helped to expose this scandalous abuse with his account of life in Artane Industrial School, Fear of the Collar.

The book became a bestseller in Britain, with Patrick characterised as "the boy they couldn't break''.

Now Patrick has written a follow-up, revealing the full story of his life. Scars that Run Deep tells how Patrick struggled to adjust to life after Artane, and also explores some of the terrifying episodes in his boyhood, including how he was seized and taken away from his foster family to become a virtual prisoner in the industrial school.

Patrick, now a widower, welcomed me warmly at his home in Balbriggan, picking me up at the train station. He proudly showed off pictures of his family, including his late wife, Pauline.

These are ordinary mementoes of family life. How he managed to turn his life around after years of abuse in Artane is itself something of a minor miracle.

Patrick, an orphan, was living in a whitewashed cottage with a foster family, the Doyles, at Barnacullia on the edge of Dublin. He was just approaching his eighth birthday when his life was suddenly turned upside down. As Patrick puts it, "it was never explained to me who I really was''.

And it was not explained why one day, the Gardai arrived to take him away.

"On the evening before we saw a big black car in the area and we were very excited. Little did I know that the car would come on the following morning.''

Patrick was told he was going somewhere, but he did not know where. Decked out in a new suit and shoes, he was told by a tall Garda, "Come with me son," and then he was taken away.

Driven to a courthouse in Kilmainham, he was told by a judge: "I am sending you to Artane Industrial School.''

"As far as I knew the Doyles were my family, but suddenly I was treated like a criminal. When I arrived in Artane, I was given a serial number 12928, which was stamped on my shoes and clothes.''

At Artane boys were flogged for the most minor misdemeanours. They were whipped for being among the last boys into the washroom, or wetting the bed.

"As we stood there we'd be beaten across our naked bottoms, six of the best with their iron-hard leathers.''

Early on, in his period in Artane, he saw a boy being beaten 365 times with a hurley stick -- once for every day of the year. He was then taken down to the infirmary.

Patrick was first sexually abused by two brothers in his first year and this continued sporadically until his release.

"I was sometimes abused, often hungry and always scared. I had nightmares and I would walk in my sleep.''

Despite the suffering which he endured, Patrick is even-handed in his descriptions of the Brothers.

"For the most part, the vast majority of the Christian Brothers were of good stock. There were good men who were not so hard to us kids in care. But there were also the sadists and paedophiles.''

After he stepped out of the gates of Artane for the last time as a 16-year-old, Patrick did not know where he was going. He got a bus into the centre of Dublin and arrived in O'Connell Street, not even knowing where he would stay.

A Garda pointed him to the Catholic Boys' Home, a halfway house for boys who had left school, but had no homes to go to.

Going from Artane into the Catholic Boys' Home was like stepping out of the frying pan into the fire. It was a tough, unruly place, where sexual abuse was also rife. The only difference was that the abuse and bullying were inflicted by the boys themselves on each other. He got a job with a baker in Fairview.

Patrick says it was difficult to fit in with normal life outside the institution that had dominated his life for eight years. Even after he left the boys' home and moved into digs, he struggled to adjust.

"I found it difficult to fit in at work. I couldn't relate at all to people who were not ex-Artaners, and I had no idea about girls.

"I remember I first began to feel normal when I went on holiday to the Isle of Man and I danced with English girls.

"The Brothers taught us to hate the English and they also forbade us from playing soccer, a foreign game. You could be beaten for playing soccer. It is curious that I now like English people very much and I ended up becoming a soccer referee.''

In the decade that followed his release, Patrick was a wandering spirit, moving between Dublin, England and Jersey. And he ended up boarding a Russian liner for New Zealand, where he ran a bakery for a time.

In 1972 he eventually settled down back in Ireland, marrying Pauline. They had three children together.

Patrick's life was at last on an even keel. But he still had to face his demons.

Artane Industrial School was closed in 1969, but it was many years before the abuses there were publicly exposed, most notably by Patrick himself.

In 1999, the Government set up a Commission of Inquiry to look into child sexual abuse in the semi-state boarding institutions, and he was interviewed by detectives.

He eventually received a settlement in compensation for his suffering. He is not bitter towards the Catholic Church.

In a tribute in his new book, he expresses his gratitude to Bishop Dermot O'Mahony for his help at the time of the death of his wife.

Patrick wonders how different his life would have been if he hadn't been sent away as a boy of seven. "Artane was the complete opposite of my life until then. Christian Brothers, who were charged with looking after us, in fact tormented and sexually abused us.

"We orphans, with no family to worry about us, were placed there by the state, forgotten about by society and used at the Christian Brothers' pleasure.

"But if I had stayed in Barnacullia, content and happy, would I ever have had the drive to travel, to see and live in exotic countries? Possibly not. You have to make the most of what you have been given. While Artane may have broken my body and cowed my spirit, it also instilled within me a drive to succeed, as a baker, as a family man and as a writer.''

Scars that Run Deep, is published by Ebury Press on Thursday, €8.99
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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

Bishop knew of abortion plan

The Roman Catholic bishop of Richmond was told that a diocesan charity planned to help a teenage foster child get an abortion in January and did not try to prevent the procedure.

Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo "was told erroneously that everything was in place and there was nothing he could do to stop it," said Steve Neill, Bishop DiLorenzo's communications officer.

"He is very apologetic about the whole episode."

"It is very awkward, it is very embarrassing. A human life was taken. He certainly has not taken it lightly in any way. He is clearly opposed to abortion."

Mr. Neill said the bishop was informed Jan. 17, the day before an abortion was performed on the 16-year-old Guatemalan girl, who was a foster care client of Commonwealth Catholic Charities of Richmond (CCR), a group incorporated under the diocese.

CCR Executive Director Joanne Nattrass also knew about the planned abortion, Mr. Neill said.

"The director was very upset about it and it clearly went against all she stood for as a director of Catholic Charities," he said.

After The Washington Times revealed the abortion on June 18, Ms. Nattrass released a statement on June 19 saying the incident was "contrary to basic teachings of the Catholic Church."

Federal authorities are investigating CCR because the girl was a ward of the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement in the Department of Health and Human Services. HHS had contracted with CCR to take care of the girl, whose parents are not in the country.

Ms. Nattrass wrote that neither CCR nor diocesan funds paid for the abortion but did not say who did. Federal law forbids any federal funds to be used.

Ms. Nattrass' statement also said a CCR staff member signed the consent form necessary for a minor to have an abortion, even though Virginia law mandates parental consent for anyone younger than 18.

Martin Tucker, a spokesman for the Virginia attorney general's office, would not say whether a state investigation is under way.

After HHS officials learned of the abortion, they complained about the incident on April 23 to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), a parent agency to Catholic Charities.

Bill Etherington, an attorney for the diocese and CCR, said Bishop DiLorenzo was given bad information about whether the abortion could be prevented, but didn't elaborate as to how.

"He was told it could not be stopped," Mr. Etherington said. "It was erroneous information. He didn't have to sign off on it. He was not personally involved."

He added, without elaborating, that the underage abortion did not violate state law.

After learning of the federal investigation, Bishop DiLorenzo and two other bishops issued an April 29 letter to the nation's 350 Catholic bishops detailing the botched management decisions that led to the abortion.

"He wrote the letter with the intent that word was going to get out and they should be notified of the circumstances," Mr. Neill said.

Four CCR employees were fired over the incident, and one USCCB official who worked with its office of Migration and Refugee Services was suspended.

"They were so caught up with the plight of the young girl who already had a child," Mr. Neill said. "She was not a Catholic. She got pregnant by her boyfriend, and she was determined not to have the baby."

The unnamed girl had been implanted with a contraceptive device provided by CCR two months earlier, according to the April 29 letter. Catholic doctrine condemns deliberate abortion and the use of contraception as mortal sins. Those who obtain an abortion or help someone else to do so can be excommunicated.

In this case, it was a volunteer, not CCR staff, who drove the girl to the abortion clinic, Mr. Neill said. CCR staff will be having "ongoing formation and education" regarding church teaching on the matter, he added.

The USCCB has refused to comment. A spokeswoman said the matter was a "personnel issue."
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Reality TV priests win cult following

The French Catholic Church has broken new ground in reality TV with a hit internet show about the everyday lives of priests.

Prêtres Academy - Priests Academy – in which online viewers follow the daily, relatively mundane, lives of three priests – has won a cult following, with more than 200,000 viewing the first three episodes.

The diocese of Besançon in eastern France launched the show to mark its first ordination of a local seminarian in three years, and as a recruiting tool as the church battles to replace the 500 priests who die or retire each year in France.

Currently, the country averages only 100 ordinations each year.

In each five-minute episode, viewers follow Father Franck Ruffiot, 30, as he prays, takes to the confessional box, cooks or visits friends.

Two older priests, Father Michel and Father Christophe, are also seen jogging or celebrating a Christening.

The music and credits are taken directly from a show like Star Academy, except that the show's trademark star has been replaced by a crucifix. However, nobody is eliminated and there is no jury.

Romain Marengo, heads of communications at the Besançon diocese, said the show's aim was to "give a positive spin" and to "fight against clichés" regarding the lives of today's priests.

Father Michel, 48, said he had agreed to participate, not to "play the clown" but to show that priests are "not out of touch but in the real world."

Describing himself as an "anti-star," he said he did not expect the show to "draw hundreds of guys to the seminary".

"But even we reach a couple it will have been worth it," he added.

The Vatican has given its approval to the initiative.
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Kansas priest could be named a saint

The Catholic Church began a special investigation into the life of Kansas priest Emil Kapaun who died as a Korean War hero and could be named a saint.

A ceremony at a tiny church in Pilsen, Kansas, where Kapaun was raised and began his priesthood, will reach all the way to Rome.

With a representative from the Vatican on hand, Catholic Church leaders officially began the same process for sainthood that is now considering Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II.

"So we investigate his entire life from the point of birth to the point of death to see if that sanctity was maintained, to see if we can honestly say he's with God in heaven,” said Reverend John Hotze with the Catholic Diocese of Wichita.

Many Kansans only know Emil Kapaun from the Wichita high school that bears his name. He became a priest in 1940, serving as an army chaplain in World War II and the Korean War, where he won a medal for heroism. Soon after, he was taken prisoner and risked his life countless times to save his fellow soldiers.

"Working to provide food and water, bathing the sick, ministering to the dying, saying prayers, preaching hope,” said Bishop Michael Jackels with the Catholic Diocese of Wichita.

Emil Kapaun died at a prison camp at the young age of 35. There is still debate over whether he died of starvation or pneumonia and the search continues to this day for his unmarked grave.

But some of the soldiers he helped to survive will testify to his sainthood; men of all faiths -- some not religious at all.

"I suppose he'd be very honored, and then he'd say, 'aw shucks,’” said Eugene and Helen Kapaun, Emil’s brother and sister-in-law.

The church must also verify at least two miracles by Emil Kapaun and the process can take years. But if he is named a saint, Kapaun would make history as one of the few American-born.

Emil Kapaun: a Kansas farm boy to the end whose humble roots inspired the highest calling. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

Cardinal Urosa rejects the Reformed Catholic Church

Caracas Archbishop, Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, rejected the creation of the Reformed Catholic Church in Venezuela, whose representatives were introduced last week as in line with the Bolivarian socialism of President Hugo Chávez.

Urosa branded the group as "an irregular association."

He described the Reformed Catholic Church as a mess, "because it comprises Lutherans, different Christians, and some Catholic priests who were in a poor canonical position," Urosa warned on Sunday.

"This cannot be deemed a Church, as the Catholic priests who took part in the organization of this new association are actually schismatic and therefore they are excommunicated."

"There is one single Church and one single faith, namely the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, which is conveyed by the holy Catholic Church," he added.
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Priest’s tribunal postponed

An employment tribunal hearing into Monsignor Joe Creegan’s controversial dismissal as a priest in Dundee has been postponed.

The pre-hearing debate was due to take place today, however lawyers acting for both parties had indicated they required further time to prepare their cases.

The parties will now be written to with a new date for the hearing, which a spokesperson for the tribunals office said is expected to be put down for three days.

Monsignor Creegan was sacked after having an 18-year affair with a married woman and is suing the Catholic Church for unfair dismissal.

The former parish priest of St Peter and St Paul’s Church was stripped of his priestly duties by Bishop Vincent Logan of Dunkeld in January after his long-term mistress gave “evidence” of the affair to the diocese.

It is believed the diocese may settle out of court to avoid further damaging claims about Creegan’s tenure with the Catholic Church in Dundee being aired in public.

His 62-year-old long-term mistress confessed to the affair after details of his illicit relationship with a second woman came to light.

The priest became close to the 48-year-old after she and her former husband went to him for guidance when their 23-year marriage began to break down.

Creegan has denied his relationship with the woman is anything other than platonic despite the fact they now share a joint mortgage on a £300,000 house in Balmerino.

Monsignor Creegan’s case has parallels with that of Angus Church of Scotland minister Helen Percy, who was suspended from her post as an associate minister for six glen parishes in the Presbytery of Angus in 1997, after being accused of having an affair with a married elder.

She subsequently resigned and went to an employment tribunal, which ruled they could not hear her case because her employment was essentially spiritual and not covered by civil law. That decision was overturned in 2005 by Law Lords in London, prompting the Church of Scotland to settle the case for £10,000.

A spokeswoman for the Diocese of Dunkeld said, “As proceedings have started the diocese feels it is inappropriate to comment at this time.”
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Catholic protest could cost you $5500 fine

Any attacks or protests against the Catholic Church or it's World Youth Day event could cost you a whopping fine or arrest.

The laws, which will operate until the end of July, allow police to request protesters to cease any activity, including wearing dissenting T-Shirts, riding a skateboard or playing music.

Under the laws, police will be able to request anybody to stop their protest or action against the event.

The laws are designed to stop people from "causing annoyance".

The laws have since been slammed as a harsh infringement of human rights and have put the State Government's priorities under serious question.

"If someone flashes a WYD participant they will face a $1100 penalty but if they wear an anti-Catholic T-shirt they could face a $5500 penalty," Greens MP Lee Rhiannon is quoted as saying.

The new laws will be in effect for the World Youth Day event, due to be hosted this month in Sydney.

Critics say the laws are even stronger than those during last September's APEC event.

The new laws apply around areas of World Youth Day activity, including Randwick Racecourse and Darling Harbour.

Police will also be able to subject members of the public to random searches, including with the use of force.

"Reasonable force may be used to effect the person's exclusion," the laws state.

The Catholic Church will receive hundreds of millions of dollars in public funding for the event.
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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

Threat to sue Canberra Marist teachers

A Canberra law firm has lodged papers in the ACT Supreme Court seeking a list of former principals, deputy principals and senior teachers at Marist College following the conviction on abuse charges of a former teacher at the school.

Porters Lawyers, representing more than 30 former students of Marist College in Canberra have mounted a potentially explosive action to sue dozens of individual teachers, after the Catholic order indicated it might use a legal loophole to escape liability for alleged sexual abuse.

The firm last week filed papers in the ACT Supreme Court seeking the names of former principals, deputy principals and senior teachers who worked at the private Catholic school from 1970 to 1994.

It claims that administrators of Marist College had knowledge of sexual abuse inflicted by some teachers, but failed to act.

Porters Lawyers' move follows a press release issued by Br Alexis Turton for the Marist order on Monday, the day that former Marist College teacher John William Chute, known as Br Kostka, was jailed for two years for the sexual abuse of six students.

"The Marist Brothers are determined to right the wrongs of the past," Br Alexis said.

He encouraged victims to go through the private mediation process established by the Catholic Church known as Towards Healing, rather than legal action.

He said: "What is at issue in the current actions in the ACT Supreme Court is whether it is appropriate to sue the particular legal entity named in the suit, given earlier court decisions involving other Church bodies."

A lawyer involved in the case said it was clear the Marists planned to rely on a NSW Court of Appeal decision known as the Ellis case in which the Church successfully obtained a judgment that priests were not agents of the Church and therefore it could not be sued for their actions.

The solicitor representing Marist Brothers, Howard Harrison, confirmed that Br Alexis was referring to the Ellis case.

Porters Lawyers said it now had no choice but to sue the senior teachers.
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Parents plump for mixed religion State-run schools

PARENTS would prefer their children to attend State-run primary schools open to all religions rather than Church-run schools.

This startling finding from a new poll is likely to add further fuel to the debate about the future of primary education in Ireland.

It appears to contradict an earlier survey, published by the Catholic Church in April, which indicated substantial public support for Church provision of primary schools.

The latest poll was commissioned by the Irish Primary Principals Network and carried out by RedC. A total of 327 parents of children under 15 were given a series of questions about religion in primary education.

They were asked if they would prefer a school managed by and promoting the faith of a particular religion or a school managed by the state with equal status and opportunity for all religions.

They voted three to one in favour of the State option.

Although the sample was relatively small, both the pollsters and IPPN insist it was representative.

IPPN said it was an endorsement of the Department of Education's decision to open two community national schools which will be run by the Co Dublin Vocational Education Committee.

Discussion

"There has been a lot of discussion about the place of religion in our primary schools. Much of this comes from those with an established ideological position," said Sean Cottrell, national director of IPPN.

"Every day, in schools throughout the country, it is parents and principals who have to work together to plan and resolve the practical issues that arise out of religious difference, such as enrolment, withdrawal from religion classes and preparation for religious events".

The latest poll also shows that parents want less time spent on the teaching of religion in primary schools and more time on other activities such as PE. At present two-and-a-half hours each week is devoted in primary schools to religion.

But the poll finds that only two out of five (43pc) want this retain this amount of time devoted to religion each week.

"However, this means that over half of all adults in Ireland with children under the age of 15 would like to see some of this time re-allocated to other activities" said Mr Cottrell.

In contrast with this apparent move away from religious education in schools, over half of all parents (56pc) believe that religious instruction and the preparation for Sacraments should be taught by the class teacher during school hours.

The survey was conducted between June 9 and June 11.

IPPN president Larry Fleming said: "We believe it is important that IPPN learns independently, what parents actually think and feel about the role of the religious in school management."
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Clergymen to be honoured for NI role

Two clergymen who witnessed the decommissioning of IRA weapons will be honoured this week for their role in the key chapter of the Northern Ireland peace process.

Rev Harold Good and Father Alec Reid are to receive honorary degrees at Queen’s University Belfast’s Centenary graduation ceremonies on Thursday.

In 2005 Rev Good and Fr Reid witnessed the secret destruction of the Provisional IRA’s arsenal. According to Fr Reid, the IRA's final decommissioning acts occurred at "nine different places", over "nine days".

Fr Reid is associated with Clonard Monastery on the Falls Road from where he forged a close relationship with Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams. The Tipperary-born priest was a key backstage conduit between republicans and the Government during the crucial early years of the peace process.

The priest once famously recalled how an armed IRA member present for the decommissioning act handed over his assault rifle which Fr Reid said became the last weapon to be ‘put beyond use’.

“The man handed it over and got quite emotional,” said Fr Reid. “He was aware that this was the last gun.”

Rev Good is a former president of the Methodist Church.

He later said of the decommissioning episode: “At that time I was very much aware of those who had genuine doubts as well as those who, for their own predictable and political reasons, sought to undermine the validity of our statement.

“However, all of that was totally eclipsed by the overwhelming amount of appreciation and affirmation from across our divided community.

“Since that time, not one IRA bullet has been fired and there is growing confidence in what we declared to be a fact, even by those who expressed misgivings at the time.”

An honorary degree will also be conferred on Man Booker prize winning Irish novelist Anne Enright, while Dr Hugh Brady, President of University College Dublin, and Dr John Hegarty, Provost of Trinity College Dublin, will receive honorary doctorates.
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Priest in deportation limbo as he's forced to step down

AN Irish priest facing deportation from the US said a tearful farewell to his parishioners yesterday, while he awaits an uncertain fate.

Donegal native Father Cathal Gallagher (58), who has worked in a remote diocese in South Dakota for the past 10 years, learned from US Immigration that he was 'out of status' in May and was told he had to leave the country by July 1.

The news prompted a major campaign by members of his parish who lobbied congress representatives to have the decision reversed.

But while US immigration officials are continuing to consider whether to re-open his case for review, his bishop has issued him with notice to stand down because of the uncertainty of his status.

"I have been told because of my legal status I have to leave. For the first time in my life, I have absolutely no control over what is going to happen to me," he said.
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Disclaimer

No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.

The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.

Sotto Voce

(POSTING 8,200)

Religious group stay silent on apology

THE DIRECTORS of a controversial religious community involved in the care of people with disabilities have refused to explain the background to a public apology they published in The Irish Times.

Four directors of the Pilgrim House Community, which is funded by the Health Service Executive, placed a half-page advertisement in the paper in which they apologised to the founder of the organisation, Helena O'Leary.

In the advertisement they apologised for the damage caused by their "dishonesty" to her seven years ago and for lying about their reasons for being part of the organisation.

The advert was signed by Bridget-Anne Ryan, Conleth J Finnegan, Claudia Carvajal M and Benedict Hogan, all of whom are directors of Pilgrim House.

Bridget Anne Ryan - a former editor of The Irish Catholic - said the apology had been made in a personal capacity by each of the signatories.

She declined to be drawn on what the apology related to except that the issue attracted misleading media coverage of the organisation and ended the spiritual community which existed within the organisation.

"I don't want to say anything else today which will distract from this. I have nothing else to say except that how deeply sorry I am," she said.

"The apology relates to the fact that the Pilgrim House Community no longer exists. It ended seven years ago. What exists now is an organisation which provides residential care for the intellectually disabled. The community life that was there is over."

Today Pilgrim House Community provides residential services to five intellectually disabled people near Celbridge, Co Kildare. It came to prominence seven years ago when one member of the community took her own life at the organisation's headquarters, then located at Inch, Co Wexford.

A coroner's court hearing in October 2001 concluded Margaret Foley Smith hanged herself after a violent row with her separated husband, who was also a member of the community.

However, members of Pilgrim House were later involved in handing out leaflets to Mass-goers in Ms Foley Smith's home parish in Co Meath, which contained groundless allegations of incest in her family.

A number of Masses in different parts of the country were also disrupted by members of Pilgrim House who were highlighting alleged cases of incest.

A Garda investigation took place into the incidents. However, no charges were brought.

When asked yesterday, none of the directors would comment on whether yesterday's apology was linked to these incidents.

Dialogue Ireland, an organisation which gathers information on new religious movements, says Pilgrim House has displayed cult-like characteristics and it has passed this information on to religious authorities.

The Health Service Executive yesterday confirmed it provides about €210,000 a year to Pilgrim House for providing a full-time residential service to five clients with intellectual disability.
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Bishop Treanor welcomes ‘immense challenges’ ahead

Bishop Noel Treanor's address on the occasion of his Episcopal Ordination as Bishop of Down and Connor

Grace-filled ceremony

Dear sisters and brothers in Jesus Christ, a phobal Dé, Cardinal Brady welcomed you at the beginning of this beautiful and grace-filled ceremony. For my part I reiterate his words of welcome and I thank you for joining us in this beautiful liturgy. Your presence and participation are an assurance of your support for my mission.

Personal Journey

If despite my personal shortcomings, I have been entrusted with the ministry and office of bishop in your presence today, my friends, several strands and rivulets of parenting, education, correction, training and inter-personal experience have led to this day .

I recall with profound gratitude my first educators, my parents Mollie and Johnnie, with us in spirit, my uncles, aunts, family friends, my brother and sister, their spouses and families, and our neighbours - from all of whom I learned the ways of Christian living.

I recall my teachers at Leitrim School and Scoil Bhride in Tyholland, where I grew up. Like many including my predecessor I owe a debt of gratitude to the Christian Brothers and their staff who taught me in second level.

I am mindful of my teachers at Maynooth, both in the National University and in the Pontifical faculty of Theology : I thank you for opening my mind all those years ago and I thank many of you for your interest in and contributions to my work in Europe.

And I trust that my classmates of both ordination classes of 1975 and 1976 will feel welcome to visit me here and that we shall now have a chance to re-connect in our silver years !

My thanks also go to the Irish College, Rome, to the Gregorian University and to the many institutions with which I had contact in my student days and indeed again in the past twenty years.

You will appreciate that on this occasion I should like to evoke the name of the late Bishop Patrick Mulligan who ordained me to the priesthood on 13 June 1976 : I remember him with fondness. And I thank Bishop Duffy for his good counsel and guidance over many years.

I thank my friends and colleagues, the priests of the diocese of Clogher, the religious and laity of the parishes of Monaghan and Enniskillen, where I worked as a curate in the days of my youth. I thank you for your friendship and for your oftentimes edifying and exemplary example of service in your particular walk of life.

European Posting

Like many of you here today, I am a child of Ulster. In 1989 I left Enniskillen after a formative and short term as curate to take up an appointment with the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE). Despite some misgivings on my part after one year of service there, which might have led to my return to the bucolic pastoral lands of the Clogher valley – had luck been with me, Bishop Duffy’s good counsel prevailed at that time. Thus I spent almost two decades of my life working in the service of the Church in Europe – more precisely on an emergent interface between Church and that historic, unique and precious project which is the European Union.

These were happy, enriching and formative years. I saw at first hand how reconciliation between erstwhile enemies is possible and can be achieved. I worked with colleagues -become friends for life - from many different national and cultural backgrounds. In the spirit of the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes, our work was enhanced by the expertise of many women and men in the European institutions, in public life, in academia and research, in business and finance : I thank many of them here today for the effort you have made to be with us and for your contribution to the life of the Church in Europe and beyond its borders through the work of COMECE.

Peter and Paul

As I follow in the footsteps of Bishop Patrick Walsh, I am aware of setting forth in this ministry on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, on the first day of the Year of St. Paul, and also in the first quarter of the Year of Vocation here in Ireland.

The memory of Peter and Paul, strong personalities, who wrestled with weakness, both of whom experienced the bitter-sweet moment of conversion, invites us to return to the source of our Christian faith: what better way than taking the reading of the letters of St. Paul as a project for the forthcoming twelve months.

In that body of literature we find windows unto the deep yearnings of our own minds and hearts, upon our intimations of the divine. We find a personal testimony to the power for faith, hope and charity which freely chosen belief in Jesus Christ released in the life of St. Paul, a Jew, and at a time a persecutor of Christians.

Reading St. Paul’s letters will enable us to consider how we give concrete expression to our vocation in our life’s setting, with its opportunities and its trials. Reading and mulling over these texts, as vibrant and pertinent today as they were 2000 years ago, will sharpen our sense of the Christian life, rooted in free and maturely considered personal choice. Delving into their pages will remind us of our shared responsibility to foster vocations to ministry within the Church so that the Word of God may be proclaimed and so that our Christian communities may be active in diaconal service.

Year of Vocation

In the context of the Year of Vocation, launched by Archbishop Martin on Vocations Sunday, 13 April last, I am deeply aware of the quiet and unsung heroism which the clergy of this diocese demonstrated as they served their people throughout the years of the Troubles. So too I am deeply aware of the same quiet and unsung heroism and forgiveness shown by people who had themselves suffered so much during those same years. On 22nd February I had the opportunity to meet with the members of the Council of Priests, the Vicars Forane and a representative of the religious orders working in the diocese. Fellow members of the presbyterate of Down and Connor, I am sure that as you faced the challenges of those years, now together with Bishops Farquhar and McKeown and myself, you will engage with the challenges of the present and the future.

No doubt we shall have many issues to face, as did the preceding generations. Several journalists have asked me – understandably – what plans I have to address this and that issue. Rest assured: I do not come with pre-conceived plans. My intention is rather to listen and to do my best to hear and understand - and to do so for as long as it takes to gain a sense of what is in your hearts and minds as the clergy and laity of this diocese, my new home. Together we shall have to decipher with prayer, study, analysis and imagination how the Gospel of Christ can best be proclaimed in our time.

Leadership

In a sermon St.Augustine of Hippo once said of himself as bishop: “vobis sum episcopus, vobiscum christianus” – I am a bishop for you, I am a Christian like you. Sharing your joys and sorrows, your anxieties and fears, your doubts and self-questioning, as every bishop does, I also know that I am called and have accepted to be a bishop for you. I have accepted an office and function of leadership. Episcopal leadership is first and foremost a service rendered in devotion to both the local Church and the universal Church. Exercising this form of leadership entails several modes: proclaiming the Word of God whether it is welcome or unwelcome, fostering and maintaining unity within the ecclesial community, drawing on, releasing and directing the talents and gifts among clergy and laity.

Táim ag tnuth leis na curaimí nua atá amach romham. Ach beidh mé i measc daoine fáilteach – agus is mór agam bhur n-uaisleacht, bhur n-ionracas is bhur muintearas.

So I ask you to pray that I may be capable of this leadership in service, so that I may follow humbly and effectively in the footsteps of my predecessors in serving this diocese with its past history of faith, prayer and of spiritual courage in recent decades.

Go maire sibh agus go raibh sibh uilig faoi choimirce Dé is na Maighdine Muire. Is faoi mhuinin De go mairimid.

BISHOP NOEL TREANOR’S COAT OF ARMS:

The Crosses:

(i) Christ crucified - Redemption
(ii) Also an adaptation of the Cross which appears in the Arms of Brussels, where Bishop Treanor worked - a European reference.

The Sprig of Rowan/Mountain Ash: Associated with St Macartan, disciple of St Patrick, Patron of Clogher.

Fess Wavy Argent: A reference to Silverstream, Co Monaghan, Bishop Treanor’s home area.

BISHOP NOEL TREANOR’S EPISCOPAL MOTTO:

Bishop Treanor has chosen for his Episcopal Motto a phrase from St Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians (Eph. 5:8): Sicut Filii Lucis Ambulate (Walk as Children of Light).
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Cardinal in treaty rebuke to right-wing Catholics

CARDINAL Sean Brady has issued an indirect rebuke to right-wing Catholic groups who campaigned in the Lisbon Treaty referendum against a "Godless Europe".

The cardinal was speaking yesterday in Belfast at the installation of the new Bishop of Down and Connor, Noel Treanor, who for three decades represented the Irish bishops at the EU institutions in Brussels.

Calling on Irish Catholics to recall Europe's Christian roots, Cardinal Brady quoted how Pope Benedict on the eve of the Irish poll described the Irish missionary monk, St Columbanus, as "one of the Fathers of Europe".

In a clear warning against Ireland becoming isolated from the rest of Europe, Cardinal Brady stressed that St Malachy, a former bishop of the diocese of Down and Connor, introduced the Cistercians and Augustinian monks as agents of monastic reform into the Irish Church.

This important development for the life of the Church at that time, Cardinal Brady added, showed that Ireland, as well as sending missionaries to Europe, also received help from Europe in times of need, in the form of new initiatives and new ideas.

"In these post-Lisbon Treaty referendum days, it could be salutary for all of us to reflect on that European help and to consider what help we might accept today."

Referring to Bishop Treanor's vast experience in Europe, Cardinal Brady highlighted how the new head of Ireland's second-largest diocese could play an influential role in connecting both Ireland and Europe and renewing their Christian roots.

Appointment

From Monaghan, Bishop Treanor (57) was secretary general of the Commission of the Bishops' Conference of the European Community (COMECE) before his appointment by Pope Benedict to succeed Bishop Patrick Walsh.

In his first public address, Bishop Treanor stressed the importance of Ireland's links with Europe.

"I spent almost two decades of my life working in the service of the Church in Europe, more precisely on an emergent interface between Church and that historic, unique and precious project which is the European Union," he said.

"These were happy, enriching and formative years. I saw at first hand how reconciliation between erstwhile enemies is possible and can be achieved."
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New Bishop of Down and Connor ordained

Monsignor Noel Treanor was Sunday ordained as the new Bishop of Down and Connor to succeed Bishop Patrick Walsh who has retired. Bishop Treanor, a native of Tyholland, Co Monaghan, was ordained in St Peter’s Cathedral in west Belfast.

Bishop Treanor, who is 57, is taking over the second largest diocese in Ireland.

For the past 19 years he was based in Brussels working with the Commission of the Bishops’ Conference of the European Community.

Among the many dignitaries who attended the ordination were President Mary McAleese and the Catholic Primate Cardinal Sean Conway who said the new bishop was taking on a weighty responsibility, and that some of his work would be preaching the faith to people who were “nominally Christian”.

“It is a task of being a teacher of doctrine, a priest of sacred worship and a minister of governance for a diocese of some 300,000 people,” said Cardinal Brady.

The Cardinal wished Bishop Walsh well in his retirement and assured Bishop Treanor that he would have the “fervent prayers and loyal assistance of a wonderful group of priests and religious as well as the enthusiastic support of thousands of good and generous and faith-filled laity”.

Cardinal Brady told Bishop Treanor that there were Christian roots on the island that were in constant need of nourishing. “I am confident that your own vast experience of living and working in Europe will have an important contribution to make to that nourishing. Your work on the international scene, in defence of life, in support of family, in promoting ecumenical relations, will prove invaluable to you in the years that lie ahead,” he said.

Cardinal Brady said that Ireland, as well as sending missionaries to Europe, also in return, received help from Europe in times of need, in the form of new initiatives and new ideas. “In these post-Lisbon Treaty Referendum days it could be salutary for all of us to reflect on that European help and to consider what help we might accept today,” he said.

The Cardinal added, “Every bishop has to take up the task of preaching, sanctifying and governing. The work of preaching of the faith is to lead new disciples to Christ. This may be primarily missionary work but increasingly it concerns those who are nominally Christian. All of this involves a call to our own personal holiness. Before we can think of leading anyone to Christ we ourselves must know the way.”

Bishop Treanor said in the weeks and months since his appointment as Bishop-elect of Down and Connor he had “a keen and betimes slightly disconcerting sense of the immense challenges which lie in store”.

He said many journalists understandably had asked him what particular issues he would focus upon. “Rest assured: I do not come with pre-conceived plans,” he said. “My intention is rather to listen and to do my best to hear and understand - and to do so for as long as it takes to gain a sense of what is in your hearts and minds as the clergy and laity of this diocese, my new home. Together we shall have to decipher with prayer, study, analysis and imagination how the Gospel of Christ can best be proclaimed in our time.”

Among the attendance today were Cardinal Cahal Daly, Cardinal Desmond Connell, Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, and Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza, the Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland.

Also attending the ordination were Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith, new Sinn Féin lord mayor of Belfast Tom Hartley, junior minister in the Northern Executive Gerry Kelly, and the Irish and British ambassadors to the Vatican, Noel Fahey and Francis Campbell.
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