By Dominic Baster
DUBLIN, Ireland, JUNE 23, 2008 (Zenit.org ).- In a bid to proclaim Christ afresh to a new generation of Irish who have lost sight of the Gospel, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has launched a major drive for evangelization.
The archbishop has invited all 200 Dublin parishes to join in a common program of missionary outreach and evangelization for the year 2009. Coordinated by the archdiocese's first episcopal vicar for evangelization, Father Ciaran O'Carroll, the project will involve education in the faith, liturgical and scriptural formation, outreach to young people, and work for justice and charity.
Archbishop Martin said that one of the priorities for the new office will be the evangelization of the family.
In this interview with ZENIT, Archbishop Martin discusses why the initiative has become necessary, why the family is so important to its success, and what Irish Catholicism has to offer to the world of today.
Q: Why have you decided that this initiative is necessary now?
Archbishop Martin: I believe our holiness offers contemporary society in 2008 a new manner of living. We need to bring the message of Jesus' love to our world -- it is a unique message of truth, justice and love.
Today, so many of those who were baptized as Christians no longer really know Jesus, and their way of living demonstrates that the message of Jesus touches their lives only in a marginal way.
On the one hand, I feel there is a real sense in which the Archdiocese of Dublin is mission territory. On the other hand, I have been greatly encouraged by the manner in which laypeople have been emerging as co-workers in providing pastoral care, bringing their unique charism to the Church willingly, generously and with competence. They are waiting to have the opportunity to do more and to do it differently. In this I discern the Lord speaking to us and challenging us all.
Q: What tangible results are you hoping to achieve in the course of the year?
Archbishop Martin: The first element in every form of ministry is conversion. Conversion is not a process of a single moment. Formation in the faith is ongoing and lifelong.
I would like as many homes in the diocese to be visited in the course of 2009. Many parishes have already done this and others are in the process of doing so. Hopefully it will be possible to give each home a copy of the Gospel for the year -- the Gospel which will be the object of all our reflection as we allow the Spirit to open our hearts.
Many of our Parish Pastoral Councils are also planning forms of partnership with the Church in poorer communities around the world, inspired by a sense of justice, care and of fellowship among the Churches. I would like to see new ways in which the archdiocese could also more visibly witness to this fellowship among the Churches, perhaps adopting each year a particular Church that needs our support.
As Pope Benedict reminds us, "The Church ... cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice."
Q: What will be the key elements of the new initiative?
Archbishop Martin: The Diocesan Office for Evangelization will provide technical and resource backup for the new missionary outreach. It will also help to coordinate the work of education in the faith, liturgical and scriptural animation, outreach to young people, and our work for justice and charity.
Evangelization and renewal, not only structural renewal but renewal in holiness, means reaching out to as many people as possible in the missionary spirit. Every aspect of diocesan life and of the diocesan administration will be focused on this program. Teams of priests, deacons and laypersons will be called to work together to support parish communities.
We have a strange situation in Ireland whereby, even after many years of religious education in Catholic schools, many young men and women come away only with a superficial understanding of the faith and a superficial commitment to the faith. Faced with strong trends of secularization, their faith comes under great stress and they are unable to engage in the debate between faith and daily life.
Q: You have identified the evangelization of the family as a key priority for the new initiative. Why is the family so important in the task of evangelization?
Archbishop Martin: Family is the fundamental base for passing on the faith to children and young people. Where the faith life of families is weak, evangelization will lose its roots. Where families totally delegate their responsibility for the formation of their children in faith to schools, they are losing sight not only of their responsibility but also of the special grace of the sacrament of marriage.
Q: Many have said that the traditional family is in decline in Western society. Why do you think this is, and how can the Church defend families?
Archbishop Martin: Today, all too often discussion of the family quickly degenerates into discussion of problems, of breakdown, of alternative models. Rarely do we speak of marriage and the family as resources for both the Church and society.
Rarely do we hear of the call of Christians to exercise their ministry in and through the sacrament of marriage, a sacrament which by its nature -- like all the sacraments -- is oriented toward the building up of the Church.
Evangelization of the family is a priority for our activities in parishes and throughout the diocese. Parish Pastoral Councils, on account of their predominantly lay character, foster a platform for reflection on the family as a resource for society and the Church. Together we can work on developing new resources for family-focused catechesis. A priority for our new Diocesan Office for Evangelization will have to be to find ways to support families in this task.
Q: What particular challenges are faced in the work of evangelization in Ireland today?
Archbishop Martin: I have said on a number of occasions that the numbers of those who regularly participate in the Eucharist in our diocese is dropping and many baptized Catholics no longer know Jesus. His message does not touch their lives.
Our catechesis was perhaps too moralistic, appearing as lists of rules for behavior in life, rather than as the response to the message of Jesus -- a demanding message, but one about the demands of love, which enables us to find the depth of our meaning.
But we cannot overlook the fact that in Ireland, the Church's good will was damaged by a series of scandals. As a Church community we must be attentive to anyone who feels that they have been wounded or hurt or abandoned by the Church in any way. The Church in Dublin must regain the good will of all. It must be a place where all the necessary measures for the safeguarding of children and vulnerable persons are in place. Measures for safeguarding children must be seen as a priority and not as a burden. The Diocesan Child Protection Service works with parish pastoral councils in providing training and assistance in this area.
Q: Ireland has a long tradition of sending missionaries around the world. Does the Irish vision of Catholicism still have something valuable to offer to the Church as a whole?
Archbishop Martin: The well-established commitment of the Irish people to the developing world, which has found a very welcome expression in the increased funding of overseas aid by the Irish government, owes much to our long tradition of Church missionary activity. Thank God that development issues are still issues that arouse passion within Irish society.
As Ireland continues to change, and thousands of people arrive here from around the world to make a new home for themselves and their families, Irish Catholicism has much to offer, by example. In our Festival of Peoples, celebrated on the feast of the Epiphany each year, I welcome people with their chaplains and community leaders from many countries in Europe and further afield.
I am pleased that the Church in Dublin has been at the forefront in welcoming and integrating those who have come more recently. The social, economic and political future of Ireland, with the particular challenges that the coming years will bring, will require that we all work together to build a society not just of anonymous next door neighbors but of people of varied backgrounds committed to building a new community.
