Maynooth Union 2010 Report

Maynooth Union 2010 was celebrated on June 15th 2010, with special recognition for the Jubilee Classes:

• Diamond Jubilee Class 1950
• Golden Jubilee Class 1960
• Silver Jubilee Class 1985
• Classes of 1955, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005

    Ordination class of 1950          Ordination Class of 1960          Ordination Class of 1985

Highlight of the day was the address by His Eminence Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor to the assembly of priests in Renehan Hall where the Archbishop Emeritus of Westminster was the guest speaker.   The address was written and the invitation extended prior to his appointment by the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI as the apostolic visitor for the Archdiocese of Armagh.

In his address, the Cardinal spoke about:

His own Irish roots:
“I had an uncle a priest who worked in the Portsmouth Diocese and whenever we had family gatherings he would make a speech beginning with a quote from one of the Psalms, Remember the rock from which you were hewn ….  How could I forget my Irish roots when the culture I lived in England still had deep resonances of the background of my father and mother. How grateful I am for all that they gave me, nourished and strengthened in this land of saints and sinners.”

The impact of the Celtic Tiger:
“We have all lived through the new story of the ‘Celtic Tiger’ and a nation which was fast throwing over its religious identity as well, to embrace a much more relaxed and easy secularism. There was a sense that it needed to break with the old stories and the way they intertwined faith and identity in order to live the new modern life that was on offer. The nation had a new confidence which came with its well educated and talented younger generations. But these last two years have shown us how fragile new stories can be – as fragile and as unstable as the economic movements upon which they have been built.  Even so, it is surely a tribute to the deeper sense of community that the nation can face the inevitable consequences of a severe recession without social division and disruption.”

The scandal of abuse:
“Clearly those who have suffered abuse are foremost in our thoughts and prayers.  Today I wanted to reflect on how these terrible crimes have affected the Church.  It does not matter that the great majority of priests and bishops are good servants and pastors of their people. When the scandal of abuse runs so deep, it casts its shadow over everything.”

Being a wounded healer:
“You know, the things I remember about my life as a priest are not the successes but rather the failures and one particular and painful failure occurred ten years ago when, owing to my grave mishandling of a priest who was an abuser, I was attacked and vilified for nearly two years.  You probably know the story.”

“But I also began to understand in a new way, by talking with victims, the pain and grave damage done to them.  I say this to show, I suppose, that I myself am not free from blame but have had to learn from mistakes to become, as someone described it, a wounded healer. From that experience I learnt yet again to pray for perseverance, obedience to my vocation, and of suffering in a way which I did not expect and which, in the end, brought some positive benefit because of the national safeguarding policies, procedures and structures which are now in place and used in all our parishes and dioceses in England and Wales.”

The Road to Emmaus:
“As I lived, worked and prayed through these things I came to see my experience in terms of a very difficult and unclear journey that I was asked to make. I thought of it in terms of the Road to Emmaus. It too comes out of an experience when the story is broken and hope appears lost. I think it is a journey and a road that speaks to us all.”

The ‘dark night’ of the Church in Ireland:
“Some have spoken of this time as the ‘dark night’ of the Church in Ireland. Yet, painful though the dark night is, we know it is also a time of learning; a time of purifying and of trusting. In the dark night, all we have is our faith that God has not abandoned us, is working with us, and, of course, we feel the rawness not only of our sin but also our poverty. In some way, though, that poverty is also a gift because it strips away all the other structures that we have come to rely upon. It brings us back to source of our life, our identity and our call.”

The way forward:

No magic formula:
“I have no magic formula for this. Indeed, there is a danger in rushing to find a solution before we have fully understood the shape of the problem.   Of course, there are some things that can and must be done and are already in hand.   As in England and Wales, we need honest appraisal of where our structures and procedures failed, not just legally and canonically but humanly.  Then we need to waste no time to get new and more effective ones in place.”

A need for conversion of heart, newness of attitudes and unstinted love

Pope Benedict XVI’s letter to the Church in Ireland:
“Throughout this crisis there has been a close examination of leadership and the ways in which it seems to have failed.  When writing to the Church in Ireland, the Pope acknowledged this and began to map out a path of repentance and renewal.   For many, the letter did not go far enough and I know that in a climate of desolation, where so many feel that justice still needs to be accomplished, this is understandable.   Yet, I think it would be a great loss to dismiss it or think that it has nothing to say at the present moment.   It is a letter which begins to show us the way of speaking the truth in love.  It understands that renewing structures alone, for all their necessity, will not heal the grieving soul and wounded spirit.  That is why the Pope also sets another process in motion.  It goes deep into the great spiritual patrimony of the Irish Church.  It is about a genuine and deep repentance which requires not only a commitment to truth and understanding, especially understanding the roots and consequences of what has happened, but a commitment also to love.”

Not hurrying:
“Understandable as it is, one of our greatest temptations in situations of desolation is to try to hurry through it.  But we must have the courage and faith not to rush; to give it the time it needs; time to hear all that we need to hear, and to say all that needs to be said from the depths of our hearts. It takes a different sort of leadership to persevere in the desert times and to remain faithful to the truth that needs not only to be spoken, but also heard and understood. If we can allow this time then I think there opens up opportunities for renewing leadership and discovering what it means in a fresh, perhaps, liberated way.  Perhaps Ireland will develop a new relationship with the Church in this post-modern age.”

The Mass - the source of unity, strength and hope:
“Our unity and our strength and our hope is the Mass, the people gathered round the altar where the Eucharist is celebrated and we are in communion with Jesus Christ and offer our sacrifice to the Father in and through and with Him and then receive Him.  Our unity is, quite simply, Jesus Christ, and our belief and our hope and our love of Him.” 

Communion with our people:
“This can only happen when trust is given and restored where it has been lost.  But that restoration comes when relations are built to those actions of which the Prophet Micah speaks: This is what God wants of you, only this, to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God.  So it is when we speak authentically, simply, honestly from our own love of Christ and of His Church and not from any second-hand formulas or headline- grabbing sound-bites.  When trust in the institution is weakened, we can only turn to the person and begin to rebuild from there.”

Real participative leadership:
“It is one of the principal ministries of the bishop, together with his priests, to seek, to nourish and to foster the self-understanding and mission of the laity in the Church and in the world.  This must go beyond the routine and necessary chores.  They must embrace responsibilities which allow for a real participative leadership.

“This means, I think, more open and consultative processes at every level of the Church’s life.  If there is a fear of losing control or power, it is a false one.”

Not being afraid:
“We should not fear.  In our prayer, our worship, our contemplation before God, and following the teaching of the Church, for those who believe in Christ, the future is always full of hope and open to new life.  Nor should we forget the words of Mother Teresa:  God has not called me to be successful – he has called me to be faithful.”  

Hopes and prayers:
“So my hope and my prayer this afternoon is that you continue to create a culture in which God is honoured and worshipped and all men and women cherished, valued and supported from the beginning of their lives to their end when they enter into the fullness of the Mystery of God.   God matters to everyone and it is because of this we must worship and serve Him.”

Some of the priests assembled for the Maynooth Union in St Patrick's College, Maynooth

Click here for the full address to the Maynooth Union, 15th June 2010