Cardinal Desmond Connell has said that public scrutiny of those involved in public life is "no bad thing."
Addressing members of the legal profession yesterday, including judges of the Supreme, High, Circuit, and District Courts, he said that "increasingly, and in common with all those who are involved in public life" they were being asked to account for the exercise of their responsibilities.
"Such public scrutiny is no bad thing," he said, "and all of us are aware that structures of accountability can serve to protect us from complacency and heighten our commitment to best practice."
He also asked that members of the profession be "especially attentive to the needs of the poor and vulnerable, that through you they will find their dignity affirmed and their interests protected."
The Cardinal was speaking in a homily yesterday at a Mass to mark the opening of the new law term in St Michan's Church in Halston Street, Dublin. "As members of the professions that are entrusted with the administration of justice, you have a vital role to play in maintaining public confidence in the rule of law and the institutions that uphold it," he said.
"At times the commitment to give of your best, to maintain the highest standards and ideals of your professions, may demand courage and a willingness to make sacrifices.
"It is not always in one's immediate interest to demand of oneself and others adherence to such standards. The prophet will not always be recognised and celebrated."
Such commitment was not confied to believers, he said, "yet, as believers you will be both comforted and held to account by a gospel that states clearly that we are called to serve rather than be served and that it is in dying that we find life," he said.
The word "profession" had its origins in the notion of making a religious commitment, he said. "It means to stand for something. I invite you today to reaffirm your commitment to stand for justice and fairness."
He prayed that those present would find within a renewed enthusiasm for the ideals that brought them to practise law. "Your work and your attention to detail will be of crucial importance to those who turn to you for judgment and for advice," he said.
At a service at St Michan's Church of Ireland in Dublin, to mark the same event, the former president of the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Rev Kenneth Wilson of Bray, referred to "a lack of integrity at the top of many businesses today".
He said: "Sadly, you don't need to be reminded that dishonesty and cheating have recently caused scandals in the financial world, the property developing world, the political world, the world of sport, the Christian church."
He told the congregation, which included the Supreme Court judges, Mrs Justice Denham and Ms Justice McGuinness, that honesty was right, even when it was not the best policy.
We lived in a post-modern society in which many people appeared content to make up their own rules and standards.
Some people did not wish to hear there were clear, objective standards of behaviour which God expected, he said.