Madam, – Archbishop Diarmuid Martin deserves wholehearted support. Once again we hear the pain of struggle in what he has said in an address to the Knights of Columbanus on the future of the Catholic Church in Ireland.
The Catholic Church considers itself to be the body of Christ and here in Ireland that body is suffering from deep threatening wounds that need urgent attention. Archbishop Martin is the surgeon who must cut deep to clean out all infection.
Healing in the Catholic Church is hindered by the disease of power used as dominance and control. The Murphy report revealed this in the dangerous symptom of active collusion within the hierarchy enabling the cover-up and hence the spread of the scandal of clerical child sexual abuse.
While attempting to cut away what has helped to cause the spread of corruption at higher levels, Archbishop Martin is also nurturing the only level from which vitality can fundamentally emerge.
He sees that the church must try to grow from healthy roots if it is to survive. In his focus on the laity and on parish pastoral councils, he is seeking to use his power to empower the church at the lowest level of its hierarchical structure. He is taking a brave stand in relation to how power has been used and abused in the institutional church.
He speaks of “strong forces which would prefer that the truth did not emerge about clerical child sex abuse”. He is taking on institutional power from within and his position appears to be lonely and difficult. History – and particularly the history of Christianity – shows what happens when those who use power to dominate are threatened by someone who challenges that dynamic. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – How refreshing it is to read Archbishop Martin’s address to the Knights of Columbanus, saying that he comes with more questions than answers.
Such a cast of mind and such an attitude is helpful in creating the space for reflection which is now so necessary in the Catholic Church and in Ireland. He also prophetically says that it is not one or a combination of human constituencies that will provide the answers to the questions he raises. He places that limitation in the context of his own faith in one who is greater than all of these, Jesus Christ.
However, he points the way in which we as human agents can effect the place of faith in the community, by parishes coming of age and taking responsibility for cultivating faith. I welcome his promotion of an adult church which grows out of the parish and not out of “church” fiat facilitated by weakness in the underdeveloped civic culture of our Republic which is our present inheritance.
I welcome this voice of a witness who offers leadership. It is more witnesses we need, while the time for patriarchs has truly passed. The entire address is well worth reading. – Yours, etc,