NEW YORK BOSTON |#Popular: Irish Celebrity Gossip Irish Pubs Irish Festivals Irish Roots Irish Entertainment Offbeat Irish

Home Page > News > Archbishop defends enthusiasm and morale within Dublin clergy

Archbishop defends enthusiasm and morale within Dublin clergy

Dr Martin responds to criticism from Priests Council chair

CATHAL DERVAN,

IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Saturday, September 17, 2011, 9:59 AM

Updated Saturday, September 17, 2011, 9:59 AM

Larger Text

E-mail

17 Comments

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has denied morale is so low amongst clerics working in his diocese as to be beyond repair.

Dr Martin made the remarks in response to criticism from Fr Aquinas Duffy after he quit as chairman of the Priests Council.

Fr Duffy had claimed in the Irish Catholic newspaper that morale of the clergy in the Diocese of Dublin was at an "all time" low.

He also maintained that many within the church felt "disillusioned and sometimes abandoned" and claimed there was a level of frustration amongst priests.

Calling for the establishment of diocesan councils at a structural level where they could have a real say, Fr Duffy also called for a move towards a less hierarchical structure to a more collaborative approach within the Dublin diocese.

__________________________________________________

Calls for Pope Benedict to be tried for 'crimes against humanity'

Irish priest says wives and mothers helped cover up sex abuse
___________________________________________________

Dr Martin admitted that morale within the clergy is low across Ireland but he denied any sense of crisis within his own group of priests in Dublin.

“I can see that we have in Dublin a great group of priests that are out there enthusiastically doing their work and about renewing the work of the diocese and I would hope that enthusiasm would be the thing that would dominate,” said Archbishop Martin.

“The danger about saying that morale is low in any circumstance is that it becomes a self-perpetuating prophecy and just makes morale lower.

“We have to look forward and commit ourselves to the type of renewal that’s going on and I have seen in this diocese tremendous priests that are doing that without counting the cost.”

The Dublin church leader also admitted that the Catholic Church in Ireland may have to review its fund-raising approach in the wake of recent scandals.

“Every organization is facing financial difficulties. The answers to those are the same,” he said.

“You have to cut back, see where expenditure is not necessary, to look at all of those and then to see, maybe revise, the whole way we look at raising funds for the church.”

Nster.com

E-mail

17 Comments

See all comments

2BorNot2B | Oct 18, 2011, 01:16 PM EDT

Bears repeating as well for keneconnor: **Eiriamach the church is growing at 1.2 billion. It is dying sadly in Ireland because folks worshiped money. Now we are broke. It has little to do with sex abuse from 40 years ago. I am sorry Don't place a bet against an organization that has lasted 2000 years my friend** ....... **If anyone knows history they know that the church has done very well during periods in which She has been been persecuted and that looks like where this all is headed as our sick, dark world tries to snuff out the only true hope in this world, that of Jesus Christ and His church**

Report abuse

2BorNot2B | Oct 18, 2011, 01:12 PM EDT

Bears repeating for all those engaging in wet-dreaming regarding the demise of the Catholic Church -- Thank you AngelPrecious for your strong defense!! ---- **Eiremach, the kind of person that stays in the Church is the kind of person that believes it when Jesus said: "The gates of hell shall not prevail". I find it almost laughable that people with such worldly values are mocking those that stay in the "mystical Body of Christ", His Church! We are talking about SOME priests (small percentage when compared with society in general) that were abusers, most that occurred at a different time in our history**...... **LOL, Portia, HARDLY. The world does NOT consist of just Ireland. People are NOT leaving in droves. We are still growing! It seems that those concerned with worldly values rather than heavenly ones are the ones leaving. Yeah, the let the gays get married, abortion is fine, allow the government take care of me type person has left the Church, sadly for them!**

Report abuse

eiriamach | Sep 19, 2011, 10:37 AM EDT

@butlerreport, perhaps you are thinking strategically that AB Martin, of all the prelates, is most sympathetic to the abuse victims, so you support him in hope that the restructuring planned by the Vatican for Ireland will empower him? I ask you to consider: 1) He has not advocated reform or aligned himself with any part of reform movements in Ireland (he was among the bishops who bluntly rejected the ACP's request to delay the new missal translation, for example). 2) He has not pledged himself unreservedly to obey the nation's laws on child abuse. 3) Do you know that he is willing to violate canon law by refusing to give the same status to the "good name" of an accused priest as to the accusation of an alleged victim? (The Vatican's response to the Cloyne Report/ Taoiseach makes it clear that canon law requires protecting priests' reputations even though that focus has made prosecution under civil law in practice nearly impossible.) If AB Martin is given power by the Vatican's cutting back the number of dioceses, what will change? Won't Roman control over the dioceses solidify? People should still be asking whether their faith in AB Martin may be misplaced. "Be innocent as the dove, but wise as the serpent" (Matt 10:16): be guileless but not gullible.

Report abuse

eiriamach | Sep 19, 2011, 09:19 AM EDT

Specifically about bishops, Fr. Kung said this: "First,... speak out. Speak out. I address letters to the bishops. Speak out.... Unconditional obedience is due only to God himself and to Christ as his representative; not to a Pope, not to a bishop, not even to a council. I think the main authority in the Church is God himself. And I observe ... that more and more people are now realizing we are the Church–- not 'The bishop is the Church.' The bishop is the servant of the community, not the lord of the community. And if we are convinced, and if more and more people are convinced we are the Church, we are all together. Not against the bishop, with the bishop, but if the bishop does not want, we are the Church. Please, obey the community. I think that is one of the main reasons why we cannot move. Bishops are too much considered as just administrators of the Roman bureaucracy. They are not representative of democracy. They were, according to the Second Vatican Council, chosen by God Himself as representing the ministries in the Church, and they should really look at what are the desires and the justified demands of their own community, and not just what the Vatican administration is asking for. You see, that is, of course, a long, long process of changing mentality. And we are, I think, in the middle of it, and we reached-– now, just because of this policy with regard to the schismatic bishops and with regard to the sexual scandals, we've reached a phase of a new consciousness. I think more and more people are realizing that we cannot go on like this, and now the reform movement should use this occasion to speak out...."

Report abuse

eiriamach | Sep 18, 2011, 08:54 PM EDT

keneconnor, In the words of Hans Kung in interview, Tubingen, Germany, July 17, 2010 with Dr. Anthony Padovano: "And so we shall learn. If we do not learn now, we shall have to suffer more. More people will leave, more parishes will be without pastors; more churches will be empty; more youth will trust no more.... more women will be in complete frustration and leave the Church or be disassociated internally from the Church, I think. And also in the ecumenical camp,... they think we cannot go on with the Catholic Church, etc. All these, I think, are indications that we have to change now." About the current pope, whom Kung has known since youth: "many documents of the [Second Vatican] Council are ambivalent documents because the machinery of the Roman Curia was able to stop every movement of reform in some way-– not completely, but halfway. And that is the reason why we are now in this very difficult situation." On the current state of RCC: "So I think in Rome they have arguments against everything. They can all say, "No, no, no," but I think this system has no future–- this Roman system. The Catholic Church has a future, but the Roman system has no future. And the reform movements are very important to keep up this spirit now, because I think now the reform movements represent better the Catholic Church as a community of faithful than the Roman Curia." Kung is right, I believe: the gates of hell are about to prevail against what he calls "The moral rigidity in the Church, the toxic climate of clericalism and secrecy, and the very oppressive structure." Whatever survives that tsunami of a reform will be your no-longer-Roman Catholic Church.

Report abuse

keneconnor | Sep 18, 2011, 10:18 AM EDT

Eiriamach the church is growing at 1.2 billion. It is dying sadly in Ireland because folks worshiped money. Now we are broke. It has little to do with sex abuse from 40 years ago. I am sorry Don't place a bet against an organization that has lasted 2000 years my friend.

Report abuse

keneconnor | Sep 18, 2011, 10:13 AM EDT

If anyone knows history they know that the church has done very well during periods in which She has been been persecuted and that looks like where this all is headed as our sick, dark world tries to snuff out the only true hope in this world, that of Jesus Christ and His church.

Report abuse

butlerreport | Sep 18, 2011, 10:00 AM EDT

Ireland is very fortunate to have AB Martin. Unlike the rest of the church's hierarchy he is a public defender of his clergy and the faith. He does not flinch in the face of abuse reports and takes all in his stride, never dodging issues or accusation - he is a good man, a man in the right place at the right time for the Irish church.

Report abuse

eiriamach | Sep 18, 2011, 09:03 AM EDT

Also, Angelprecious, I asked a serious and reasonable question below when I asked how priests can stay in their jobs knowing that some of their colleagues are criminals and that their bosses as a group are still covering up sex crimes against children. There's no mockery in that question. I sympathize with men in that dilemma, but even more I sympathize with the many victims, victims' families, and other Catholics who have waited too long for justice and gotten only excuses and bureaucratic indifference. That judgment includes Archbishop Martin, a nice guy maybe, but weak, very weak, no strong moral compass there as far as I can see.

Report abuse

eiriamach | Sep 17, 2011, 11:14 PM EDT

It's interesting, Angelprecious, that you think a concern for civil justice is a "worldly value." It's one of the beatitudes, and Christ spoke of it in words of praise. He did not praise those who shut their eyes and ears to the truth or to systemic immorality, especially in a temple. In reference to your claim that RCC is "still growing," Sunday's NY Times will report Archbishop Martin's estimate that about 18% of Catholics in Ireland are practicing Catholics at this point. I figure that those who are not practicing have followed their consciences. It's getting late for church officials to find their consciences.

Report abuse

barneyjo | Sep 17, 2011, 09:41 PM EDT

@AngelPrecious - Posted elswhere on this site, "Irish priest says wives and mothers helped cover up sex abuse" This man says that you are culpable in the perpetration of crimes of abuse. How do you see it??

Report abuse

AngelPrecious | Sep 17, 2011, 02:56 PM EDT

Eiremach, the kind of person that stays in the Church is the kind of person that believes it when Jesus said: "The gates of hell shall not prevail". I find it almost laughable that people with such worldly values are mocking those that stay in the "mystical Body of Christ", His Church! We are talking about SOME priests (small percentage when compared with society in general) that were abusers, most that occurred at a different time in our history.

Report abuse

AngelPrecious | Sep 17, 2011, 02:51 PM EDT

LOL, Portia, HARDLY. The world does NOT consist of just Ireland. People are NOT leaving in droves. We are still growing! It seems that those concerned with worldly values rather than heavenly ones are the ones leaving. Yeah, the let the gays get married, abortion is fine, allow the government take care of me type person has left the Church, sadly for them!

Report abuse

peterson | Sep 17, 2011, 02:24 PM EDT

Leaving the Church is not the answer. Punishment by law is very appropriate as those who commit these unspeakable acts should be held accountable and punished the same as anyone else !!

Report abuse

Portia777 | Sep 17, 2011, 11:23 AM EDT

Why don't these men of god bow out of Eire totally. The days of priests and gurus is over.!

Report abuse