Reality Magazine March 2021

LENT: IN PARISH AND SCHOOL

MARCH 2021

FIRST WOMAN TO VOTE AT THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS

LEO X: THE POPE WHO FRACTURED CHRISTENDOM

Informing, Inspiring, Challenging Today’s Catholic

SAINT PATRICK

FOLLOWING IN HIS FOOTSTEPS A LETTER FROM THE SAINT

A CRUEL PAST EXPOSED

AN OPPRESSIVE STATE AND DOMINANT CHURCH

CHOICE AND UNCERTAINTY

WHY SECULARISATION IS GOOD FOR THE CHURCHES

www.redcoms.org Redemptorist-Communications @RedComsIreland �2.50 �2.00

Pastoral Resources L e t ’ s C e l e b rat e a Ba p t i s m The birth of a baby is a key moment for parents to reflect upon their role, the significance of their faith and the kind of family life that they wish to provide for their child. Let’s Celebrate a Baptism complements formal baptism preparation programmes. It includes an outline of the sacrament and its place in Christian initiation, along with an up-to-the-minute Question & Answer section, and ideas to help families truly celebrate this key sacrament of our faith.

A C e l e b rat i o n o f L i f e Preparing and planning the funeral of a loved one can add to the grief and trauma of bereavement. A Celebration of Life provides a gentle, clear outline to all the planning and preparation in a clear and undemanding fashion. A full selection of readings are included along with a key to planning the liturgy. The Question & Answer section provides further information on both practical and spiritual issues raised.

Your Wedding The true meaning of marriage can be eclipsed by the preparations for the wedding.

Your Wedding enables a couple to keep the true meaning of the sacrament of marriage at the heart of their wedding preparations. Ideal for individual or group marriage preparation. Your Wedding includes suggested readings, Gospels, Prayers of the Faithful and a full outline of the marriage ceremony. Your Wedding is the definitive guide to getting married in the Catholic Church.

Y o u r C h i l d ’ s C o n f i r mat i o n Your Child’s Confirmation is wonderful resource, complementary to the sacramental preparation programme followed by the school or parish. It encourages and informs parents whose children are preparing to receive the sacrament. Written in a simple, engaging style, this colourful book explains the background to the sacrament and details what happens on the day itself.

A Faith For Life A Faith for Life provides a clear and simple outline of the basics of our faith. Written by Redemptorist Fr George Wadding, an experienced missioner and retreat-giver, A Faith for Life provides a modern, easily assimilated presentation of Catholic teaching for today’s world. Useful for RCIA, sacramental preparation, schools and individual faith development.

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IN THIS MONTH’S ISSUE FEATURES �� A CRUEL PAST EXPOSED The role of the State in the mother and baby home scandal.

By Michael O'Regan

�� CHOICE AND UNCERTAINTY: THE FUTURE OF CHURCHES IN IRELAND 'Post-Catholic' Ireland is ripe with opportunities for the churches to contribute to the common good.

By Gladys Ganiel

�� LENT IN PARISH AND SCHOOL Even in the COVID era, there are many creative ways to celebrate Lent.

By Maria Hall

�� FRATELLI TUTTI

��

Pope Francis' latest encyclical offers a new vision of friendship.

By Mike Daley

�� LETTER FROM ST PATRICK A surprising but hopeful epistle as we celebrate our national feast day.

By Fr Gerard Moloney CSsR

�� SON OF ENCOURAGEMENT The story of Felix reminds us that there is always hope.

By Fr Colm Meaney CSsR

�� A DOCTOR IN THE CHURCH The support of the Irish bishops was pivotal in making St Alphonsus a Doctor of the Church.

By Fr Raphael Gallagher CSsR

�� THE POPE WHO FRACTURED CHRISTENDOM Pope Leo X and his failure to address the abuses in the 16th-century church.

By Fr Michael Collins

�� IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ST PATRICK An Irish Camino experience in County Down.

By Dr Eamon Maher

��

��

OPINION

REGULARS

11 EDITORIAL

04 REALITY BITES 07 POPE MONITOR 08 FOREVER YOUNG 09 REFLECTIONS 42 TRÓCAIRE 45 GOD’S WORD

19 JIM DEEDS 31 CARMEL WYNNE 44 PETER McVERRY SJ

REALITY BITES DUBLIN

CHURCH LEADERS EXPRESS SHAME OVER MOTHER AND BABY HOMES REPORT

4

An Irish Government commission that spent five years investigating the treatment of unmarried mothers in state-funded churchrun homes in Ireland said the blame for their “harsh treatment” rests primarily with their families, but that both the church and state condoned this.

The report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matters was published January 12 and reviewed 18 institutions from 1922 to 1998. It found that “Ireland was a cold harsh environment for many, probably the majority, of its residents during the earlier half of the period under remit.” The report said that Ireland was “especially cold and harsh for women”.

The responsibility for the “harsh treatment” of unmarried mothers “rests mainly with the fathers of their children and their own immediate families,” the report said.

The leaders of the main Christian churches in Ireland expressed shame and regret over the role played by the churches in the running of the homes. Archbishop Eamon

REALITY MARCH 2021

Martin of Armagh said, "As a Catholic church leader in Ireland, it is I who now feel embarrassed and guilty over how we in the church contributed to, and bolstered, that culture of concealment, condemnation, and self-righteousness. For that I am truly sorry and ask the forgiveness of survivors.”

Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh John McDowell said, "The birth of a child should always be a time of happiness, and that many young women experienced it as joyless and cold is a matter for bitter regret.”

The archbishop apologised for the conditions in the Anglican-run facilities.

Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland the Rev David Bruce said the report shed much-needed light on a dark era in Ireland's history. "We deeply regret and unreservedly apologise for the damaging effects of institutional care, in which the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, or its members, played a part. We pray that those who still live with the memories of those days will know and experience the peace of God which may only be found in Christ's love.”

Archbishop Eamon Martin

Archbishop John McDowell

N E WS

AUSTRALIA

NEW PROTOCOL FOR ADDRESSING CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE The Australian bishops have released information regarding new protocols for child sexual abuse which took effect on February 1, 2021. In a statement, the bishops said that “The National Response Protocol, which was adopted by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference at its November 2020 plenary meeting, is the product of two years of work and widespread consultation within and beyond the Church.” Drawing on wisdom from the Royal Commission, from

governments and universities, and from the church's experience overseas, the new protocol offers a trauma-informed approach to support those who have been betrayed in church settings. The bishops want a church that is compassionate and just. The protocol also insists upon respect for each individual's personal story and circumstances.

The full report is available on the Australian Bishops Conference page: www.catholic.org. au/nationalresponseprotocol.

USA

AMANDA GORMAN’S CATHOLIC FAITH Long before she read her poem at President Biden's inauguration, Amanda Gorman had been reciting her poetry to the parishioners of St Brigid Church in Los Angeles. St Brigid's pastor, Fr Kenneth Keke, says he didn’t just see Gorman as a solo act but that she represented the entire parish in South Central Los Angeles, which is predominantly African-American but now has a growing number of Latinos, Filipinos and white members, also. "Everyone here is important," Fr Keke said.

"Whatever belongs to the parish belongs to everyone; in our parish, the success of anyone is the success of all. It's also the pride of all."

The parish displayed pictures of their daughter, friend and parishioner with pride after she became the youngest in history to perform at an presidential inauguration. When she was accepted into Harvard University, Gorman received a scholarship donation from her parish.

On her visits home, she never forgot

her spiritual home and would visit regularly.

Gorman, who had been writing and developing her style since she was a young girl, was named the Youth Poet Laureate of Los Angeles at 16. Around that time she wrote a poem for a Mass at St Brigid's commemorating the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Her inaugural poem, 'The Hill We Climb', speaks of a country "bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free,” adding: "We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation." It ends with the promise of rebirth and reconciliation: "Our people diverse and beautiful will emerge, battered and beautiful … For there is always light, if only we're brave enough to see it. If only we're brave enough to be it." St Brigid’s parish is planning to celebrate Gorman's achievement in some small way soon and in a more significant way once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.

5

REALITY BITES VATICAN CITY

NAMING UNDERSECRETARIES FOR SYNOD, POPE GIVES A WOMAN A VOTE

6

Xavière Missionary Sister Nathalie Becquart will not be the first woman undersecretary of a major Vatican office, but she will be the first woman with a right to vote at a meeting of the Synod of Bishops.

Pope Francis named the French sister as one of two undersecretaries of the Synod of Bishops.

The other undersecretary is Augustinian Father Luis Marin de San Martin, whom Pope Francis also named a bishop February 6.

Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, was asked if Sr Becquart having the right to vote at the synod would open the possibility to other women as well. Although the issue has been raised increasingly in the synod hall, until now only bishops and a few priests and brothers belonging to religious orders have had a vote.

Pope Francis, Cardinal Grech responded, has “highlighted several times the

importance that women be more involved in the processes of discernment and decisionmaking in the church,” and in recent synods, the number of women participating as nonvoting experts and observers has increased.

“With the appointment of Sister Nathalie Becquart and the opportunity that she will participate with the right to vote, a door has been opened,” Cardinal Grech said.

“We will then see what other steps could be taken in the future.”

Sr Becquart, who was an observer at the 2018 Synod of Bishops on young people, was named a consultant to the Synod of Bishops in 2019. She told Catholic News Service at the time that the appointment was “a symbolic and effective step toward appointing more women at the curia, and it reflects Pope Francis’ desire to give more places to women at all levels of the church.”

VATICAN CITY

END HUMAN TRAFFICKING NOW For economic policies and systems to promote an end to human trafficking, they must care about people, their dignity and working conditions, and they must be regulated in ways that promote social justice, not special interests, Pope Francis has said.

An economy without human trafficking will require “the courage of patient construction, of planning that does not look always and only at the very short-term gains, but at the medium- and long-term fruits and, above all, at people,” he said in a video message marking the International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking.

The international day, established by

REALITY MARCH 2021

Pope Francis, is celebrated annually on February 8, the feast day of St Josephine Bakhita, who had been sold into slavery as a child.

The pope’s message in Italian was broadcast during a cross-continental “prayer marathon” online to pray for an economy free of exploited, trafficked persons. This year’s day of prayer sought to raise awareness about the economic systems and pressures leading to and fostering human trafficking.

In his message, Pope Francis said the day was an important way to remember this ongoing global tragedy and to inspire concrete action leading to people’s actual liberation and reintegration into society as active builders of the common good.

N E WS

POPE MONITOR KEEPING UP WITH POPE FRANCIS POPE TO DIPLOMATS: PANDEMIC CAN SPARK NEEDED CHANGE TOWARD BETTER WORLD

POPE CONGRATULATES NEW PRESIDENT Following the inauguration of US Present Joe Biden, Pope Francis sent a message to the 46th president to assure him of the pontiff's prayers.

In the message, Pope Francis wrote, "At a time when the grave crises facing our human family call for farsighted and united responses, I pray that your decisions will be guided by a concern for building a society marked by authentic justice and freedom, together with unfailing respect for the rights and dignity of every person, especially the poor, the vulnerable and those who have no voice."

POPE FRANCIS’ STRUGGLE WITH SCIATICA Pope Francis was forced to cancel a number of public appearances during Christmas and the start of the year due to recurring problems with sciatica. The 84-year-old pope was unable to celebrate Mass marking the Sunday of the Word of God in St Peter’s Basilica, or to preside at vespers for the conclusion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The pontiff has suffered with the painful nerve condition for several years. (Sciatica is caused by pressure or rubbing on the sciatic nerve, which starts in the lower back and runs down the back of the thigh and leg to the foot.)

The COVID-19 pandemic can either be a catalyst for change for the better or it will weaken a world already burdened by global crises, Pope Francis said on February 8 during his annual meeting with diplomats accredited to the Holy See. The pandemic not only had a “significant effect” on people’s way of living, it also “shed light on the risks and consequences inherent in a way of life dominated by selfishness and a culture of waste,” the pope said.

The COVID-19 pandemic, he continued, “set before us a choice: either to continue on the road we have followed until now, or to set out on a new path.”

In a nearly hourlong speech to members of the diplomatic corps, the pope listed a series of crises “that were provoked or brought to light by the pandemic” as a way to reflect on the opportunities the global community has to build “a more humane, just, supportive and peaceful world”.

The health crisis sparked by COVID-19, he said, forced the world to confront two “unavoidable dimensions of human existence” – suffering and death – which serve as a reminder of the value of life “from conception in the womb until its natural end”.

However, the pope said it was painful that “a growing number of legal systems in our world seem to be moving away from their inalienable duty to protect human life at every one of its phases.”

Pope Francis emphasised that the human right to dignity extends to all, especially the most vulnerable, and renewed his appeal to government leaders to “ensure universal access to basic health care”.

“Concern for profit should not be guiding a field as sensitive as that of health care,” the pope said.

The pandemic, he continued, also shed a light on the current environmental crisis and has shown “that the earth itself is fragile and in need of care”.

7

FOREVER YOUNG SAINTS WHO DIED YOUNG

Reality

BLESSED ALBERTO MARVELLI 1918–1946

8

Alberto Marvelli (1918-1946) was born in Italy in the final year of one war and died the year after another ended. The second in a family of six, Alberto was a good student and an avid sportsman, especially fond of cycling. One of his classmates, Federico Fellini, would become famous as an outstanding film director.

His father died when Alberto was 15. Around this time, he began keeping a diary in which he confided some of his deepest thoughts, particularly about his growing faith. He had been active in Catholic groups since his early teens. When he was 18 and an engineering student, he was elected national president of Catholic Action. After graduation, he found a job with the Fiat company in Turin.

Inheriting from his parents a strong sense of justice and compassion for the poor, Alberto became an active member of the St Vincent de Paul Society. In his diary, he wrote: "Before teaching the poor how to save their soul we must enable them to live in such a way as to allow them to be aware of having one."

When World War II broke out, he was called up for military service, but was granted an exemption because his two older brothers were already in the army. The devastation of the war years claimed more of Alberto's time.

The Allies bombed his home town of Rimini and the surrounding areas. After one raid, he rushed there on his bike to see what he could do. One witness described how he got to the areas that needed help with his bicycle laden with provisions. Although he often worked late into the night, he never went to bed without saying his Rosary.

Using his engineering credentials, he contacted the Todt company that was forcibly exporting foreign workers to Germany. He used these contacts to help some workers escape from the trains carrying them to German work camps. On one occasion he hid two escapees in his house knowing he faced death if discovered.

After the war, Alberto's dedication to the poor continued. He was given responsibility for rehousing those left homeless by the war, a task he carried out with dedication and scrupulous honesty. By this time, his thoughts were turning towards the role of politics in post-war Italy. He was a co-founder of the Italian Workers' Catholic Action and joined the newly-emerging Christian Democrat Party. His deep convictions about his place in God's plan for his country led him to stand in Italy's first post-war election. Alberto was killed shortly before the election when a van struck him as he cycled to a meeting.

He was 28 years old.

The cause for Alberto's canonisation opened in 1975, and he was beatified at the Italian Marian shrine of Loreto in September 2004.

In his homily at the beatification, Pope John Paul said: "In the difficult time of the Second World War, which sowed death and multiplied violence and atrocious suffering, Blessed Alberto fostered an intense spiritual life, from which flowed the love for Jesus that led him constantly to forget himself and to take on the cross of the poor." His memorial day is October 5.

Brendan McConvery CSsR

REALITY MARCH 2021

Volume 86. No. � March 2021 A Redemptorist Publication ISSN 0034-0960 Published by The Irish Redemptorists, St Joseph's Monastery, St Alphonsus Road, Dundalk County Louth A91 F3FC Tel: 00353 (0)1 4922488 Web: www.redcoms.org Email: sales@redcoms.org (With permission of C.Ss.R.)

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REFLECTIONS You've got a lot of choices. If getting out of bed in the morning is a chore and you're not smiling on a regular basis, try another choice.

STEVEN D. WOODHULL

Life without faith in something is too narrow a space in which to live.

GEORGE LANCASTER SPALDING

What matters most is what we learn from living.

DORIS LESSING

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.

AMY CARMICHAEL

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, "What are you doing for others?”

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Forgiveness is the act of admitting we are like other people.

Break your mirrors! Yes, indeed — shatter the glass. In our society that is so self-absorbed, begin to look less at yourself and more at each other. Learn more about the face of your neighbour, and less about your own.

I suggest this: when you get to be 30, 40, 50, or even 70 years old, you’ll get more happiness and contentment out of counting your friends than counting your dollars. You’ll get more satisfaction from having improved your neighbourhood, your town, your state, your country and your fellow human beings than you’ll ever get from your muscles, your figure, your automobile, your house, or your credit ratings.

You’ll get more from being a peacemaker than a warrior.

I’ve been both, so I speak from experience. Break the mirrors!

Be peacemakers of the community, and you and your family will be happy.

SARGENT SHRIVER,

CHRISTINA BALDWIN

YALE CLASS DAY ADDRESS, 1994

Doctor to patient: "I’ve treated a few cases like yours before, so I should have better luck this time.”

Why was Pharaoh’s daughter like a shrewd milkman? She got a little prophet from the water.

Things do not change; we change.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

Teacher: "Where’s the English Channel?”

Pupil: "The second button on the left.”

It's not that the Irish are cynical. It's rather that they have a wonderful lack of respect for everything and everybody.

BRENDAN BEHAN

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

I look forward to being older, when what you like becomes less and less an issue and what you are is the point.

SUSAN SARANDON

In the long run, we are all dead JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES, DECEMBER 1923

In the long run almost anything is possible.

JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES, APRIL 1942

When anyone asks me about the Irish character, I say look at the trees. Maimed, stark and misshapen, but ferociously tenacious.

EDNA O’BRIEN

I was very proud to be made an honorary Irishman.

JACK CHARLTON

9

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EDI TO R I A L UP FRONT GERARD MOLONEY CSsR

THE COVID CHALLENGE

It's

hard to believe a year has passed since COVID-19 first shut down the country and the world. It's been a long 12 months.

In those first frightening days last March, the spirit of national solidarity was striking.

Few complained about the closure of schools, pubs and restaurants, or the need to wear face masks. Few complained when the money-spinning St Patrick's Day festivities were called off. We were all in this together.

United, resolute, determined, we would confront and defeat this existential threat to our lives and livelihoods, as we had done with Foot and Mouth more than once in the past.

The sense of common purpose was palpable and galvanising. The surreal quiet of cities and towns suddenly devoid of traffic; streets and footpaths without pedestrians; shop fronts shuttered; traffic lights signalling forlornly to themselves. Only the tumbleweed was lacking. It was a scene eerie but reassuring, apocalyptic but calm. The virus would not defeat us.

And our efforts seemed successful. The number of casualties and fatalities were relatively low, at least when compared with our neighbours. The economy had taken a major hit, and the rhythm and routine of life had been severely disrupted, but we had survived, or so we thought.

Then the second wave came, and the third. This third time around, as schools and pubs, restaurants and shops once again locked up and shut down, the spirit of defiance and resolution of last spring began to waver. Weariness and frustration grew.

Morale dimmed. Tempers frayed. Solidarity loosened. It was harder to keep our chins up and our jaws firm, even as we shielded them behind the obligatory face masks.

And while most people here and abroad heeded expert advice and observed the

restrictions, often at significant cost, others grew more resistant, reckless, recalcitrant, heedless of regulations, determined to do their own thing.

The past year has been a study in contrasts.

We have witnessed the extraordinary selflessness and dedication of care providers and essential workers, many of them poorly paid, working long hours and long weeks, at risk to themselves and their loved ones, routinely going beyond the call of duty— heroes and heroines at their best.

But also over the past year, and especially during the third wave, we have witnessed extraordinary acts of selfishness and recklessness, people heedless of their responsibility towards others, disdainful of guidelines and official advice, casual and contemptuous in their behaviour, showcasing rugged individualism at its worst.

Media have reported on how some well-off people are finding nefarious ways to skip to the front of the coronavirus vaccine line. In early March, a story broke about a wealthy Canadian casino executive Rod Baker and his wife who broke quarantine and flew to a remote Indigenous community where they posed as local motel employees to get their jabs. They displayed utter contempt for those less fortunate and more vulnerable than themselves.

Well-off countries are behaving in a similar selfish fashion. According to a group of charities including Oxfam International, huge inequalities have emerged in the worldwide rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.

"Wealthier nations have bought up enough doses to vaccinate their entire populations nearly three times over by the end of 2021," the group says. "Rich nations representing just 14 percent of the world's population have bought up 53 percent of all the most promising vaccines so far." Ireland, of course, ranks among the rich nations.

And within the wealthier nations, poorer people and minorities – the ones most likely to contract the virus - are also the ones most likely to be at the back of the queue to be vaccinated.

There is no hope of eliminating or containing the COVID-19 virus unless and until peoples and nations everywhere have access to vaccines and act responsibly. Unless and until they do, any talk about all of us being in this together is as empty and hollow as it sounds.

This health crisis, like every crisis, has brought out the best and the worst in us.

Thank God, there are far more good people than bad, far more selfless people than selfish, far more rational people than those deluded by wild conspiracy theories. We must not be afraid to call out selfish, racist, reckless behaviour when we see it. But we must also celebrate the selfless love and generosity of those whose goodness always shines brightest when we need it the most.

Gerard Molonry CSsR Acting Editor

11

C OVE R STO RY

A CRUEL PAST

EXPOSED 12

AN OPPRESSIVE AND NARROW STATE DESERVES MOST OF THE BLAME FOR THE MOTHER AND BABY HOMES SCANDAL.

BY MICHAEL O'REGAN

On

a rainy day in 1967, young Michael Clemenger, who had recently left St Joseph's Industrial School in Tralee, Co Kerry, where he had been physically and sexually abused, decided he would tell a senior cleric at first hand about the hell-hole that had been his home.

After Mass in St John's Church in the town, he approached Dean John Lane, who invited him to talk in the nearby presbytery. Lane was uncomfortable with what Clemenger had to say, not least that the chaplain to the home had told him he could never be a priest because he was a 'bastard', given his mother was unmarried when she gave birth.

"You should forget about all those things that happened to you," said Lane.

In his searing autobiography, Holy Terrors, Clemenger observed that the monsignor was anxious to end the conversation. "With that, he ushered me to the front door," he recalled.

REALITY MARCH 2021

That year was a busy one for the monsignor, as he led the clerical campaign to have the Mount Brandon Hotel in Tralee cancel a cabaret act by an American actress, Jayne Mansfield. She was denounced in a statement read from the altar at Sunday Masses, and parishioners were urged to boycott the event.

Lane noted Mansfield boasted she sold sex better than any other actress in the world.

The hotel management caved in, and the cabaret was cancelled.

When Monsignor John Lane died, he was hailed as a compassionate man. President de Valera, a friend, attended the funeral. Church and State were one.

They were not to be challenged.

POST-INDEPENDENCE UNDERCLASS In that Ireland, there were no opportunities for the victims of the mother and baby homes scandal to have their voices heard. They were

part of a post-independence underclass who were expected to know their silent place.

The church must bear its share of the blame, but most responsibility rests with the State. The State was the overseer, as it left education and health to the church's foot soldiers, many of whom were idealists and very different to the forbidding and judgemental caricature.

Rank and file religious were subject to strict discipline, and the questioning of authority was not welcomed.

An oppressive and narrow State was moulded over the decades. It was an environment ripe for cover-up and scandal.

Episcopal letters show a lamentable obsession with sexual morality and the danger of 'dirty' books and films.

In the early 1970s, the then Archbishop of Dublin, Dr John Charles McQuaid, warned that the availability of condoms would be a curse on the country.

The church must bear its share of the blame, but most responsibility rests with the State The tone defining the underclass was set early by the State. In 1924, Minister Patrick McGilligan said people might have to die to ensure economic solvency.

"People may have to die in this country and may have to die from starvation," he said.

The message was clear: the underclass could take a running jump and do without food, if necessary. Historian Joe Lee would later observe that McGilligan was "the lawyer son of a comfortable Ulster businessman" .

BIG UNDERCLASS The underclass spread well beyond the unfortunate women and children in the mother and baby homes. It included our emigrants, fleeing a moribund country in search of work.

Between 1951 and 61 alone, some 400,000 took the emigrant boat. They were mostly ill-prepared and poorly educated. Some were pregnant single women.

"They were a silent generation and they left in silence," observed the novelist, John McGahern, many years later.

Against this background, it is nonsense to blame Irish society for the mother and baby

homes scandal, much as it might suit the State to do so.

Education was considered a ministerial backwater until the dynamic Sean Lemass appointed Dr Patrick Hillery and Donogh O'Malley to the portfolio in the 1960s.

When O'Malley announced free secondary education in September 1966, almost one in three children leaving national school received no further education.

Donogh O'Malley

This was happening on the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Rising.

O'Malley referred to it as "a dark stain on the Irish conscience".

A BELT OF A CROZIER The Taoiseach Micheál Martin failed to adequately lay the blame for the mother and baby scandal at the State's door in his apology. President Higgins got it right when he said the State was mainly to blame.

13

C OVE R STO RY

14

Successive governments made a political calculation when befriending the church.

A belt of a crozier from an episcopal palace could lose votes at a time when the word of a bishop carried more sway than that of a minister.

When John A. Costello was made Taoiseach in an inter-party government in 1948, he sent a fawning telegram to Rome promising loyalty, ignoring the reservations of a senior civil servant.

Seán McBride sent an equally fawning letter to McQuaid when he became a TD. Charlie Haughey, a young minister for justice, pledged he would deal with dirty books and offered McQuaid a gift of wine!

The morale of many well-meaning religious must have been shattered in this stifling environment.

In the 1950s, an exasperated Fr John Hayes, founder of Muintir na Tíre, observed that Ireland was too busy being Catholic to be Christian.

Dr John Charles McQuaid

REALITY MARCH 2021

The President of Ireland, Éamon de Valera, kneels to Dr John Charles McQuaid

Priests who graduated from seminaries in the 1960s recall the sense of optimism that change was in the air following the Second Vatican Council.

McQuaid did his best to put an end to that on his return from Rome.

"You might have been worried by much talk of changes to come. Allow me to reassure you," he said. "No change will worry the tranquillity of your Christian lives."

An opportunity to fashion a Catholic ethos, based on Christian principles and genuine empathy, was lost. Successive popes rolled back on the reforming work done by Pope John XXIII. Such an ethos might have rescued the victims of the mother and baby homes scandal.

Charlie Haughey, a young minister for justice, pledged he would deal with dirty books and offered McQuaid a gift of wine!

FUTURE SCANDALS? All that is history now. The dam has burst.

The church is battered, and the political establishment is looked on with suspicion by a better-educated electorate.

Time will tell if our political leaders will learn from the mother and baby homes and other scandals.

Will some government, in the future, find itself apologising for direct provision and the failure to deal with homelessness and a dysfunctional health service?

If it happens, the blame will be firmly with the State. There will be no escape.

And the heroes will be people like Fr Peter McVerry and Sister Stan who have stood up to successive governments in highlighting the plight of our current underclass.

A proud Kerryman, Michael O'Regan is a former parliamentary correspondent for The Irish Times. He is well worth a follow on Twitter @Michael_O_Regan

F E AT U R E

CHOICE AND UNCERTAINTY: THE FUTURE OF CHURCHES IN IRELAND WHY SECULARISATION IS GOOD FOR THE CHURCHES 'POST-CATHOLIC' IRELAND IS RIPE WITH OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE CHURCHES TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE COMMON GOOD IN WAYS THAT WERE NOT POSSIBLE IN GENERATIONS PAST.

BY GLADYS GANIEL

The

future of Ireland's churches is uncertain. With church buildings closed for public worship for most of the last year, religious practice has undergone considerable change. Many of us are accessing services online or on television, but some church leaders fear that the pandemic will only hasten our island's steady decline in churchgoing.

Even before the pandemic, it was common to assert that Ireland's churches – especially the Catholic Church – were in

crisis. I have even written a book with the title Transforming Post-Catholic Ireland, emphasising that the days of a so-called 'holy, Catholic Ireland' are well and truly over.

The term 'post-Catholic' may conjure up feelings of sadness, loss, or even despair.

It conveys the sense that churches have lost their social importance and political influence. It indicates that people no longer trust church institutions, especially after wave after wave of revelations of abuse.

But as both an academic sociologist of

religion and a Christian (Presbyterian by trade), I see 'post-Catholic' Ireland as ripe with opportunities for the churches to contribute to the common good in ways that were not possible in generations past.

Many of the past sins of the Irish churches are rooted in their close relationships with political power.

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FE AT U R E

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MEASURES OF SECULARISATION Sociologists of religion measure secularisation in three main ways: 1) Declines in measures of 'religiosity', such as church attendance, vocations to ministry, or belief in God, hell, the afterlife, etc.

2) Declines in political influence, including the formal separation of church and state and reduced impact on state laws.

3) Declines in social influence, including a lessening of the extent to which social values are informed by religious teaching.

According to these measures Ireland is secularising, although not as much as other parts of Europe.

For me, the main sociological reason why secularisation is good for the churches lies in the separation of church and state, or put another way, the separation of religious and political power. When churches are bound up with political power, they lose their ability to critique abuses of power. They may become too closely associated with national or ethnic identity to truly seek the common good, or

to take up the cause of the marginalised.

Many of the past sins of the Irish churches are rooted in their close relationships with political power. The churches' loss of political power presents them with a new freedom to pursue causes neglected by the powerful: age-old causes like reconciliation between Catholics and Protestants; and new causes like welcoming strangers to our shores.

But many Christians mourn their loss of power. A 2008 study of the Presbyterian Church by Sandra Baillie asked people about their views on the future – and they were almost universally pessimistic. One minister said: "In the immediate future, the Church will decline in numbers. … Humanly speaking, the future looks bleak. Society is now totally shaped by anti-Christian thinking and teaching." Another said: "It will be downhill all the way."

I have found similar sentiments in my own research – with notable exceptions being some Catholics who are relieved that their church has lost power because they think

this will prevent the abuses of the past.

American theologian Stanley Hauerwas once said: "The churches in the West aren't dying – God is killing them." The point he was making was that all the churches of the West had become too closely bound up with political power, too keen to collude in military and economic violence, and vulnerable to the temptations of corruption and abuse. So, before we mourn the loss of church 'influence', we should pause to reflect on Hauerwas' words. Hauerwas does not think that God's 'killing' of the church means its disappearance from public life. Rather, it is God's way of opening up new ways for churches to contribute to the common good.

CHURCHES HAVE CHOICES Churches have choices in how they respond to secularisation. If their choices are rooted in defensiveness and fear, they will destroy their witness and become largely irrelevant.

A 2016 book by Andrew Brown and Linda Woodhead, That was the Church that was:

An Iona Institute survey found that one in five Catholics who attended Mass prior to the pandemic 'don't know' if they will return when all restrictions are lifted REALITY MARCH 2021

How the Church of England Lost the English People, describes how the Church of England has become largely irrelevant, at least in their view.

A majority of adults in England, Scotland and Wales now describe their affiliation as 'no religion' rather than 'Christian'. This makes the UK one of an estimated seven countries worldwide where people of 'no religion' outnumber those who identify with a religion.

According to Brown and Woodhead, when the Church of England was confronted with changing social values, it turned in on itself and became a more 'sectarian' church concerned with preserving purity around matters of gender and sexual morality – rather than promoting the common good.

But in Ireland, the churches still have the opportunity to make choices rooted in openness and love, in the process helping to transform Ireland in ways we have yet to imagine. One advantage of the churches' now marginal position is that they have more freedom and flexibility to critique abuses of power, to form diverse networks for activism for the common good, and to articulate alternative visions of the future – including robust alternatives to unbridled individualism and consumerism.

But this won't happen without listening to young Christians and trusting them to make the changes they want to see in our churches.

Millennials and Generation Z are unlikely to want to preserve all aspects of our church institutions in their current form. Ireland's young Christians should be encouraged to offer the churches their creative ideas about what the Spirit is saying about changing our churches.

THE PANDEMIC: OPPORTUNITY AMID TRAGEDY The coronavirus pandemic has been a tragedy. The death and mourning it has brought can only be lamented. But Ireland's churches have responded energetically to it.

A survey I carried out in partnership with the Irish Council of Churches/Irish Inter-Church Meeting found that during the pandemic,

75 per cent of Catholic, Church of Ireland, Presbyterian and Methodist churches had maintained or increased their social services to the wider community. In addition, clergy have been designated as 'key workers' in recognition of their important roles in burying the dead and ministering to the grieving.

Churches of all denominations moved quickly to put their services online. Before the pandemic, 56 per cent of parishes/ congregations on the island provided online worship opportunities. By May 2020, that figure had increased to 87 per cent. Some faith communities began offering more opportunities for online worship than they had for in-person worship, starting new bible studies, youth group meetings, rosaries, compline, and other prayer meetings.

Seventy per cent of clergy said they would retain at least some aspects of their online ministries when restrictions on gatherings were lifted.

Clergy also reported that people were praying more and that numbers far in excess of those who would attend services in person were accessing services online.

Some clergy were sceptical that this could be explained as a religious revival among the general population, interpreting it as an intensification of faith among those already relatively committed.

Increases in lay activism have accompanied this intensification. More laity are offering pastoral care, helping in food banks and other such initiatives, providing technical expertise/IT support, and – when church buildings are open – stewarding sociallydistanced services. There were some denominational differences in volunteerism.

Protestants were much more likely to assist their clergy with pastoral care matters than Catholics.

On the other hand, there are indications that the pandemic is hastening the decline of religious practice. An Iona Institute survey found that one in five Catholics who attended Mass prior to the pandemic 'don't know' if they will return when all restrictions are lifted.

Churches also face daunting financial challenges. Almost all parishes and congregations have had declines (or delays) in financial giving, and clergy in some dioceses and denominations have had pay cuts. Some lay staff have been furloughed, meaning that not all ministries can operate at full capacity.

These countervailing trends present churches with more choices. Churches can become demoralised if attendance falters, finances are strained, and some church buildings are closed. Or churches can choose to continue with online ministries, developing 'blended' online/in-person approaches that may enhance people's spiritual growth and bolster evangelisation. They can choose to continue to serve the most vulnerable and marginalised in their communities. They can choose to encourage and empower the laity to become more involved in church life.

Writing in his personal diary in 2002, the late Fr Gerry Reynolds CSsR reflected on the importance of listening to how the spirit is leading. Facing into an uncertain future, we might find guidance and inspiration in his words: "The future does not arrive. It is created and depends on our ability to listen. The Spirit communicates himself to each one for the good of the whole community. … The charism of shared spirituality with laity must be institutionalised to grow and survive.'"

Gladys Ganiel is a sociologist at Queen's University Belfast. Her books include Unity Pilgrim: The Life of Fr Gerry Reynolds CSsR and Transforming Post-Catholic Ireland: Religious Practice in Late Modernity. She has written two reports on religion during the pandemic, both published by the Irish Council of Churches/ Irish Inter-Church Meeting: 'People Still Need Us: A Report on a Survey of Faith Leaders on the Island of Ireland during the Covid-19 Pandemic' (May 2020) and 'Something Other than a Building: A Report on Churches on the Island of Ireland during the Covid-19 Pandemic' (January 2021).

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COM M E N T WITH EYES WIDE OPEN JIM DEEDS

WISDOM IN THE WIND

A WALK TO THE SUMMIT OF DIVIS MOUNTAIN REMINDED ME OF GOD'S CONSTANT PRESENCE, WHETHER THE WIND IS AT MY BACK OR IN MY FACE

In

a year of lockdown after lockdown and all the restrictions that come as part of that experience, I have come to appreciate one activity more than ever before – walking.

These days I spend more and more time walking above the city streets in the mountains that frame this part of Belfast. Indeed, I spent some hours recently walking to Divis Mountain's summit and was taught some valuable lessons as I went. It was the windiest day I'd walked in for a very long time. Depending on what direction I was going, the wind was variously at my back or in my face. The presence or absence of this powerful wind became the dominant feature of my walk. As they frequently do when walking alone, my thoughts turned to God and the nature of life's journey.

WALKING INTO THE WIND: When walking into the wind, the only thing that kept me going was resolve. It would have been tempting to stop walking altogether. I kept a sense of focus on my journey and, in particular, on my destination.

Most of the time, I couldn't see my destination. What I could see, however, was the scenery on the way. Even facing the wind, and all the effort it took, could not take away from the beauty of the world and people around me. This helped strengthen my resolve to keep travelling on to my destination.

It would have been tempting

(and understandable) for me to want the wind to 'go away'.

But walking into the wind takes more effort, burns more calories, and builds more muscle. Good can come of walking into the wind, it seems.

Besides that, the wind that I experienced as blowing into my face and pushing me back was the same wind that was at another's back helping them along. The wind isn't mine to control, nor to fathom fully. It is my task to accept that there is wind. I pushed on towards the summit.

WITH THE WIND AT MY BACK: On the climb up to the summit, there is a path made of rocks.

That day it was icy in places and water-filled in others. The rocks were a bit treacherous.

However, by now the wind was at my back. It literally pushed me up the path. I still had to do the climbing, but with the wind at my back, the climb seemed more doable; less a chore, more of an opportunity to climb higher. As I climbed, I reflected on what keeps the wind at my back in life.

I realised that acknowledging my need of God, and the presence of God in my life, was one such thing. It allows me to accept that life is not all about me. It allows me to accept that I am not, and need not, be in control; God is. Following this line of thought, I came to see the out-working of this acceptance of God's presence. I saw that prayer, scripture and Mass kept

me going in life; they kept the wind at my back, if you will.

Being in touch with other people and in touch with hobbies and interests also keeps the wind at my back in life. My job is to find these things and to put effort into maintaining them.

WHEN THE WIND DIED DOWN: At the summit of the mountain, the wind was at its strongest.

There were times that it nearly blew me off my feet. And yet, when I walked only a few feet down from the summit, the wind died down completely. It wasn't that there was no wind anywhere. It was only that I had come to a spot on my journey where there was shelter from the wind. I felt a sense of calm come over me. My body, which had felt so cold in the wind, began to heat up a little. I could take a moment to look around and to give thanks for the journey I was on.

I reflected that there were many other times I had walked on this mountain when there was no wind blowing at all.

However, I did not have the same sense of thankfulness that I experienced that day in that spot. Other times I took the moments of calm for granted – not even seeing them as such. It took the presence of the strong wind to help me appreciate the calm times.

My journey ended safely, and I came back down the mountain, albeit still with the feeling of

the wind in my bones. I felt the energy I had expended in the muscles in my legs and back. I settled down with a cup of coffee and rested. I allowed my mind to replay the teaching that came as I walked. I prayed: Lord God, creator of mountains and valleys, maker of forests and oceans, architect of life itself, I give thanks for my walk today.

There will be times on life's journey when I feel like I am walking into the wind. Be with me, strengthening me along the way.

There will be times when I will feel the wind at my back. Help me to be grateful for these times and to know that there will be others who are struggling even as I feel that I am coasting. May I be your presence of support for them.

There will be times when I feel the absence of life's wind – the absence of struggle and worry.

Help me to rest well when that happens, ever grateful and readying myself for the next leg of my journey.

Amen.

Belfast man Jim Deeds is a poet, author, pastoral worker and retreat-giver working across Ireland.

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LI T U RGY

THERE ARE MANY CREATIVE AND ENGAGING WAYS WE CAN CELEBRATE THE SEASON OF LENT, EVEN IN THE ERA OF COVID-19

BY MARIA HALL

LENT

IN PARISH AND SCHOOL

20 Our

Lenten practices date back centuries and encompass a fascinating and wide variety of cultural traditions.

Many of these are what we call acts of 'popular piety' that complement the official liturgy of the church.

Some of these rituals emerged when formal liturgy was inaccessible to the laity, so they created prayers and acts in which they could participate.

The Middle Ages were a high point in the development of such devotions. There was a growth in pilgrimages, processions, litanies and the emergence of Eucharistic devotions, the Angelus, the Rosary and Stations of the Cross.

Some European countries held the Procession of the Penitents, Fire Sunday and the Feast of Torches.

The Burying of the Alleluia became popular along with Palm Donkeys and the Creeping to the Cross.

'Popular' became an apt word for all of these, as they allowed the faithful an involvement that the liturgy denied. But they had limitations. The Word of God was often absent. Most people had low literacy skills, and there was a lack of catechesis and preaching on scripture.

In recent years, the church has officially encouraged such acts whilst reminding us of "the pre-eminence of the liturgy over any other possible form of legitimate Christian prayer".

REALITY MARCH 2021

But these devotions should be so drawn up that they harmonise with the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some fashion derived from it, and lead the people to it, since, in fact, the liturgy by its very nature far surpasses any of them.

Directory for Popular Piety For those of us involved in preparing liturgies, this is important to know, understand and encourage.

The sacraments come first. Then, we have the freedom to be creative and explore how extra devotions can enhance our prayer life and bring us closer to God. RECONCILIATION Penance is one of the big themes of Lent. We see this particularly in the readings at Mass during the early weeks of Lent. Receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation is the ultimate high point, as the

faithful seek to repent and those seeking baptism prepare for their initiation at Easter.

There are many ways we can emphasise the penitential aspect of Lent. At Sunday Mass, the Penitential Rite can be emphasised by being sung. There are some excellent modern settings, or one can sing a simple Latin chant: Kyrie for Lent by Bob Hurd (OCP Music) Kyrie from the Mass of St Mel by John O'Keefe Kyrie from Missa de Angelis.

Elements of the Introductory Rites from Mass are ideal for lay-led liturgies and use in schools.

This is the perfect time for children to learn the 'I Confess', saying it as a daily prayer. Using Form 3 of the Penitential Rite, children can compose their own tropes to accompany the 'Lord have mercy'. Younger children can learn to repeat the simple 'Lord have mercy; Christ have mercy' .

Scripture and an Examination of Conscience can form the basis of a parish or school liturgy.

began the custom of recreating the sites in other places. In 1342, the Franciscans were given custody of the Holy Sites, and they were the first to develop what we know as the Stations of the Cross. An English pilgrim, William Hey, was the first writer to call them 'Stations'. Some early versions were constructed literally. Their creators travelled to the Holy Land to measure the actual distance between various sites to recreate them accurately. The number of stations varied from 19 to 37. The traditional number of 14 was only settled in the 18th century.

Today we can pray the stations in many ways; alone or together, in church or online.

There are some great videos on YouTube which might be particularly useful this year. There are also beautiful children's versions to watch or act out. Drama and art are wonderful ways of exploring feelings, emotions and motivations, all of which lead to reflection and prayer. Classes or families can prepare a station and pray it, video it, do an audio recording, create or select artwork and share it with others. Here is an opportunity for parishes and schools to be imaginative with technology, especially in this COVID-challenged year.

These 40 days In these forty days, Mother Church vests herself simply in violet.

Her halls are bare and much of her gracious music is muted.

At the end of the season, her lamps will be extinguished and her altars will be stripped.

But this is her true springtime when her children grow in grace, in ways often imperceptible, subtle and varied.

Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year

We all need the opportunity to think about and reflect on our failings, and here is the chance to do so in a creative way. Young people can discuss and create their own list of failings. I have done this many times with eight-year-olds. It needs explanation and guidance initially but is rewarded with a proper understanding and willing engagement.

Such paraliturgies provide opportunities in writing prayers and reflections and creating inspiring and reflective spaces.

There is a wealth of Lenten symbols we can use (the cross is always the most important). For some inspiration, Pinterest is an excellent app for photos of displays and altars. Anything creative should reflect the nature of the season and should point to the coming Paschal Mystery. Lent is not an island.

'Popular' became an apt word for all of these, as they allowed the faithful an involvement that the liturgy denied.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS The Stations of the Cross are our most popular Lenten devotion. They were created to allow the faithful to walk in the footsteps of Christ's passion. For centuries, Jerusalem was the centre of Christian pilgrimage. Back in the fourth century, Egeria documented her experiences of attending liturgies at the various holy sites: When ever yone arrives at G et hs e m a n e , t h e y h av e a n appropriate prayer, a hymn, then a reading from the Gospel about the Lord's arrest… everyone is groaning and lamenting and weeping so loud that people even across the city can probably hear it.

Egeria's Travels The Middle Ages' crusades made travel to the Holy Land too dangerous, and so

LITURGIES OF THE WORD In sacred scripture, the church constantly finds her nourishment and her strength, for she welcomes it not as a human word, but as what it really is, the word of God. In the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children and talks with them.

Catechism of the Catholic Church No liturgy is complete without scripture.

We all must make the Word of God the heart of our communal prayer. The Sunday

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Resources to help you celebrate Lent Journey with Jesus Journeying with Jesus is a deeply spiritual and lavishly resourced programme of study for those who want to journey side by side with our Lord during Lent, either individually or in small groups. We begin our journey in the wilderness and finally sit with him at the table before accompanying him to the cross. The main purpose of the book is to encourage the reader to think about Jesus’ journey and their own. How can the story of Jesus throw light on your own? €14.95 +P.P.

€3.00 +P.P.

Lent Extra Globally, countless people lost loved ones to Covid-19. Easter and Christmas didn’t stop their heartache as they – we – walked the Way of the Cross with Jesus. We travelled, carrying the experiences, losses and gains of 2020, hoping for the promised vaccine and restored normality.

Lent follows one man’s journey – through jealousy, misunderstanding, betrayal, rejection, abandonment, agony, despair, friendship, loyalty, compassion and courage – towards the new life and hope of Easter.

His journey is ours.

Palm Sunday /Holy Week Booklet •Liturgy for Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday • Includes the Passion Reading for Palm €0.80 Sunday for Years A, B per copy +P.P. and C • Reflections for personal prayer or communal celebration •A guided Way of the Cross • A selection of hymns and chants appropriate for the season. (Discounts for large numbers)

€14.95 +P.P.

€3.00 +P.P.

€2.50 +P.P. Celebrate Lent Perfect for 7-12 year olds, it will encourage them to think about and grow in their faith while they have loads of fun! Celebrate:Lent comes with a Lent calendar and activity sheet for even more things to do.

Stations of The Cross- Then and Now Fr Denis McBride CSsR guides us along the way of the cross. He contrasts the beauty and solemn simplicity of the traditional stations with modern images that challenge us to link Jesus’ story to the struggle of our everyday life.

Praying the Rosary This beautifully illustrated book is for beginners, as well as those who have been praying the rosary for many years. It can be used by the family or a prayer group. It is ideal for those who wish to pray the rosary tranquilly, resting in the mysteries, like Mary, ‘who pondered them in her heart.’

TO ORDER: ONLINE: www.redcoms.org EMAIL: sales@redcoms.org PHONE: 00353 (1) 4922 488 Redemptorist Communications - helping you to hand on the faith!

LI T U R GY

The prayers of the faithful are an excellent resource and not just for Mass.

They are an effective way of making prayers relevant, especially in current times.

readings are a good starting point. There are some great animations on YouTube (especially the scrutiny Gospels) which would be suitable to use with young people.

Liturgies of the Word are especially important in the absence of a priest. There are formats and guidance available online. Suppose this doesn't happen regularly in the parish. In that case, Lent is a good time to start, and if encouraged in schools, is valuable formation for the future. It is vital that we invest in our young people's potential, beginning with some simple presider training and lots of encouragement.

The prayers of the faithful are an excellent resource and not just for Mass. They are an effective way of making prayers relevant, especially in current times.

In some places, these prayers have been cut from Sunday Mass during the pandemic, but praying

for specific needs, especially at this time, is essential.

STATIONAL LITURGIES The custom of stational liturgies is far older than the Stations of the Cross. It dates back to Rome in the early centuries of the church. On a station day, Christians would meet with the pope, pray the collect of the day, and then process to the station church for Mass, reciting the litany of the saints on their way. This happened on feast days throughout the year but became particularly popular during Lent, and the church visited was connected to the saint or feast of the day. For example, Good Friday was celebrated in the Basilica of the Holy Cross.

By the time of Pope Gregory the Great, this was a formalised practice and was linked to the missal and the divine office. In Jerusalem, the procession took pilgrims to various holy places and, in

March of the Penitents at a Good Friday procession in Quito, Ecuador

Constantinople, to the Hagia Sophia. Dom Prosper Geuranger tells us that stational processions were a core part of the monastic Lenten practices in the Middle Ages. In recent years there has been a revival in this custom (The Pontifical North American College re-enacts it; see resources).

Lent is a journey for us, so why not make a physical or virtual journey, following the traditional Roman route (George Weigel's book is an excellent resource) or creating one for your own community?

You can use saints that are relevant to your family, school, or parish. In these difficult times, try a Zoom stational journey. Have a family or class responsible for a particular saint or feast. Set up a small altar, light a candle, create artwork, recite the litany of the saints, and share prayers and the journey together.

In better times, we can meet as parishes, deaneries or dioceses, and make collective journeys to different churches or places of devotion.

SOME RESOURCES www.mariahall.org/lent-and-easter (videos/liturgies) www.pnac.org/station-churches/stationchurch/ (Pontifical North American College) litmus.dublindiocese.ie/ (Liturgy of the Word in the absence of a priest) catholicireland.net/liturgical-resources-for-lent-andeastertide/ dioceseofkerry.ie/resources-2/liturgy-2/lent/ What a day! The Stations of the Cross for young people (Pub. Kevin Mayhew) Celebrating a Holy Catholic Easter Fr William Saunders Roman Pilgrimage: The Station Churches George Weigh It is Good for Us to be Here: Gathered on a Weekday when Eucharist is not Celebrated (National Liturgy Centre, Veritas) Maria Hall is music director at St Wilfrid's Church, Preston, England. A qualified teacher, she has a Master’s from the Liturgy Centre, Maynooth and is a consultant on matters liturgical for schools and parishes. www.mariahall.org

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F R AT E LLI T UT TI

THE INVITATION TO FRIENDSHIP

WE WELCOME THIS NEW SERIES THAT INTRODUCES POPE FRANCIS' ENCYCLICAL FRATELLI TUTTI 24

BY MIKE DALEY

I

must have seen it close to 50 times by now—The Elephant Man. As the film title suggests, a man with severe skin deformities is forced to eke out a living as a circus freak in Victorian England.

Eventually, the Elephant Man, whose actual name is Joseph Merrick, is rescued by the philanthropic physician Dr Frederick Treves.

Over the years, without fail, different persons, scenes and quotes stand out from others.

Many people, even those who haven't seen the film, have heard the line, "I am not an elephant. I am not an animal. I am a human being."

A scene toward the end of the film continues to unsettle me.

Merrick has recently returned REALITY MARCH 2021

from the continent. He was kidnapped and taken there

by Mr Bytes, his monstrous 'owner', to continue his sideshow existence. Reunited in London with his caretaker Dr Treves, they get ready for an evening at the theatre.

Before leaving for the show, Treves says sympathetically to Merrick, "Again, I can't tell you how sorry I am for what happened. See, I had no idea really." Calming Treves' concern, Merrick replies, "Please, you mustn't blame yourself. Mr Treves don't worry about me, my friend. I am happy every hour of the day. My life is full cause I know that I am loved. I gained myself. I could not say that were it not for you."

To which Treves, cautiously and

awkwardly, responds, "Well, and I, you've done so much for me as well. Thank you." At this point, Treves turns to leave the room.

As the door closes behind him, Merrick, in a voice only he can hear, utters back to Treves, "Very good my friend, my friend."

As moving and touching as the scene is, I am left incomplete and feeling a little empty. The lingering question for me is: why didn't Treves extend the same words of friendship back to Merrick? What barrier prevented him from doing so?

Considering Pope Francis' latest encyclical Fratelli Tutti: On Fraternity and Social Friendship, the question I put before Treves confronts me: Who am I not reaching out to in friendship?

What obstacles am I allowing

to get in the way of greater relationship for me and others?

POPE OF FRATERNITY AND FRIENDSHIP Perhaps, like me, you were more than a little surprised when, on March 13, 2013, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio from Buenos Aires, Argentina, appeared on the balcony of St Peter's Basilica succeeding Benedict XVI as the newly-elected pope. Then we heard the name, taken from the saint of fraternity – Francis.

His first words to those gathered in the square and throughout the world included the following: "And now, we take up this journey: Bishop and People. This journey of the Church of Rome which presides in charity over all the churches.

Pope Francis meeting with Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb in Abu Dhabi in 2019

A journey of fraternity, of love, of trust among us. Let us always pray for one another. Let us

and water as his sisters. The encyclical calls us to greater friendship with the earth; to see it as our home rather than a thing to plunder and exploit.

I hope St Ignatius of Loyola has a sense of humour as his fellow Jesuit, Pope Francis, continues to be inspired by the 'little brother' of Assisi. It was to that city on Saturday, October 3, 2020, that Pope Francis went to pray at the saint's tomb and sign Fratelli Tutti. On October 4, 2020, the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, the encyclical was officially released. It draws its title from an admonition St Francis offered to his own religious brothers and today extends to us to "acknowledge, appreciate and love each person, regardless of physical proximity, regardless of where he or she was born or lives."

Early in the encyclical, Pope Francis highlights an important event in St Francis' life: his visit during the Fifth Crusade in 1219 to Sultan Malik al-Kamil

God has created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity, and has called them to live together as brothers and sisters. pray for the whole world, that there may be a great spirit of fraternity."

Pope Francis' concern for fraternity and solidarity was highlighted again in 2015 with the publication of Laudato Si' ('On Care for Our Common Home'). The encyclical drew its title from St Francis' Canticle of Creation. In it, St Francis speaks to the sun, earth, and fire as his brothers and the moon, stars,

in Egypt. What could have been a disaster, even death for St Francis, became an opportunity for dialogue as "Francis did not wage a war of words aimed at imposing doctrines; he simply spread the love of God." As Fratelli Tutti indicates, Pope Francis modelled this same spirit of dialogue when he and the Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb met in Abu Dhabi in 2019 and produced the Document on

Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together declaring, "God has created all human beings equal in rights, duties and dignity, and has called them to live together as brothers and sisters." The encyclical, in part, builds on the themes of this text.

BRIDGES OR BORDERS Fratelli Tutti, though easy to read in the literal sense, is quite difficult in another. At a meeting sponsored by Georgetown University in Washington, DC. introducing the encyclical, Cardinal Michael Czerny, undersecretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, stated that "Fratelli Tutti attacks an ideal that we subscribe to, many of us, most of us, without knowing it. And that is that we are self-made, prosperous orphans. We're self-made. We don't recognise God as creator.

We're prosperous. We deserve everything that we consume and have. And we're orphans. We're unconnected. We're free, we're very free. We're totally free. We're actually alone."

With this mindset infecting the hearts and minds of many, Pope Francis offers this "social encyclical as a modest contribution to continued reflection, in the hope that in the face of present-day attempts to eliminate or ignore others, we may prove capable of responding with a new vision of fraternity and social friendship that will not remain at the level of words."

MIRAGES VS DREAMS These hopes were put to the test

when the COVID-19 pandemic struck throughout the world, fraying social bonds and heightening levels of instability at both the personal and institutional levels. Here Pope Francis laments that "aside from the different ways that various countries responded to the crisis, their inability to work together became quite evident. For all our hyper-connectivity, we witnessed a fragmentation that made it more difficult to resolve problems that affect us all."

The introduction to Fratelli Tutti closes with two competing images: mirages vs dreams.

The choice, according to Pope Francis, will make all the difference not only for the present but also for the future.

He suggests, "By ourselves, we risk seeing mirages, things that are not there. Dreams, on the other hand, are built together."

With Pope Francis, in a spirit of fraternity and social friendship, "Let us dream, then, as a single human family, as fellow travellers sharing the same flesh, as children of the same earth which is our common home, each of us bringing the richness of his or her beliefs and convictions, each of us with his or her own voice, brothers and sisters all."

Mike Daley is a teacher and writer from Cincinnati, Ohio, where he lives with his wife June and their three children. His latest book, co-authored with scripture scholar, Sr Diane Bergant, is Take and Read: Christian Writers Reflect on Life’s Most Influential Books (Apocryphile Press).

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Letter from St Patrick A SURPRISING BUT HOPEFUL EPISTLE FROM OUR NATIONAL APOSTLE

BY GERARD MOLONEY CSsR

A

couple of years ago I opened my inbox to discover an email with a strange address: patrick@heaven.paradise I thought it was some sort of prank - one of my friends messing with me for St Patrick's Day. Always curious, I decided to open it. It seemed authentic. I was astounded.

Flabbergasted. St Patrick had taken the time to write to me for his feast, little old insignificant me. So, naturally, I was thrilled to discover another email from St Patrick sitting in my inbox this morning which I thought it only right to share with you.

REALITY MARCH 2021

It starts…

Dear Fr Gerard Just a few lines to say hello on my feast day and praise you for the fantastic job you're doing in the Redemptorist church in Limerick, and for having stepped back into the editor's chair for a few weeks while Fr Brendan regains his health. I must apologise for neglecting to write to you last year, but old age makes me increasingly forgetful.

As I told you before, I've always had great time for the Redemptorists, and St Alphonsus

is one of my closest pals. I like to hang out with the more scholarly saints like him – the doctors of the church – because it makes me look more important. But the real reason I'm drawn to Alphonsus is that he founded the Redemptorists especially to minister to the poor goat and sheep herds on the mountains around Amalfi in Italy. Of course, I used to be a sheep herd myself and know its tough life.

So I admire his founding vision and hope his successors remain faithful to it today.

I've been around for many St Patrick's Days, but this is one of the most challenging since

Famine times. Some saints up here accuse me of having a swelled head, even of being conceited, but you can get accustomed to your feast being celebrated throughout the whole world, even by people who can't find Ireland on a map. You can get used to the big parades and marching bands and green rivers and exuberant parties, and shamrock on people's breasts, and rousing hymns sung in packed churches. It makes a lot of saints green with jealousy, if you pardon the lame pun! They hate that my feast is the most popular anywhere on earth. After all the hullabaloo about Brexit, St George was hoping he'd get a boost, but no sign of that yet. And, of course, Boris is a Russian saint!

So you can imagine how painful it is for me this year to see the celebration of my feast cancelled or curtailed throughout the world, to have no big parades or parties, to have everything locked down. That's bad enough, but to have churches closed in so many countries is especially difficult to accept.

Today is a religious feast, first and foremost,

and the fact that people can't come together in crowds to celebrate the faith handed down from generation to generation is a big blow to me (as it was last year). It brings my mind back to the old penal days when people gathered surreptitiously around Mass rocks.

So, naturally enough, I'm feeling grumpy this year. St Bridget did her best to cheer me up last night with a season ticket for Anfield. She knows that, like yourself, I'm a great Liverpool fan, but when I look at the impact of the coronavirus and at the plight of the church and the world right now, it's hard to think of football. (Speaking of sport, I can assure you the Limerick hurlers will retain the Liam McCarthy Cup this year, thus cementing their claim to immortality. I always support teams in green.)

Anyway, at breakfast this morning, St Bridget and St Columbanus both agreed with me that this crisis presents a real opportunity as well as a challenge.

Closed doors remind us that the church is not a building, but all of us, that Christ isn't only in the tabernacle but in the midst of us; that the church is made up of families, little communities of faith, what Vatican II calls the domestic church. Each family watching and participating on the webcam is the domestic church at its most basic and fundamental level.

That fact that people can't receive the Eucharist is a reminder of how precious the Eucharist is, that it's something we should never take for granted. Being deprived of it hopefully deepens our desire for it.

It's also a glimpse of what the Christian community would be like without priests, a situation that already exists in parts of the world. It reminds us of the need for reform in the church so that the Eucharist can be celebrated.

This coronavirus reminds us, too, of our fragility and interconnectedness. We never know what's around the corner; we need each other. It reminds us of the importance of family, of community, of solidarity. It was great to see so much evidence of that around the country this past year (though I was disappointed that so many let their

guard down over Christmas). COVID-19 respects no borders - but love recognises no borders either, and the way we show we are Christians is by our love. I hope this crisis draws peoples and nations closer together rather than tempting them to put up barriers and walls.

There are no parades today, which is a bummer. I love watching them around the country – the colour, the excitement, the fun, the superabundance of green, people of all ages together as one – but we can still celebrate today. We Irish are good at enjoying ourselves. We can make today like a mini Christmas Day, a (small) nuclear family event, a spiritual celebration. There are no trees with gifts underneath, but love is the gift we can share, love and faith passed on through the centuries. And we can pray for each other and for care providers who are working so hard to protect us all.

So, Fr Gerard, that's my wish for you and for your readers today. Tough times, yes, challenging times, definitely, but at least you have the comfort of knowing that the Limerick hurlers and Liverpool FC both are reigning champions this year. Sometimes the good guys do win in the end.

Slán anois and best wishes from all of us up here.

Your friend in Christ, Patrick PS. I'm sorry if this email reads like a bit of a lecture, but I'm worked up today. I know you'll understand. P.

Fr Gerard Moloney CSsR is a former editor of Reality. He continues to write while working as a parish missioner.

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SON OF ENCOURAGEMENT

THE STORY OF FELIX IS A REMINDER NEVER TO LOSE HOPE

BY COLM MEANEY CSsR 28

Felix

was exquisitely, aptly named: a man of an almost constant jolly, upbeat temperament. His joi de vivre was infectious, and one felt buoyed-up having been in his company. The only problem was that Felix was a drug addict – an on-and-off addict to be precise (if that's not a contradiction in terms).

Our paths crossed because one of our mission group also worked

REALITY MARCH 2021

part-time with a government drug rehabilitation programme.

Felix subsequently joined us for a few of our mission activities in Cebu (second city of the Philippines). He was always a great presence.

Felix was the perfect 'insider'.

He knew all the tricks of the trade, all the code words, all the slang. He had been sent to rehabilitation eight times (each time paid for by his hard-

working, anxious parents).

After each stint inside, he had fallen again when the irresistible craving for the apparently problem-solving injection would strike once more. At the eighth hearing, the judge warned him that the next time he'd find himself behind bars.

Still, he was a great presence at our mission gatherings.

Sometimes he spoke from a stage, telling his tale. Other

times, in a more relaxed setting, his input would be followed by a question and answer session, which was fascinating.

I could sense that the parents, mostly mothers (and the odd grandmother) were genuinely eager to hear Felix's answers and advice.

CRAFTY DESIGNS He was the eldest child and was spoilt, especially by his

grandmother. Felix could do no wrong in her eyes, but the trouble started when he began to steal to finance his drug use.

He would steal from his mother's purse and pawn any household items he could get his hands on.

Eventually, every bedroom in their house had to be padlocked to frustrate his crafty designs.

An addict will go to extremes to satisfy the craving, and so Felix began robbing shops and petrol stations. But he was something of an inept criminal because he always got caught, and ended up in yet another rehabilitation centre. He spent time in both government-run centres and private ones – the latter were quite expensive, often with draconian prison-like regimes.

But no matter how severe the treatment, Felix would finish the course, re-enter civil society, and soon enough the craving for drugs would resurface. (The shortest time he lasted having come out of a rehabilitation centre before being re-admitted was three days).

When I first met Felix, he had managed a near-miraculous six months without taking drugs.

I gave a talk at a government centre, and he was enthused to volunteer, on a part-time basis,

to accompany our mission team.

His father was a captain in the police; his mother was a teacher. They were concerned for Felix and at their wits' end as to how to help him. I met them just once and spoke with them by phone on another occasion.

The former was when I, with some people from a mission area where Felix had spoken, attended his birthday party in their home. It was both a relaxed and somewhat solemn occasion. Before the meal, we had a ceremony where each person lit a candle and spoke a prayer or wish for Felix.

It was prayerful, and I distinctly recall giving Felix a nickname.

Barnabas, whose own original name was Joseph, was the fellow who sold his farm and donated the proceedings to the early Christians (Acts 4:36).

He was given the nickname Barnabas, which means 'son of encouragement', which I thought suited Felix perfectly; if not in terms of his long-suffering parents, at least in the effect he had on others when he shared his story.

Whatever about Felix' struggles with addiction – two steps forward, one step back – he was always a gracious, approachable

and helpful presence at our gatherings. Parents listened intently to him because drugs are a massive problem in the Philippines, both in cities and in rural areas. He knew all the telltale signs of addiction or, more importantly, the tactics to hide it, and that's why the parents were so interested in his words.

ENCOURAGING NEWS Time passed, and Felix ended up again in a low-security rehab centre. Together with those same neighbours who had attended his birthday celebration, we drove the one hundred miles to visit him. During that trip, I spoke again with his parents.

I was praying that their hopes for his recovery hadn't been exhausted. I was thinking of Simeon's prophecy about how Mary was destined to suffer because of the hostile reaction of many to her son Lk: 2:34.35.

Surely the hearts of Felix' parents had been pierced many times.

We visited Felix, chatted with him, had some lunch, wished him well, and returned to the city.

The last time I met Felix, before I was transferred to another island, was in the hills overlooking Cebu city, where the Redemptorists

have a bungalow. I used to go there regularly on Sunday when the mission activities were over; in fact, Felix had given one of his most impassioned talks in that house. I was returning to the house, having walked in the hills, when I met Felix and his girlfriend, Portia. He seemed entirely at ease, his usual smiling, exuberant self, as if all his woes were a thing of the past. I certainly hoped so.

That final meeting was more than ten years ago. Now, in January 2021, I sought news about Felix from the social worker who first introduced us.

It is encouraging: Felix is married and has two children, and he has a tailoring business near his house. Furthermore, he recently won a prize for biking.

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A native of Limerick city where he went to school in St Clement’s College, Fr Colm Meaney first went to the Philippines as a student and has spent most of his priestly life there.

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COM M E N T FAMILY & RELATIONSHIPS CARMEL WYNNE

BRAIN TALK

STUDIES SHOW THAT MEN'S AND WOMEN'S BRAINS PROCESS INFORMATION DIFFERENTLY Sociobiology is a field of scientific study that shows how our genes and evolution explain our behaviour. In the past 40 years, numerous research studies have examined people's brains and how the sexes process information differently. These differences cannot be explained away by social conditioning.

We have the biological evidence to show that our hormones and brain wiring influence how we think and act. Neuropsychologist Professor Ruben Gur of the University of Pennsylvania used brain scan tests to show some of these differences. When a man's brain is resting, at least 70 per cent of its electrical activity is shut down. During the resting state women's brains showed 90 per cent activity. Women are constantly receiving and analysing information from their environment during the resting state.

Our bodies and brains evolved in entirely different ways. For thousands of years, a man's role was to hunt for food and protect his family. The woman's role was to bear children and gather fruits and vegetables. In the evening, when the men sat around the fire telling stories of the hunt, women tended to the children and interacted with the other women.

Science shows that men and women see in different ways.

A man will see clearly what is directly in front of him. A woman has wider peripheral vision. She

has at least 45 degrees clear vision on either side of her head.

The story of the missing butter is a humorous take by authors Allan and Barbara Pease to illustrate how gender differences affect people in ways they have no knowledge of and little control over.

David: "Where's the butter?"

Jan: "It's in the fridge."

David: "I'm looking in the fridge. I can't find butter."

Jan: "It's there. I put it in five minutes ago."

David: "No, you must have put it somewhere else. There's definitely no butter in this fridge."

At that, Jan goes into the kitchen, opens the fridge and takes out the butter.

Many of the daily incidents that people find irritating happen because of how our brains are wired. Women make the mistake of believing that if a man loves her, he will understand her. Men wrongly assume that if men and women speak the same language, it's logical that they will give the same meaning to the words they use. They don't.

Brain scans reveal that men feel emotions as strongly as women, but they are not skilled at reading body language. When a woman feels secure in her relationship with a man, she won't shy away from an argument. Men find it hard to understand why, when the argument escalates to a certain point, women stop talking.

Men hate it when a woman

goes silent. A curt monosyllabic reply like "Nothing" to the question "Is something wrong?" communicates to a man that a woman is being uncooperative or unhelpful. To a woman, it communicates that she is emotionally so hurt she's not ready to talk about it yet.

Suppose a woman goes silent and refuses to talk. In that case, another woman will immediately sense her mood and say something like, "You look upset."

A woman's tone of voice offers emotional cues that another woman will pick up easily, but only the most empathetic men will pick up.

Men lack the finely-tuned sensory skills that allow women to sense other women's moods and emotional state. A woman's brain is wired to pick up small details and changes in behaviour.

She can sense when another woman feels hurt or angry.

She intuitively reads facial expressions. Through voice intonation and body language, she can sense a person's mood and mirror back the emotions being expressed. When adults talk, you will hear that women share personal information.

They speak about their family, children and everything to do with personal issues. Men talk about sport, cars, work and mechanical gadgets.

It's said that if a man is unhappy at work, he can't focus on his relationships. If a woman is unhappy in her relationships, she can't concentrate on

her work. We know that 80 per cent of the people who write and read articles and books about relationships are women. This exceptionally high female readership reflects the importance that women give to learning about and understanding relationships.

Almost overnight, the coronavirus changed our world. Once the message about social isolation was accepted, a paradigm shift occurred in people's behaviour. Responsible adults stopped shaking hands, hugging and socialising in groups. COVID-19 confirmed that changes in behaviour can happen very quickly.

Understanding the differences in our brain circuitry is both gift and challenge. The gift is knowing how quickly behaviour changes when there is a compelling reason. Finding a compelling reason is the challenge.

Carmel Wynne is a life and work skills coach and lives in Dublin. For more information, visit www.carmelwynne.org

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A DOCTOR IN THE CHURCH ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS AGO, THE SUPPORT OF THE IRISH BISHOPS AIDED THE CAMPAIGN TO HAVE SAINT ALPHONSUS DECLARED A DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

BY RAPHAEL GALLAGHER CSsR

Alphonsus

32

de Liguori w a s canonised in 1839, 52 years after his death. This was a remarkably swift canonisation because of his controversial reputation as the target of rigidly-minded church-people. The Neapolitan Redemptorists take the credit. They were devoted to Alphonsus as the founder of the Redemptorists and were skilful in using their Roman contacts to make it happen. News of the canonisation was briefly noted in Irish clerical circles. Among lay Catholics, there was hardly a ripple. This was soon to change.

ALPHONSUS AND IRELAND The Dublin-based book trade was the agent for the change. Since its formation in 1825, The Catholic Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge Throughout Ireland was the principal promoter of Catholic literature. There was a network of bookshops in Dublin, mainly in the south quay area. The entry of two new enterprises in the 1840s was significant in making Alphonsus known to an Irish audience.

Protestant Bibles that had been given to Catholics.

He took them over to England, to sell or barter, and returned to Ireland with more money-making goods. He was quick to notice the potential of the works of the recently-canonised Alphonsus.

His main sales were of the works of Alphonsus translated by Nicholas Callan, the distinguished scientist of Maynooth College.

The second businessman was the Dubliner James Grace. Over his premises in Capel Street was the sign "Printer, Bookseller, Publisher, Stationery and Account Book Manufacturer". He was all of these but followed a different approach to Duffy in selling the books of Alphonsus. Because of loopholes in copyright law, he could buy books printed in England and re-print them in Ireland without formally breaking the law. By 1845 his catalogue included sermons and spiritual writings of Alphonsus.

Duffy and Grace were religious men, but they were also shrewd business dealers. The availability of various books from the sermons of Alphonsus, as well as more devotional works, meant that Alphonsus was relatively well-known in Ireland before the arrival of the Redemptorists in 1851.

There was a surprising number of parochial libraries for people who could not afford even these cheap books, with a subscription rate of two pennies a month. Library is too grand a word for them. They were usually no more than large trunks or cases, locked under the careful eye of the priest. Proper reading nourishment for the faithful had to be guaranteed. Alphonsus' books met that criterion.

In 1853 the Redemptorists started to build their first monastery in Ireland, Mount Saint Alphonsus, Limerick. The name of Alphonsus had a recognition-value for a lot of clergy and the literate faithful. At that period, the Redemptorists were a strictly-controlled and centrally-organised religious congregation. The power of the Father General in Italy was all-encompassing. Next in the line of command was the Father Provincial who at the time resided in London. Then came the local Rector. Nothing significant happened without the endorsement of the General. Provincials and Rectors watched carefully what Father General was supporting. They governed cautiously.

STEPS TOWARDS BECOMING A DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH Following his canonisation in 1839, there were lacklustre attempts to urge Redemptorist superiors to start the process of having Alphonsus named as Doctor of the Church. Superiors had significant internal problems to take care of: there was no enthusiasm for a project whose success was unsure. Alphonsus had fulfilled two of three legal requirements to be proclaimed a Doctor of the Church (outstanding sanctity, eminent learning). The process to fulfil the third requirement, proclamation by the church, needed good timing, detailed planning and a little luck.

The General of the Redemptorists, Nicholas Mauron, decided that the prospects had improved by 1866. Pope Pius IX, whom Mauron frequently met, indicated as much. For the pope, a further honour for Alphonsus would boost his

The availability of various books from the sermons of Alphonsus, as well as more devotional works, meant that Alphonsus was relatively well-known in Ireland before the arrival of the Redemptorists in 1851.

James Duffy was an inventive Monaghan man.

His first venture into business was to get hold of REALITY MARCH 2021

Fr Nicholas Callan

agenda for the Council (Vatican I) that was already in the pope's mind. Alphonsus was a strong supporter of papal infallibility and a credible apologist for the Catholic faith in liberal societies.

For Mauron, there was the bonus of uniting the two separate branches of the Redemptorists under the umbrella of a shared project. (The Redemptorists had split into two branches some decades previously).

The third requirement, proclamation by the church, involved a general consultation among the bishops of the universal church and the presentation of their signatures to the Congregation of Rites. The pope's agreement was needed for the proclamation to become official. The cautious Mauron prepared the campaign with the surgical accuracy of a man who enjoyed being in control. He did not like surprises.

Before the formal launch of the process of getting signatures to a petition, Mauron tested the waters at the Synod of American Bishops at Baltimore in June 1866.

The American Provincial presented a short text to the bishops. Their reaction was positive, and Mauron took the decision to proceed. He imposed the maximum discretion on everyone involved. His fear was that "our enemies" might set off opposition to the plan. By "enemies", Mauron meant the growing influence of the Jesuits in Rome. They feared that further honour for Alphonsus would undermine the dominance of Jesuit manuals of moral theology.

AROUND THE BISHOPS' PALACES The Rector of Limerick, Thomas Bridgett, was

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34

chosen by the Provincial, Fr THE VOICE OF THE Coffin, to gather signatures FAITHFUL from the 26 Irish bishops. He What is striking about the Irish completed this demanding task bishops' support to Alphonsus between December 1866 and as a Doctor of the Church March 1867. is a repeated motive. There He started at the top, with a is practically no reference to visit to Cardinal Cullen in Dublin. the issues that were dividing Cullen was gracious, though he clerical circles in Rome and warned Bridgett: "What, Saint episcopal conferences in a few Alphonsus, a Doctor of the countries. These divisions were Church! That will not go so fast around the formulation of the in Rome." He signed the petition moral system of Alphonsus, but gave Bridgett friendly advice. and became so bitter that the He thought the text was too long General Fr Mauron talked about Superior General Nicholas Mauron and Limerick Rector Thomas Bridgett and clumsily argued, and not "our enemies". The Irish bishops likely to be read by some country weren't much bothered about bishops. Even if they did read it, they might hesitate lavish dinner. Bridgett gives no impression that this these theoretic issues. Their concern was more to sign something they did not understand. Bridgett was a penance to be endured. practical, as they appreciated the parish missions got permission from the Provincial to prepare a The Archbishop of Tuam, McHale, was the of the Redemptorists. They were impressed by the second version. Attractive copies of this new form only one not to sign the petition: "You must not good effect the writings of Alphonsus were having were speedily prepared by the Redemptoristine take this as a sign of disapprobation or want of on the spiritual lives of laypeople and clergy. Bishop nuns in Dublin. sympathy, but I am not in the habit of putting Durcan of Achonry "spoke of the incalculable good The Archbishop of Cashel and Emily was next my name to any documents." McHale was acting the ascetic writings of our holy founder were on Bridgett's list. Again, the reception was polite. in character. The Redemptorists were not well working in Ireland, as well as his theology among Like Cullen, Archbishop Leahy offered some known in the Connaught region. The visits to the the clergy." suggestions. While he was personally in favour of other bishops were brief. On hearing the purpose The Congregation of Rites approved the petition Saint Alphonsus' stance on infallibility, he advised of Bridgett's visit, the Bishop of Galway McEvilly to have Alphonsus declared a Doctor of the Church Bridgett not to overemphasise it. There were said: "Oh, if that is what you have come for, I'm on March 11, 1871. Pope Pius IX formally published bishops who "might not agree," he said, "and who your man." the necessary decree on July 7 the following year.

Bridgett was anxious about his The approval of the Irish bishops was important visit to the local Bishop of Limerick, because of the positive reputation of the church Butler. They knew each other well, in Ireland at that time.

In a circular letter to the Redemptorists just after though there had been a cooling of relationships. The Redemptorists the decision to proclaim Alphonsus a Doctor of insisted on their right not to be the Church, Father General Mauron sounds more forced to attend certain diocesan like the captain of the underdog team that had just meetings. Bridgett recounts that won the All Ireland: "What a result … many people this misunderstanding was in the were astounded, especially those proud scholars past and "from no one did I receive who love and spread science alone at the expense might therefore demur." a greater warmth of encouragement than from of true piety and devotion … It is to be hoped that It was important for the project's success to have Dr Butler the Bishop of Limerick." in their consternation they will draw some profit the approval of the newly appointed Archbishop Despite the harsh wintry weather from from this healthy blow …." of Armagh. This was acquired on the day of his December 1866 to March 1867 and the The Redemptorists in Ireland appreciated the consecration as Archbishop of Armagh and complicated train journeys caused by episodic Doctorate of Alphonsus as an endorsement of Primate of All Ireland on February 3, 1867. The Fenian activity, Bridgett clearly enjoyed the task. their apostolic work and an occasion to promote signature of Archbishop Michael Kieran was his He enjoyed the social occasions that were part of the popular writings of Alphonsus. first official act as archbishop. It was an incredibly the visits. He was also able to arrange some parish A native of County Cavan, Fr Raphael Gallagher CSsR is a successful day for Bridgett. All the Ulster bishops missions and clergy retreats for the men back in moral theologian and former provincial superior of the Irish were present and duly signed. The day ended with a the Limerick house.

Redemptorists. He is based in Limerick.

The Irish bishops weren't much bothered about these theoretic issues. Their concern was more practical, as they appreciated the parish missions of the Redemptorists.

REALITY MARCH 2021

THE POPE WHO FRACTURED

CHRISTENDOM L E O X AT � � �

35

WHY IS THE VATICAN UNLIKELY TO COMMEMORATE THE 500TH ANNIVERSARY OF POPE LEO X’S DEATH THIS YEAR?

BY MICHAEL COLLINS

The

second son of the Florentine banker, Lorenzo the Magnificent, Giovanni de' Medici began his ecclesiastical career at the age of seven. When created a cardinal just six years later, Lorenzo may have entertained a hope that his son would one day become pope.

The Sacred College of Cardinals usually had little more than a dozen members in the early Renaissance period. Therefore, the odds were reasonably stacked in favour of the son of the leading banker of Florence. Giovanni’s brother, Piero, was destined to lead the family’s banking firm and the young cardinal would ensure that

the revenues of the church would, in some measure, flow into the family’s money chests.

The de' Medici banking business began in 1397 and, in less than a century, the family was the richest in Florence. By the 1430s, Cosimo de' Medici held the political parties in his hand, bribing and blackmailing his way to power.

The family made enemies. On Easter Sunday 1476, one of Cosimo's sons, Giuliano, was stabbed to death during Mass at Florence cathedral. His other son, Lorenzo, survived to restore the family’s fortunes. The assassins, drawn from disgruntled Florentine families,

failed to wipe out the family. The de' Medici family acted swiftly, executing the plotters, including the Archbishop of Pisa, and reestablished their total control over Florence.

Giuliano’s illegitimate son, Giulio, was adopted by his uncle Lorenzo, who set the youth on an ecclesiastical path similar to that of his son Giovanni.

NEW FRONTIERS It was a time of unprecedented change in Europe and across the globe. Christopher Columbus discovered the New World in 1492, and navigators explored unknown

FE AT U R E

36

lands. The spread of the movable-type printing press allowed thousands of people access to literacy, leading in no small measure to the disintegration of Christendom and the formation of a new European order.

Following the death of the fiery and belligerent Julius II in February 1513, 37-year-old Giovanni was elected as Pope Leo X. In 1506, Julius had laid the foundation stone of a new St Peter’s Basilica, designed by Donato Bramante, to replace the fourth-century church built by the emperor Constantine's troops. Two years later, Julius commissioned Michelangelo to paint the vault of the Sistine Chapel and set Raphael to decorate the papal apartments.

Giovanni’s ascendency to the papacy was almost by chance, as the cardinals had chosen him as a compromise.

Having lived an extravagant and carefree life as a cardinal, Leo X was initially overwhelmed by the new office. The oft-reported remark attributed to Leo – “since God has given us the papacy, let Us enjoy it” – is unlikely to be true but, in essence, it summed up Giovanni de' Medici’s approach to life – feasting, hunting, and commissioning artists to embellish his residences. It was later claimed that he squandered the money left by Pope Julius II, overspent in his own pontificate, and bankrupted the next pope's pontificate.

Leo had a strong emotional attachment to his family, and much of his life as cardinal and pope was spent in advancing, defending, and enriching his relatives.

Above: Portrait of Leo X. Right: A ducat at the time of Leo's reign

by some of the foremost humanist scholars of the age and were proficient in Latin and Greek. Lorenzo was a prolific and generous patron of the arts, counting Donatello and Botticelli as both friends and dependents.

The de' Medici paid for much of Florence’s Renaissance art, and Michelangelo owed his career to Lorenzo’s patronage while the artist was a teenager.

In September 1513, Leo appointed his cousin Giulio as Cardinal Archbishop of Florence, although the new cardinal continued to reside at the Vatican as the pope's trusted counsellor.

On the death of Donato Bramante in March the following year, Leo appointed Raphael to

The oft-reported remark attributed to Leo – “since God has given us the papacy, let Us enjoy it” – is unlikely to be true but, in essence, it summed up Giovanni de' Medici’s approach to life – feasting, hunting, and commissioning artists to embellish his residences.

EXCELLENT EDUCATION Lorenzo had ensured that his eight children received a first-class education. The three boys were taught REALITY MARCH 2021

succeed him as architect of St Peter’s, while continuing to decorate the papal apartments.

When Michelangelo left Rome in 1513 to work in Florence on the funerary monument of Pope Julius, Leo commissioned him to decorate the de' Medici family chapel at the Church of San Lorenzo.

As a coronation present, King Manuel of Portugal sent Leo an elephant, which the delighted pontiff housed in the Belvedere courtyard at the Vatican.

Within two years the animal died, probably from an unsuitable diet of rich food from the papal kitchens. Leo ordered its burial in the courtyard, commissioning Raphael to decorate a suitable monument.

ARTISTIC OBSESSIONS Leo was passionate about music, both vocal and

instrumental. Paris de Grassi, the papal master of ceremonies, noted approvingly that the pope attended his religious duties with prayerful devotion. Leo's accounts show vast sums of money expended on musicians. One such singer, Gabriele Merino, was made Archbishop of Bari, even though his main merit appears to have been a melodious voice.

Leo developed the unusual practice of attending the auditions of prospective singers for the papal chapel and giving extravagant gifts to those who were summoned to sing for him in his private chambers.

In the early summer of 1515, Leo commissioned Raphael to design cartoons for 16 tapestries depicting the lives of St Peter and St Paul to be woven on the looms of Pieter van Aelst in Belgium.

If Julius had Michelangelo paint the chapel's vault, Leo wanted Raphael to outstrip him with dazzling tapestries. Leo had visited van Aelst's studio in the early 16th century while still a cardinal and was acquainted with the workshop's sumptuous achievements.

The cartoons were dispatched across the Alps the following summer. On receiving the drawings, van Aelst set his weavers to work with wool and silk threads, the highlights being picked out with gold filament.

OPPONENTS THWARTED In April 1517, Cardinal Alfonso Petrucci, together with three other cardinals, was accused of conspiring against the pontiff's life. While the records of the trial were destroyed during the Sack of Rome 1527, it appears that the cardinal was offended by Leo's perceived ingratitude for his vote at the conclave.

Leo had removed the cardinal's brother Borghese as governor of Siena, replacing him with a cousin who was an ally of the de' Medici.

Borghese was forced to leave Siena and take refuge in Naples. The cardinal was accused of bribing a doctor to poison the pope, hoping that a new pontiff would be more favourable to the Petrucci family.

The 25-year-old cardinal was arrested on April 19, 1517 and was strangled in the dungeon of Castelsantangelo on July 24. Out of deference to his ecclesiastical standing, the chosen executioner was a Muslim.

The three other cardinals implicated in the plot,

Della Rovere, Castellesi and Soderini, were pardoned by the pope on the payment of half a million ducats each. Taking advantage of the situation, on July 1, Leo created 31 new cardinals, each of whom paid enormous sums for his elevation. The pontiff thus filled the papal coffers while stacking the College of Cardinals with pro-Medici supporters.

The pet elephant, given by King Manuel of Portugal

MARTIN LUTHER Of greater historical consequence was how Leo dealt with Martin Luther, an Augustinian friar and lecturer in the university of Wittenburg in Germany.

Leo had promoted the sale of indulgences in Germany to raise money for the new St Peter's Basilica. Luther argued there were no biblical or theological grounds for such mercenary dealings and mercilessly exposed ecclesiastical corruption and abuse. Things came to a head when, on October 31, 1517, Luther challenged academics and ecclesiastics to debate the abuses. When informed about Luther's vociferous complaints, Leo wrote to Luther's superior, asking him to deal with the rebellious academic.

The problem would not go away, and the following year saw political and ecclesiastical upheaval in Germany and Scandinavia. On January 12, 1519, the emperor Maximillian died, leaving an important political and religious vacuum.

Leo vacillated, unsure whether to back the emperor's son, Charles, or Francis, king of France, for the succession. In the event, he chose the former, offering to crown him Holy Roman Emperor in Rome.

Leo was disturbed by reports that the sultan Selim I intended to move westwards, and vainly urged

France, Germany, Spain and Portugal to unite in a crusade.

FRACTURING OF CHRISTENDOM Leo excommunicated Luther in January 1521, and soon afterwards was caught up in a war between Charles V and Francis I, fought in northern Italy. He spent the year as usual in feasting and commissioning new works of art. On December 11, Leo took ill unexpectedly and died of pneumonia.

He was just 45 years old.

Within a year, after the brief pontificate of the Dutch Adrian IV, Giulio de' Medici succeeded his cousin as Pope Clement VII. Today visitors to the Vatican admire Leo’s artistic patronage, but his failure to address the urgent abuses in the 16th-century church made him responsible for the fracturing of Christendom.

While most contemporaries report his intelligence, piety and sense of humour, the first de 'Medici pope was a victim of his family's soaring ambitions. His enemies mercilessly exposed his carnal appetites and luxurious lifestyle, and his disregard for pastoral administration led to the split within the church.

Raphael's World, (€19.95), a sumptuously illustrated biography of the artist by Fr Michael Collins, is published by Messenger Publications and is available in all bookshops or at www. messenger.ie or (01) 676 7491.

Fr Michael Collins is a priest of the Archdiocese of Dublin. He is a graduate of University College Dublin. He has written and edited award-winning books which have been translated into twelve languages.

37

ST PATR I C K

In The Footsteps of

St Patrick

A NEW 17-MILE ST PATRICK'S PILGRIM'S WAY IN COUNTY DOWN OFFERS AN IRISH CAMINO EXPERIENCE

BY MARTINA PURDY

He

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was a cradle Catholic, raised in the faith by devout parents. His father was a deacon in the church, and he was taught about God, the rules of the faith and scripture.

But by the time he was a teenager, he did not believe in God. The faith of his parents was just that: their faith. Christianity was in his head, not his heart and, like any youth, he just wanted to enjoy himself with his friends.

Then, when he was around 16, his life changed dramatically.

Something horrific happened to him, the kind of nightmarish event that still occurs in some parts of our world: he was taken. A violent gang of men kidnapped him for

Martina Purdy and Elaine Kelly

REALITY MARCH 2021

money. “I was taken prisoner as a youth…before I knew what I should seek and what I should avoid,” he wrote years later, blushing at his lack of experience, and still struggling to express what was in his heart.

He was forced to work as a slave for six years – isolated, fearful and homesick – before he made a miraculous escape, and embarked on an adventure that would make him one of the most famous people in history.

For it was on a cold, lonesome hill in Ireland, tending sheep for his owner, that the young Patrick found faith in the living God, and it transformed him forever.

This still-modern, epic story is once again springing to life in County Down, a story that is now entwined with my own and many others.

Tradition tells us that his grave is on a hill, in the shadow of Down Cathedral, marked by a slab of Mourne granite etched with a cross and the name he took when he entered religious life: Patrick, meaning noble.

St Patrick’s grave – a place of pilgrimage for centuries – is now the final destination in a new 17-

mile Irish camino in Downpatrick, the town that bears his name.

MY CAMINO JOURNEY My camino experience began when I, along with Elaine Kelly, landed on this holy ground.

Our five years as Adoration Sisters on the Falls Road had come to an end on September 23, 2019. Along with two other temporary professed sisters, we were released by the religious congregation that had grown

BE AMAZED But St Patrick had me in a stranglehold. Reading about this teenage slave-turnedapostle, I found he was so much more than the caricatured figure with a shamrock and a crozier who led St Patrick’s Day parades. His fifth-century Confessio (published not long after St Augustine’s) opens with words reminiscent of an interview Pope Francis gave to America magazine: “My name is Patrick. I am a sinner…"

As I read on, I found a familiar passage in which Patrick describes how God found him, like a stone in the muck, lifted him up and put him on a high wall.

The next few lines took my breath away. Patrick wrote: “So be amazed …all you people!”

I shouted for Elaine and read

It was on a cold, lonesome hill in Ireland, tending sheep for his owner, that the young Patrick found faith in the living God, and it transformed him forever it aloud to her. She also saw the significance of the two words she had shared with me almost a year earlier. When we were told we had to leave the convent, Elaine had heard these words in her heart in prayer: “Be amazed!”

39 too fragile to continue our formation.

No longer Sr Martina of the Blessed Sacrament, I wondered what hope my call still held for me. I didn’t want a job. I wanted a mission.

Elaine and I were attracted to St Patrick’s grave, occasionally walking there in the company of a little robin, to pray and drink in the beauty of the distant Mournes, the once pagan hills where Patrick baptised new converts.

I started praying for St Patrick’s help in my own mission. One Saturday morning in February 2020, after Mass at St Patrick's Church, I went into the parish shop to purchase some St Patrick prayer cards. Heading back into the church’s knave for adoration, I was approached by a man

who was connected to the local Saint Patrick Centre, the only permanent exhibition dedicated to St Patrick in the world. Having established that I was Martina Purdy, the former BBC journalist, he introduced himself and asked if I would be interested in doing some writing for the centre.

I was not used to having my prayers answered so speedily!

Within a few days, I had a verbal agreement to carry out some public relations for the centre, and I began work on March 16, 2020, the day before St Patrick's Day. The problem was the coronavirus had started to take effect and the third thing I wrote for the centre was that we had to close due to COVID-19.

My mission seemed to have been aborted.

ST PATR I C K

As I packed my things at the convent, my response was, “I’m not amazed!” This had become something of a joke between us.

So the words “Be amazed” were amazing.

HOPEFUL PILGRIMS During lockdown in the spring of 2020, Elaine and I began to walk to all the places around Downpatrick associated with St

Patrick, not just his grave.

On foot, as hopeful pilgrims, we discovered for ourselves the treasures of St Patrick’s country: the ruins of 12th-century Inch Abbey on the banks of the River Quoile, where the monk Jocelyn wrote the legend of Patrick and the snakes; the Holy Wells at Struell, a pre-Christian site where St Patrick bathed and sang psalms; Slieve Patrick, which boasts the largest monument to St Patrick in the world;

and Saul, the location of St Patrick’s first church.

We were thrilled to explore the cradle of Irish Christianity, a place of beauty, goodness and truth. Patrick himself had a great love of nature, declaring: “The Spirit is a witness that what is of the countryside is also created by the Most High!”

Patrick's own words feature in the new pilgrim passport we designed with Dr Tim Campbell, director of the Saint Patrick Centre.

The passport is stamped at each of the pilgrim sites, including St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Saul, which houses part of a stone altar used by St Patrick, and St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church in Downpatrick,

which boasts a unique modern mosaic to Ireland's patron saint.

Writing the passport, I had in mind that people would make a solitary camino pilgrimage like those in Spain, but Dr Campbell decided to launch guided pilgrim walks and appointed Elaine and me as pilgrim guides. Two

People often arrive a little tired and a bit stressed, and at the finish, they are exhilarated and refreshed and exhausted, all at the same time! other guides have come on board: Jean O'Neill, who offers an Irish language pilgrim walk, and Duane Fitzsimons, who leads ‘Patrick and the Pagan Hills'.

a bit stressed, and at the finish, they are exhilarated and refreshed and exhausted, all at the same time!”

At the end of the journey, we hope that pilgrims will have found their own stories entwined with Patrick’s, and thus have a better understanding of how this teenager came to know God's love for him in a profound and personal way. This happens when our knowledge of the faith, like Patrick's, goes from head to heart. Patrick came to life in Ireland and found his true self when he found the true God. Having escaped slavery, he returned from Roman Britain to share his glorious freedom with the Irish.

NEW EVANGELISATION This spirit of Patrick is what we hope many will capture on the way.

Sometimes a teenager of around 16 years old comes on the walk, and we always point out that Patrick was their age when he became a slave. It’s something to ponder as we walk.

It amuses Elaine and me to think that we visited Saul Church in 2016.

As novices, we were giving our testimony at St Patrick’s Catholic Church in Downpatrick, and en route decided to visit Saul Church, not realising the site of St Patrick's first church now belongs to the Church of Ireland. In we went. Inside the little stone church, we knelt to pray at the altar with two other sisters from the novitiate. Never did we think we would be trading our brown habits for hi-viz jackets at that altar.

On the walk to Saul, pilgrims listen to our story and share their own along St Patrick's Way, which is a challenge like any authentic pilgrimage.

“It is physically hard going at times,” says pilgrim guide Elaine Kelly. “But somehow when your body is pushed, something of your spirit is released.

People often arrive a little tired and

Pilgrimage, ever ancient and ever new, brings us hope and is what St Pope John Paul II described as the new evangelisation.

Pilgrims come for different reasons: some want a good walk in beauty, some want to hear our story, others want to share their own story, or grow in faith and spirituality.

Whatever the reason, St Patrick's Way – with its flowing rivers, majestic swans, sleepy drumlins, crashing waves, ancient ruins – is flourishing. Pilgrims are now welcomed to a new coastal route along the County Down coast to St Patrick's ancient well at Sheepland and the ruins of Ardtole church.

Every Saturday, there is a forest and river walk in the shadow of Donard, the son of the High King who became a fervent Christian.

From April 2021, pilgrims will be able to walk to Jane's shore and then canoe along the Quoile towards Inch Abbey.

Come rock the cradle of Christianity in Ireland. Discover your spiritual heritage and be amazed.

A former journalist with BBC Northern Ireland, Martina Purdy spent five years as a Sister of the Adoration in Belfast and now works with the St Patrick Centre in Downpatrick, County Down.

41

FROM THE ASHES OF WAR THE MOTHERS FRONTING THIS YEAR'S TRÓCAIRE LENTEN APPEAL AWUT AND AJAH WERE STRANGERS WHEN THEY LOST THEIR HOMES AND THEIR HUSBANDS TO SOUTH SUDAN'S BRUTAL WAR. TODAY, WITH TRÓCAIRE'S HELP, THESE BEST OF FRIENDS ARE WORKING TO REBUILD THEIR LIVES.

BY DAVID O'HARE 42

In

December 2013 a civil war broke out in South Sudan between rival political factions. Almost 400,000 people were killed during the war. One in every three people in South Sudan – about 3.6 million people – fled their homes and remain displaced or living as refugees in neighbouring countries.

Awut and Ajah are two women who present the very human face of this vast displacement, and their story is featured as part of this year's Trócaire Lenten Appeal 2021. The two women survived the war, but every day remains a battle. A battle to earn money. A battle to grow food. A battle to pay for their children's school. These remarkable women were strangers when they lost their homes and their husbands to South Sudan's brutal war. Today, they are the closest of friends. Far away from the villages they once called home, the two are working together to rebuild from the ashes of war.

Awut still finds it hard to talk about the time she feared herself and her five children would die stranded in the dangerous

REALITY MARCH 2021

bushland, trying to flee the war.

"The experience of fleeing was horrible," she says. "We suffered a lot in the bush with hunger and thirst. The children and I trekked for long days and nights without food or water. The children's feet were swollen. I forced the children to drink their own urine just so they wouldn't die of thirst."

She was alone with her five children. She had no home. No money. No food. She arrived into the town of Malek scared, hungry and fearful. But in this very special place, she found what she thought she had lost forever: love, hope and the welcoming arms of strangers.

"I arrived in Malek and told them I was fleeing the war," she says. "The people here welcomed us. They gave us food and some land."

HUNGRY MONTHS It was March when Awut and her family arrived, a time of year known as 'the hungry months' when the last harvest is exhausted

but the new one yet to bear crops. People in Malek had little of their own, but what they had they shared with this widowed mother of five.

"People had to feed on wild fruits," she remembers. "Then Trócaire came in and started providing help. This help changed our lives. The people gave my family land, and Trócaire gave us seeds. Now I plant my own crops. I am working hard and providing for my family. Trócaire also helped us begin a savings and loan group. Women in the village contribute money each month. It helps a lot."

Awut found a new life in this welcoming community where people fleeing war and suffering are welcomed and supported.

Soon, she had a chance to pass this love and support onto others.

Ajah arrived into Malek after the war destroyed her village. She had eight children and a husband who was very ill. Awut knew this was her opportunity to support Ajah

just as others had supported her.

"She welcomed us and settled us next to her," says Ajah. "On the first day, she allowed me to share her plates and utensils. She gave me food to start up and settle in. I had nothing. So she tried to help me and my family."

SUPPORT Awut and Ajah came from different backgrounds and regions, but have been brought together by the tragedy of war.

Today, they are best friends.

"I am thankful to her," says Ajah. "She lifted me when I was in need, when my husband was terribly sick, and I had nothing. She accommodated me and provided for my family and me until I picked up. We sit together and discuss ways of life. We share a lot. When she is down, I lift her up and vice versa. She is a very dear friend. We help each other at the times of need."

Awut agrees and says the people of Malek's determination to help each other has allowed them to survive. "We share everything we have," she says. "Ajah and I do everything together. We farm together and make sure we have enough to support our families. We make sure our kids stay together and live in harmony. We have to show humility. As displaced people, it is good to join hands and work out ways to survive together. Most importantly: always stay in peace. It is my desire for people to live in peace without conflict. Let's live as one people and one world."

Trócaire has provided seeds, tools and shelter to help the people of Malek. It has given people like Ajah and Awut a chance to rebuild their lives, but so many challenges remain.

"We work hard, but it is difficult when the rains fail," says Ajah. "I am a widow with eight kids. It is difficult. I try hard, but I can't always

provide school fees, shoes, uniforms, and other school requirements. That is why they stay at home without school. It is a struggle, but I have hope for my children."

Awut and Ajah were once fearful for the future, but the love and support shown to them has given them hope. This Lent, support for Trócaire will help Awut, Ajah and many more like them put the daily struggle for survival behind them.

The UK government will match, pound for pound, all public donations to the Lenten Appeal 2021 in Northern Ireland up to a maximum of £2 million.

To find out more about Trócaire's 2021 Lenten Appeal or to make a donation, visit www.trocaire.org or call 0800 912 1200 (NI)/1850 408 408 (ROI).

43

Two women supporting each other in the aftermath of war feature in Trócaire's Lenten Appeal

CO M M E N T REALITY CHECK PETER McVERRY SJ

BEWARE THE FAR-RIGHT

THE ANTI-IMMIGRANT AND RACIST SENTIMENTS OF THE FAR-RIGHT MOVEMENT ARE ENTIRELY AT ODDS WITH THE VALUES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES.

In

44

March 2019, a former hotel in Roosky, County Roscommon was damaged in an arson attack, for the second time.

The building was intended for use by the Department of Justice as a direct provision centre, to house 80 asylum seekers.

Local people were opposed to the idea. They stressed they were not anti-immigrant but had legitimate concerns. They wanted the building to be used again as a hotel, to bring business back into an area they claimed had been neglected by the Government. They also believed that the small town could not cope with a large group of 80 asylum seekers, as local schools and health services were already overstretched. Nor were they consulted about the proposal.

Some were opposed to the whole concept of direct provision centres, which have been widely criticised by human rights groups and the Christian churches as inhumane, and emotionally and psychologically damaging for those residing in them.

However, local people were not involved in the arson attacks. The blame was laid at the feet of the far-right movement, outsiders who attached themselves to the local protests.

What uni tes f a r- r i g h t movements around the globe is opposition to immigration.

Anti-immigrant sentiment has grown in many countries, such as the US, UK, France, Hungry,

REALITY MARCH 2021

Shannon Key West Hotel in Rooskey

Italy, Netherlands, Brazil and elsewhere, which has allowed the far-right movement to gain significant momentum and political support. This antiimmigrant stance has been amplified by the arrival in Europe of refugees fleeing the turmoil in the Middle East and instability in some African countries, and in the US by the arrival of large numbers of immigrants fleeing poverty and violence in some countries in South America.

This anti-immigrant sentiment is based on the perceived threat to a country's national identity, culture and values. The principle of national identity is elevated to a basic human right, the 'right to a homeland', which takes priority over the principle of universal human rights, to which the Christian churches subscribe. For example, the anti-immigration policies of Viktor Orban, Hungary's prime minister, which have been strongly condemned by the pope as unchristian, are based on the perverse notion that immigration will destroy the country's Christian heritage!

Pope Francis is clear that such anti-immigrant and racist sentiments are entirely at odds with the values of the Christian churches. Everyone, regardless of race, religion, colour, or gender, has the same dignity as children of God. Before we are Irish or Syrian or Somalian, we are all members of the same family, namely the human race.

"No one will ever openly deny that they (migrants) are human beings, yet in practice, by our decisions and the way we treat them, we can show that we consider them less worthy, less important, less human. For Christians, this way of thinking and acting is unacceptable, since it sets certain political preferences above deep convictions of our faith: the inalienable dignity of each human person regardless of origin, race or religion, and the supreme law of fraternal love."

(Fratelli Tutti, paragraph 39) In his most recent encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis once again returns to this theme that all people, without exception, are our brothers and sisters, and

deserve "a love that transcends the barriers of geography and distance" (Fratelli Tutti, paragraph 1).

Pope Francis quotes the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Jews and Samaritans were not even on talking terms with each other, kept apart by an invisible, cultural wall. But in this parable, the Samaritan broke down the wall to reach out to the 'other', the Jewish victim of violence.

The far-right movement uses social media to promote its views and to gain new supporters. It also attaches itself to legitimate protest movements, such as that in Roosky, to gain legitimacy and show itself to be on the 'side of the people'.

Fortunately, so far, the far-right movement has not had much political success in Ireland.

Perhaps this is because the Republic of Ireland's national identity has been forged by an oppressed people. But there is no room for complacency. In Ireland, there is a deep-rooted anti-Traveller racism, and a hidden racism expressed in the view that 'we should look after our own'.

We need to ensure that such attitudes do not find political support in Ireland, as they have done so successfully in many other countries.

For more information or to support the Peter McVerry Trust: www.pmvtrust.ie info@pmvtrust.ie +353 (0)1 823 0776

GOD’S WORD THIS MONTH

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A model reconstruction of the temple in Jerusalem

DESTROY THIS TEMPLE! MARCH In the Synoptic Gospels, the cleansing of the temple takes place during the final week of Jesus' life. John has AY ND SU IRD placed it closer to the TH OF LENT beginning of his gospel.

Both the Synoptics and John agree that it is the first public act Jesus performs in Jerusalem. It will help to consider this story in two parts. First, there is the account of an incident in the temple (13-16). This incident is followed by a confrontation with the Jewish religious authorities who ask for a sign to justify his action. This confrontation is unique to John.

In the other gGospels, the temple authorities are horrified at Jesus' action and determined to bring him to account for it, but only in John will Jesus engage with them in a controversy about his action.

Substantial parts of the Jerusalem Temple survived its destruction by the Romans in 70AD. Herod the Great planned to build his temple on a large platform of compacted earth and rubble. Its remaining wall, known today as the

07

Western or 'Wailing' Wall, and some archways connecting it to one of the hills of Jerusalem, created a street along which were shops and market stalls for pilgrims' convenience. In addition to souvenirs, the most common objects on sale were the doves required for sacrifice.

Only wealthy worshippers could afford larger sacrificial animals, such as sheep or oxen.

Different kinds of coins circulated in Israel and pilgrims brought their own currency with them. The temple tax had to be paid with one particular coin, the Tyrian tetradrachma, so money changers were kept busy. Although the temple incident is often described as 'the cleansing of the temple', its real purpose lies deeper. Jesus' action is not simply cleaning up the temple or a protest at the high prices charged.

The violence of overturning tables and causing the animals to stampede is better seen as an act of judgement on the temple, a statement that it has ceased to manifest the presence of God. The temple figures more prominently in John than in any of the other gospels. For John, Jesus is the New Temple, the place where the glory of God now dwells, and worship of the community he

will establish will no longer be animal sacrifice but worship "in spirit and in truth", as he will reveal to the Samaritan woman (John 4:24).

The religious leaders demand to know his authority for acting in this way. In John's Gospel, words often have a double meaning. By Jesus' time, the rebuilding of the temple begun by Herod the Great had been going on for over 40 years and was still incomplete. Jesus' words, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" might be taken as the words of a deranged madman and that's how the Jews understand them. The narrator explains the misunderstanding to the reader – the new temple is the temple of Jesus' body. Even his disciples are unable to understand what it means. Only in the church, after the resurrection, will they grasp the full import of the words.

Today’s Readings Ex 20:1-17; Ps 18; 1 Cor 1:22-25; Jn 2:13-25

God’s Word continues on page 46

GOD’S WORD THIS MONTH THE SON OF MAN MUST BE LIFTED UP John's Gospel has been described as "a gospel of encounters". One of FOURTH SUNDAY the most important OF LENT encounters is between Jesus and a Jewish elder called Nicodemus. Nicodemus knows that Jesus is a teacher sent by God who is authenticated by the signs he does (John 3:2), but he struggles to understand the inner mystery of his identity.

Towards the end of the dialogue, Jesus proceeds to reveal the heart of the Gospel. Words in John often have a wide variety of meanings, and the evangelist plays with them to convey the deeper meaning of his message.

The Son of Man is a term that occurs in all the gospels. It could mean something as simple as 'that fellow there' or 'someone', the equivalent of the Irish phrase mo dhuine. It can also refer to other biblical figures: the prophet Ezekiel was addressed by God as 'son of man' more than 90 times; a heavenly figure, "one like a Son of Man", appears in the Book of Daniel (Dan 7:13). In the

gospels, it is used only for Jesus, especially as the suffering Son of Man who undergoes the passion.

The verb 'lift up', when used with Son of Man, also has a range of meanings. First, it might just mean the physical act of lifting something up, but, more specifically, it has the sense of being raised on a cross. It can mean to exalt or honour.

The prophet Isaiah had spoken of a mysterious figure, the Suffering Servant who would "be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high" (Is 52:13). Taken together, the raising up of the Son of Man refers to both the crucifixion of Jesus and his vindication by God who raised him from the dead.

Moses and the bronze serpent refers to an episode during Israel's desert wandering. Not for the first time, the people complained about how God was treating them. "The people spoke against God and against Moses, 'Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.' Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people so that many

Israelites died" (Num 21:5-6). When the people repent, God instructs Moses to make a bronze serpent and to set it on a pole so that anyone who is bitten might look at it and live. At first glance, it appears to be a strange image for the cross, but a moment's reflection will show how it combines both the horror of crucifixion and the life-giving nature of the death of Jesus.

A banner with 'John 3:16' sometimes appears among the crowds at sporting events. It is a reference to a key verse in today's reading that in some ways sums up the essence of the Gospel: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life (Jn 3:16)."

Judgement and eternal life are not reserved for the distant future. Both are present realities and are offered based on faith in the Son. Jesus, the light of the world, provokes people into making an option for light or for darkness.

MY SOUL IS TROUBLED! Today's Gospel begins by mentioning some Greeks who ask Philip to help them see Jesus and Philip FIIFTH SUNDAY turns to Andrew. Who were OF LENT these mysterious Greeks of whom we hear no more?

They were probably Greek-speaking Jews from the Diaspora who have come to celebrate the Passover in Jerusalem. After the inhabitants of Galilee and Jerusalem and the Samaritans (Ch 4), they represent the last part of the scattered flock of Israel that the Good Shepherd has come to gather. This moment marks the end of the ministry of Jesus in word and deed, and he recognises that the hour has come for the Son of Man to be gloried through his death on the cross.

Like the imagery of the flock for whom the Good Shepherd lays down his life, the seed

dying to bring forth life is a key image in John's interpretation of the death of Jesus. Seedimagery is common in the synoptic parables of the Kingdom. Verse 25 draws the contrast between those who love their life in this world only to find that they have lost it, and those who "hate'"or re-evaluate their earthly life only to discover that it is kept for eternal life. Eternal life in John is not something that begins after death: it is the depth of life that flows from knowing and sharing in the life of Jesus through faith and discipleship.

The Fourth Gospel has no account of the agony in the garden. Instead, today's gospel describes a moment in the prayer of Jesus that is unique to John. It is the equivalent of the anguished prayer of the agony and resembles it in several places.

Jesus begins by saying that his soul is troubled (compare: "I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake" Mk 14:34). He prays to be spared the suffering but will submit

to the Father's will (compare: "Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want" Mk 14:36). He is answered by a heavenly voice which some of the bystanders interpret as thunder, others as an angel speaking to him (compare: "then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength" Lk 22:43).

The gospel concludes with a final reference to the death of Jesus and its significance. It is the judgement of the prince of this world who will be overthrown in the final struggle between Jesus and the forces of darkness. It is the exaltation of Jesus: by being raised on the cross (see last Sunday), he will draw the world to himself for its salvation.

MARCH

14

46

MARCH

21

REALITY MARCH 2021

Today’s Readings 1 Chron 36:14-23; Ps 136; Eph 2:4-10; Jn 3:14-21

Today’s Readings Jer 31:31-34; Ps 50; Heb 5:7-9; Jn 12:20-33

THE REALITY CROSSWORD NUMBER � MARCH ����

We read the Passion story in its entirety twice during Holy Week. On Good Friday, we read John's majestic account.

On Palm Sunday, we read the account of the evangelist of the year. This year's account is from Mark.

The entire Gospel of Mark had been described as "a SUNDAY OF THE PASSION passion Gospel with a long introduction". It is a detailed (PALM SUNDAY) account of the last day of Jesus' earthly life, from the supper to the tomb.

Today's gospel begins with one of Mark's typical features, three stories that at first glance appear to have no relationship to one another, but on closer examination, provide us with a key to reading what follows. The first block tells how Jerusalem's religious establishment is looking for a way to get rid of Jesus. Immediate action is ruled out by the crowds expected in Jerusalem for the Passover, many of whom are likely to be supporters of the prophet. This is followed by the story of a woman who anoints the head of Jesus with precious ointment while he is at supper in the house of Simon the leper in Bethany on the Mount of Olives. Some of his fellow guests protest at the waste, but he defends her, stating that she is already preparing his body for burial. The third story is Judas' bargain with the high priests to betray Jesus when the time is ripe.

The two stories of betrayal provide a framework for a prophetic interpretation of the death of Jesus. He is indeed on his way to the grave, but the gracious act of the unknown woman stands in stark contrast to the plans to have him put to death. The unidentified woman's generous act will be recalled "when the Good News is proclaimed", as it is on this day so many years later.

Mark's Passion account tells the sad story of the failure of discipleship. First, Judas betrays him for money and will compound his treachery by making a kiss the identifying sign. His three favourite disciples will sleep just at the time he needs their companionship. Except for Peter and an unnamed young man, they will all run away. The young man flees when one of the soldiers takes hold of the sheet he has thrown around him. Peter brazens it out even in the high priest's courtyard, denying he ever knew him until he finally bursts into tears of shame. None of the chosen disciples is present at the moment of his death, just a few women who followed him and looked after him when he was in Galilee. Even they "watched from a distance". For his burial, he is dependent on the charity of an opponent, Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin.

The Gospel writers place little emphasis on the physical sufferings of the Passion. Instead, they stress the inner desolation and abandonment of Jesus.

This is particularly so in Mark. Before he is arrested, Jesus prays in the darkened garden, but despite telling his closest friends how abandoned he feels, he is left alone in his prayer. Crucified on the Hill of the Skull, he is still abandoned, surrounded only by the jeering of his enemies who incite passers-by to join in their mockery. His prayer, taken from the psalms, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" appears unanswered. Yet that is the moment when the pagan centurion confesses that, "In truth, this man was the Son of God."

MARCH

28

Today’s Readings

SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD No. 10 ACROSS: Across: 1. Intact, 5. Elapse, 10. Organza, 11. Oblongs, 12. Torc, 13. Jesus, 15. Aida, 17. Gas, 19. Zealot, 21. Eagles, 22. Macbeth, 23. Stalag, 25. Cocoon, 28. Sty, 30. Rude, 31. Nihil, 32. Esau, 35. Burundi, 36. Presume, 37. Lashes, 38. Damned.

DOWN: 2. Nigeria, 3. Anne, 4. Tuareg, 5. Exodus, 6. Ails, 7. Sundial, 8. Cortez, 9. Essays, 14.

Sabbath, 16. Roman, 18. Yahoo, 20. Tag, 21. Etc, 23. Scribe, 24. Andorra, 26. Obscure, 27. Nausea, 28. Sirius, 29. Yipped, 33. Ankh, 34. Helm.

Winner of Crossword No. 10 Kay Brady, Longford.

ACROSS 1. Frozen homes (6) 5. Rutabaga by another name. (6) 10. The capital of Lithuania. (7) 11. They are often found with crosses. (7) 12. Type of calf for the Prodigal Son. (4) 13. The author of Robinson Crusoe. (5) 15. A bed for a small baby, possibly Jesus. (4) 17. It denotes a married woman. (3) 19. The Apostle with doubts. (6) 21. The oldest festival of the Christian Church. (6) 22. An endowment for the singing or saying of Masses, commonly for the founder. (7) 23. Move equipment and troops into position for military action. (6) 25. The rulers during the life of Jesus. (6) 28. A fastener. (3) 30. Strange object in the sky. (4) 31. Herb believed to have grown above the spot where St. Constantine and Helen found the Holy Cross. (5) 32. Let out breath audibly, as from sorrow or weariness. (4) 35. Interrupt what someone is doing. (7) 36. The way in which people of different areas pronounce words. (7) 37. Condition in which someone cannot clearly see things that are far away. (6) 38. This Mr. Rice founded the Christian Brothers. (6)

DOWN 2. This Italian polymath discovered craters and mountains on the Moon. (7) 3. Leave out. (4) 4. An organised method of getting something done. (6) 5. Ballroom dances originally from Buenos Aires. (6) 6. A mix of fat and flour used in making sauces. (4) 7. "Blessed are the meek, for they will ... the Earth." (Matthew 5:5) (7) 8. Long-legged wading bird, with a slender upturned bill. (6) 9. Imaginary line on a chart that connects points of equal barometric pressure. (6) 14. The first Pope from the Jesuit Order. (7) 16. What, according to Jacob's dream, linked Heaven and Earth. (5) 18. The first city man. (5) 20. Nervous or timid in the company of others. (3) 21. "To ... is human, to forgive divine." (A. Pope) (3) 23. Religious leaders in ancient Britain. (6) 24. In a devoutly religious way. (7) 26. City of "The Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy." (7) 27. Formal division in or separation from a church or religious body. (6) 28. Landlocked country of Central Africa. (6) 29. The governor of Judea who presided over the trial of Jesus. (6) 33. Crush into a soft, wet, shapeless mass. (4) 34. A dishonest scheme, a fraud. (4)

Entry Form for Crossword No.2, March 2021 Name: Address: Telephone:

Is 50: 4-7; Ps 21; Phil 2:6-11; Mk 14:1-15:47 All entries must reach us by Wednesday March 31, 2021 One €35 prize is offered for the first correct solutions opened. The Editor’s decision on all matters concerning this competition will be final. Do not include correspondence on any other subject with your entry which should be addressed to: Reality Crossword No.2, Redemptorist Communications, St Joseph's Monastery, Dundalk, County Louth A91 F3FC