There are increasing signs that the secular project in Ireland has failed, Catholic primate Archbishop Seán Brady has said.
"It has failed to bring the happiness it promised or the answers to the really important questions of people's lives," he said.
In a lengthy address at the Milwaukee Irish Fest 2007 in the US yesterday, he said he believed "the inherent beauty and depth of the Catholic faith and the timeless message and example of its founder, is once again appealing to the hearts and minds of many, not least the young".
The fundamental challenge for modern Ireland was "to retain the balance between the best of the old and the best of the new. This includes taking steps to build community and support for marriage and the family," he said.
"It requires moving to a new maturity in public and media debate, where the importance of faith in the lives of so many Irish people, including many of the new Irish, is given due recognition and respect by the new forces of Irish culture," he said.
Ireland was "in the throes of a rapid transition between old and new". An axis of this transition was "the erosion of external authority". Attitudes to politicians, gardaí, financial institutions, the church and other traditional sources of social and moral authority in Ireland, had changed dramatically.
They had been partly replaced "by the 'authority' and influence of the 'mass media' - the commentariat. Though there may be signs that they too are losing their easy grip - people are becoming more cynical about the motives of the media. After all, the bottom line for the media is circulation and audience figures rather than the good of society."
A second axis in this transition had been peace and prosperity. He referred to his own recent meeting with Northern Ireland's First Minister, Rev Ian Paisley.
"We discovered that we shared the same views on many social issues including poverty, the importance of marriage and the family, the right to religious freedom, to faith-based education and so on. It was another example of how much is to be gained from simply meeting with others."
He called on the British government to provide further incentives for investment in Northern Ireland, "including bringing corporation tax into line with the rate in the South of Ireland".
Welcoming economic growth in the Republic as "a fantastic and very welcome achievement", he warned of "becoming intoxicated with it" as there was "growing concern about evidence of a gradual breakdown in social cohesion". This arose from "an emphasis on the happiness of the individual, particularly of the individual as a consumer".
This evidence included a "dramatic increase in the levels of violent crime", with "increasing use of illegal drugs", "the phenomenon of gangland killings", and the fact that "our young people have some of the highest levels of alcohol addiction in Europe". The most tragic evidence was "the unprecedented levels of suicide, notably among the young".
There was clear evidence that "many people are getting tired of the emptiness and stress of a life built predominantly on secular and consumerist values".
As to the church's future in Ireland, he said "it may be a smaller church in future but it may also be a more authentic one".
Elements in the media gave the impression the church was dying, he said. In response he paraphrased the words of Mark Twain, that "rumours of our death are greatly exaggerated".
