NUNCIO WELCOMED:CATHOLIC PRIMATE Cardinal Seán Brady asked that people "pray for healing and for renewal in the church in Ireland" in the period between St Patrick's Day and the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin next June.
“We are asking all Catholics to use this opportunity to renew their faith in God’s mercy and love by going to Confession, especially during Holy Week,” he said.
The cardinal was speaking at Mass in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh on St Patrick’s Day, which he concelebrated with new papal nuncio to Ireland Archbishop Charles Brown. Both rang the cathedral Mass bell in preparation for the Eucharistic Congress. Later the cathedral bells tolled for two minutes in anticipation of the event. Bells rang at cathedrals and in parishes across the island at midday and 6pm on Saturday as part of a “Ring for Renewal” in preparation for the congress.
“Christianity has shaped our identity and heritage as Irish people in so many ways. Our celebration would be seriously impoverished if we ignored this Christian dimension of St Patrick’s legacy,” said Cardinal Brady.
“If we are to ensure that St Patrick is remembered for the message of Christ that he brought and not just as a symbol of Irishness, then we must follow the example of the disciples in our gospel. We must rediscover, in our own hearts, the life and hope brought by Christ. We must also share that life, that hope, and that love with the people around us.”
He welcomed Archbishop Brown as “an outstanding ambassador” whose appointment was a sign of the pope’s “care and affection for the church here in Ireland”. He told the archbishop: “We are very, very pleased that you have chosen to spend your first St Patrick’s Day in Ireland here in Armagh.”
He added: “You come to our country at a critical time. Our island, North and South, continues to recover from dramatic economic setbacks after the years of the Celtic Tiger. At the same time we search for another, more important recovery. It is what Pope Benedict XVI has described as the ‘Recovery of our Christian memory’.”
In a short address, Archbishop Brown said: “The pope himself sends the people of Ireland very very cordial best wishes for a very happy St Patrick’s Day. Today we celebrate the man who helped to bring the Catholic faith to the Irish people – St Patrick. We pray through his intercession that the church will continue to flourish in this beautiful land and continue to be a light – a beacon – in our world for what it means to be Catholic.”
He recalled his ordination in St Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, and visiting St Patrick’s Cathedral at Puna in India, last year. “Irish people brought the Catholic faith not only to New York city, where I am from, but also to the hill country outside of Bombay.
“It is a great heritage of Irish Catholics – this missionary richness all over the world.”
He asked for prayers for his new role so that he may “help as much as I possibly can the church in this country to go forward and strengthen the faith”.
Later the cardinal and archbishop took part in Armagh’s St Patrick’s Day parade with DUP mayor Freda Donnelly.
