RITE AND REASON:EVEN IN a time of recession, especially in a time of recession, we must not forget that people in poorer countries need our help, perhaps now more than ever. We've had a diet of bad news for the past few months. Job losses, bank failures, a pension levy and the declining value of investments have all contributed to feelings of "being down". There's a lot of gloom and doom. We need to express our empathy with those worst affected and listen to their appeal for help.
But still there is much good news to be found today. We have a safe and secure country; despite current difficulties, our health and educational systems are good and there is a social welfare structure to care for the vulnerable; we live in an environment where family, friendship and Christian ideals still have value for most people.
While we cannot trivialise the bad news, we know that there is much good news too.
The Christian message has always been associated with the idea of good news.
From the time of Christ it involved healing of spirit and of body. The Christian faith brought here by St Patrick was so exciting that within a generation many of missionary outlook were bursting to bring that same good news back to Europe. St Patrick’s abduction to Ireland as a slave would see him today as a trafficked migrant. He was unwillingly forced to work in a hostile environment and escaped when he could. According to his own memoir, I Patrick, his only support was his conviction of the presence of God. It was this same presence of God that drew him back to Ireland years later to proclaim the “good news”.
Today, the church continues to proclaim good news. In the midst of serious economic problems, we still have much of value to say.
Trócaire is a case in point.
It brings the generosity of Irish people to bear on some of the problems of the world at large. This is surely good news. Thousands of people still benefit from the care shown by us even in our own recession or downturn. The motivation is still the conviction that through this work Christ is made present to those in need, of which there are many.
Across the world millions of men, women and children are forced to go without food, clean water, shelter, healthcare, education and electricity, many of the things that even the poorest take for granted here in Ireland.
I believe that even in a time of recession we must not forget that people in poorer countries continue to need our help, perhaps now more than ever.
The extreme poverty in the developing world cannot be compared with any levels of poverty that exist in the West.
Nearly one billion people do not have enough to eat and go to bed hungry each night. In many countries of the developing world, children are especially vulnerable.
Across Africa one child in seven dies before the age of five; many women die from complications in childbirth and life expectancy across the continent has dropped sharply in recent years. In Zimbabwe, for example, life expectancy is now down to 37 years.
This Lent, Trócaire has been campaigning for people rendered homeless as a result of violence and conflict. Of those 26 million who have been uprooted from their communities and driven out of their homes in recent years, some 14 million are children.
These people need our help and Trócaire must continue during these difficult and uncertain times to provide for the most destitute in the world.
Bishop John Kirby of Clonfert is chairman of Trócaire