Theology Must Engage with Issue of Abuse, by Sarah MacDonald, CiNews, November 12, 2009

Theology Must Engage with Issue of Abuse

By Sarah MacDonald
CiNews
November 12, 2009

http://www.cinews.ie/article.php?artid=6595

IRELAND -- The first international conference in Ireland for young theologians was held in St Patrick's College Maynooth last weekend in which 12 young theologians from Ireland, the UK, USA and Holland presented papers on a range of theological issues.

The conference: 'Interface: Being a Young Theologian in the World' was organised by students and alumni of St Patrick's College and organiser, Francis Cousins told CINews that it had two objectives, viz. "to explore the role of the young theologian and to explore the role of theology in contemporary society".

Professor Michael Paul Gallagher, SJ, of the Gregorian University, Rome, delivered the keynote address on 'Mediators of God's Meaning: A Challenging but Consoling Call'.

Of the role of the theologian, Professor Gallagher said, "If people are disconnected from their deepest hopes by a frenetic kind of way of life - or even a kind of way of worry in the middle of a recession - then part of the job of a theologian is to use the imagination to put them back in touch with what their real hungers are."

In his paper, 'After Artane', Fr Michael Shortall of St Patrick's College, Maynooth, suggested that events detailed in the Ryan Report and in the revelations of clerical sex abuse in the Church "ought to influence the theological agenda in Ireland."

The lecturer in moral theology noted that in the public discourse on this subject, an analogy had been drawn between the Holocaust and the abuse suffered in many Irish institutions. "Some who use it go so far as to imply that the two events are equivalent. It is important to state that they are not. No genocide occurred in Ireland." Fr Shortall told the conference "the extremity of the Holocaust inherently demands that it not be diluted."

Commending the organisers of the conference, Professor Michael Paul Gallagher described it as "a marvellous occasion." He noted that nearly all the theologians were lay people and that "at least half are women and at least half are non-Irish. All that was a surprise to me." He added that there was, "huge diversity and a feeling that here is a new style of doing theology and a new confidence. I think this conference will give the so-called young theologians confidence – it was a first in Ireland," he said.

Primate of All Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady attended part of the conference and paid tribute to its scope and aims before continuing with conferring ceremonies at the college. Among those the Cardinal conferred was conference organiser Dr Aoife McGrath who earned her PhD in Theology.