BishopAccountability.org
	Archbishop Hits out at 'Lukewarm' Priests Total Catholic November 14, 2009 http://www.totalcatholic.com/tc/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=675:archbishop-hits-out-at-lukewarm-priests&catid=14:uk-and-ireland&Itemid=34 The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin has said his diocese is facing huge changes in order to contend with the shortage of priests and he has called for the Year of the Priest to be a moment in which priests seek renewal and repentance. In his homily today at a Mass in Dublin's Pro Cathedral to mark the feast day St Laurence O' Toole, who is Patron of the Archdiocese of Dublin, Dr Martin warned that the diocese must "repent for the failings of its own members who betrayed their mission of shepherd". He hit out that those shepherds who had failed "through a sheer lukewarmness, through negligence, through lack of real commitment to Jesus and his message". As the Diocese of Dublin awaits the publication of the report on the handling of allegations of sexual abuse by members of its clergy, Archbishop Martin said, "The abuse of children is a heinous crime, especially when it was perpetrated by those entrusted with the mission of the Good Shepherd." He added, "The Church and its institutions must repent, but that repentance must result in renewal and in a renewal which may not produce conformity and symbioses with the thought patterns of the day." He suggested that renewal of the Church "will always lead to a Church which is countercultural, at times to be misunderstood, but one always open to the guidance of Jesus, the Good Shepherd". Saying there were many changes facing Ireland's largest diocese, Archbishop Martin underlined that the average age of priests in Dublin is growing. The diocese has 46 priests over the age of 80 and only two less than 35. "In a very short time we will just have the bare number of priests required to have one active priest for each of our 199 parishes", the Archbishop warned. Archbishop Martin highlighted that the future will require different structures and different planning. "It will require a different way of working with each other and with the lay faithful of the diocese. Parishes will have to work more closely with each other and share facilities. The number of Masses will have to be rationalised." He added, "Some of these changes will cause pain." In the afternoon, St Mary's Pro Cathedral hosted a unique cultural event which saw the collaboration of spiritual music and a technological display of imagery. Collision is a joint piece of work of composer Michael Berkeley and visual artist Kevin Laycock which aims to give participants a contemplative experience. The work was launched with a talk on St Laurence O'Toole, Man of Peace, by the Diocesan Vicar for Evangelisation and historian Fr Ciaran O' Carroll.
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