Archbishop Eamon offers prayerful condolences on the Death of Pope Emeritus Benedict the XVI

I am saddened to hear of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.  At this time of mourning in the Catholic Church throughout the world, we remember his gentle soul in prayer, asking God, in His great mercy, to forgive his sins and human failings, while rewarding his generous service and complete dedication to the Gospel and to the Church.  On behalf of the Irish Bishops’ Conference, and the faithful across Ireland, I extend sympathy to Pope Francis, to the family members and carers of the Pope Emeritus, and to all those in his native Germany and around the globe who loved him and will mourn his loss. 

On that rainy day in April 2005, when the entire world had its eyes fixed on the new pope, Pope Benedict XVI described himself as a “simple, humble worker in the Lord’s vineyard.”  As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger he had already been working closely with Pope Saint John Paul II through the final years of the Cold War and the beginning of a new millennium, the fall of communism in central and eastern Europe, growing globalization and the emergence of an international threat of terrorism.  

During his own pontificate Pope Benedict witnessed powerfully to faith, hope and love – the three theological virtues – about which he wrote profoundly in his encyclical letters: God is Love (Deus caritas est); Saved by Hope (Spe salvi); and, The Light of Faith (Lumen fidei) – which was completed by his successor Pope Francis. 

On a personal level, it was his characteristic humility and gentleness which struck me when I first met him in 2009 while visiting the Vatican as Executive Secretary to the Irish Bishops’ Conference.  I found him to be calm and softly spoken, kindly and personable, and genuinely interested in the Church in Ireland.  Having met the Irish bishops in Rome in February 2010, he issued a unique Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland expressing profound sorrow for those grievously wounded by abuse in the Church.  The then pope called for urgent action to address the legacy of abuse which, he said, has had “such tragic consequences in the lives of victims and their families”, and which has “obscured the light of the Gospel to a degree that not even centuries of persecution succeeded in doing.”

Pope Benedict XVI’s interest in Ireland goes back to his friendship with the late Archbishop Kevin McNamara of Dublin when both were young theology professors.  Former students of the Pontifical Irish College, Rome, also remember fondly his visit there as cardinal.  He often admired the huge contribution of generations of Irish men and women to the Church, and to humanity, and he took a special interest in the work of early Celtic missionaries like Saint Columbanus to the spread the Gospel in Europe and to Europe’s spiritual identity.  He followed closely, and prayerfully, the peace process as it matured.  Although unable to travel to Ireland for the 50^th International Eucharistic Congress in 2012, he delivered the key televised address to participating pilgrims.  His message then, about the Church as communion, recalled his remarkable 2007 Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis in which he speaks of the Holy Eucharist as a mystery to be simultaneously believed, celebrated and lived.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was a person of deep spirituality and prayer, an outstanding apostle of Christ.  With his great capacity to listen combined with a personal, discreet charm, the late pope was able to win people to Christ wherever he was: during the World Youth Day celebrations, he attracted the attention of thousands of young people; his encouragement for the World Days of the Sick, World Meetings, and his many travels around the world and meetings with other religious leaders, politicians and academics.  I remembered his commitment to service when I wrote in early January 2013 to accept my appointment by him as Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh, just one month before he humbly resigned the papacy due to failing health.

Pope Benedict XVI understood the need and potential for all people of goodwill to work for the realisation of the common good.  On social doctrine more broadly, he emphasised that charity must always be rooted in truth in order to be fruitful (see Caritas in Veritate).  On the eve of his election to the Petrine Ministry, the then Cardinal Ratzinger incisively identified a tendency in society to lapse into ‘a dictatorship of relativism.’ At the same time, his papacy was marked by a commitment to dialogue between faith and reason, between the Church and the modern world, and to ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, as evidenced on his significant apostolic journey to the United Kingdom in 2010.

In his lifetime, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was an outstanding teacher and academic whose impressive intellectual ability, combined with clarity of expression, made of him one of the greatest theologians of our era.  For all his intellectual abilities, he always ensured that the faith was not reduced to academic hair splitting; religion, he emphasised, is not a lofty concept or an ethical ideal; it is rather,  an encounter with a person, Jesus Christ.  His personal writings on Jesus of Nazareth bear witness to his life’s work to share the Good News of salvation that comes through Christ.  In many respects he was similar to the early Bishops and Doctors of the Church, combining great clarity of doctrine with pastoral realism. 

In 2011, declaring the opening of universal Year of Faith, Pope Benedict spoke about how, at baptism we enter the ‘door of faith’ and set out on a journey that lasts a lifetime.  Now that his earthly journey has ended, I pray that, by the help of God’s mercy, the saints will go out to meet him and welcome him into his heavenly home.  Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

+Archbishop Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland 

Homily for Midnight Mass of the Nativity celebrated by Archbishop Eamon Martin

Joint Christmas 2022 message from the Archbishops of Armagh

And of his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” (John 1:16)

A highlight of the Christmas season is the solemn reading from the prologue of John’s Gospel with its memorable opening: “In the beginning was the Word …”

Commenting recently on John’s Gospel, the Irish scholar, David Ford, describes it as “the gospel of abundance” because it overflows with the “fullness” of God’s love for his creation – “grace upon grace”.

The Scripture readings at Christmas time leave us in no doubt that this Good News of abundance is God’s ‘Yes’ to the world he made, the climax of God’s plan for the world, the keeping of promises made by God down the centuries.

Of course riches and abundance will mean different things to different people. In the Ireland of today many of us think of those words in relation to material comfort – for most of us, after all, even the spiritual life requires a degree of material security to be sustainable. The problem comes when this one aspect of abundance overwhelms all others; a belief that the price of everything becomes the value of everything, which in turn hardens into an ideology of maximising consumer satisfaction which cannot do justice to the richness of personal life.

The current public understanding of abundance is incapable of healing the divisions in our society.  Society cannot be truly democratic without a strong sense of solidarity and community – something which can often be absent today. When seeking the nomination of the Democratic Party to run for President, the late Robert Francis Kennedy once said:

“The Gross National Product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages … it measures … neither our wisdom nor our compassion … it measures everything, in short, except that which makes our lives worthwhile”.

The Word who became flesh during the reign of the Emperor Octavian, when Quirinius was Governor of Syria, addressed himself to rulers as well as to individuals. His whole life witnessed to fundamental truths – that authority is the exercise of power which is morally justified; and, political life (although it takes very different forms in different ages) is not the servant of any economic or national ideology, but the pursuit of the common good of all people. The unfolding tragedy of what is happening in Ukraine is perhaps a result of ignoring these fundamentals.

We live in an age which has been described as one of “surveillance capitalism”. It is an age of algorithms and atomisation; a global system of behaviour modification which can threaten human nature itself. The coming of the ‘Word made flesh’ drags us back to both the primacy of persons and of their solidarity. The Light that came into the world at Christmas time enlightens every person who has been born or ever will be. Jesus Christ was the first person in the whole of history to have conceived of humankind as a unity, whose good he came to secure and who are secure in him.

But the manner in which he came into the world is crucial to his vocation and ours. As Phillips Brooks’ Christmas carol puts it, “how silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given”. He was born into an obscure Province and into a people despised by many. He avoided all ties of high office or public position. He was an austere man – mistaken by some for the stern old prophet Elijah – yet he had a heart to which children were instinctively drawn. We fear becoming poor; he dreaded that any person should be rich. Yet he had within himself all the riches of the Father’s goodness, enough for the whole world of every age and more besides.

For “… of his fulness we have all received, grace upon grace (John 1:16).”

+Archbishop Eamon Martin, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland.

+Archbishop John McDowell, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland.  

Archbishop Eamon Martin, Homily, 23 October 2022, World Mission Sunday.

 ‘Hospitality’ and ‘accompaniment’ are as important today as ever

“For generations the people of Ireland were almost entirely dependent and were very grateful for the provision of health services by Catholic religious congregations like the Saint John of God brothers.”

How does one say thanks to the Saint John of God brothers for their ministry here at St Mary’s Drumcar over 76 years?

How can we appropriately acknowledge on behalf of countless residents and other service users, their family members – and, of course, on behalf of the people of Ireland – the care and compassion shown here at Drumcar, and in its community outreach services, to people whose very special needs were often overlooked, misdiagnosed or misunderstood by wider society?

How do we say thank you?

We have chosen to do so today in a Mass of thanksgiving, for there is no better way to give thanks than to celebrate the Eucharist.  In this unique and powerful way we return gratitude and praise to almighty God who has given us such amazing gifts and graces, and who loved us so much that He gave His only Son to be our Saviour by giving His life for us on the Cross.

I am struck by the image of Saint John of God on the front cover of the booklet for today’s Mass of thanksgiving – a poor man, barefoot, simply dressed, but still, a man on a mission, with a staff in his hand, as if for a journey.  The basket over his arm symbolises for me someone who is ready to give to others, but perhaps also someone who is ready to receive.  “Do good for yourselves by doing good for others”.

It was relatively late in life, in his early 40’s, when John gave himself over to the service of God, and began to devote himself entirely to caring for the poor and the sick – indeed it was his own very negative personal experience of harsh and degrading treatment at the Granada Mental Hospital, 500 years ago in Spain, that led John to realise that those who struggle in this way need care, love, compassion – not judgement, cruelty and chastisement.  Instinctively, others were drawn to assist John in his works of mercy, including to those who were marginalised and rejected by society due to their mental health.

He became known as John ‘of God’ – wouldn’t it be wonderful if people began to call any one of us by the nickname, ‘of God’ – ‘Ronan of God’; ‘Paula of God’?!

It strikes me also today that, in our Irish language, a person with special intellectual needs, or profound mental health issues, was known as ‘duine le Dia’ – a child of God, a person with God!

The mission of the Saint John of God brothers here simply couldn’t have happened without a whole network of people, a whole community of people surrounding the brothers, supporting them in this work of God. Again, the illustration on the cover of today’s booklet shows, in the bottom edging, a whole family of people – young and old, children and elderly, able bodied and dependents – all connected to the merciful work of the Saint John of God brothers – countless companions on their journey, and in their mission.

Today is Mission Sunday.  What an appropriate day on which to reflect on the story of Saint Mary’s Drumcar!  The work of all Saint John of God communities has, at its core, the imitation of Christ, who Himself reached out to the sick, the troubled, those with physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs.  And before His Ascension into heaven, Jesus commissioned His friends and followers to go out and do likewise. ‘You shall be my witnesses’, He told them.  Jesus sent them out, as a community of disciples, especially to look out for the poor and the sick, and to be inspired by the Holy Spirit to read and respond to the signs of the times.

The Saint John of God brothers came here to Drumcar in order to be witnesses to the loving, merciful and caring work of Jesus.  They were inspired by the Holy Spirit to form a praying community of care made up of many ‘companions for the journey’ who have assisted them in their work.  Now they are moving on.  But the work of mercy does not end.  The mission of our Lord Jesus continues until the end of time.  It is just that it is finding new ways to respond to the signs of our times.

When the Saint John of God Brothers first came to Ireland from France, back in 1877, they immediately began to dedicate themselves to caring for the most abandoned and needy of God’s people.  Just like the Good Samaritan along the road to Jericho, they drew near to those in Irish society who were neglected on the sidewalks of society, often locked up and hidden away in work-houses and county homes, because no one would, or could, care for them in the special way that was needed.  Firstly in Tipperary and Stillorgan, and then in Blackrock and Mulhuddart, Stamullen and Celbridge, and here at Drumcar, the Saint John of God brothers formed communities to care, and established homes of hospitality where special needs and mental disabilities could be taken care of.  On behalf of Irish society they worked hard to build expertise and understanding of how best to reach out to God’s special people with tenderness, compassion and with a merciful heart that cares for those who have moderate or even severe or profound special needs.

I thank God for leading Brother Killian Herbert and his companions here to Drumcar in 1946, to the former ancestral home of the McClintock family, where they found a whole neighbourhood and network ready to join with them in their mission of mercy.  For me,two particular words come to mind when I think of their mission here at Drumcar – the words ‘hospitality’ and ‘accompaniment’. These qualities are as important today as they were back in 1946:

– Hospitality,  to provide a home where people can be loved and given their dignity as individuals created and loved by God;

– Accompaniment – to journey with someone on their way, to be their companions so that they can nurture their confidence, self-belief and self-esteem, and grow and develop to be the person that God wants them to be.

Please God, ‘hospitality’ and ‘accompaniment’ will continue in the new ways of caring being offered today, and in the future.  There have been huge developments in society’s understanding of how best to reach out to those with physical and intellectual disabilities – and we continue to learn from the challenges and failures of the past in this regard.

Down the decades the community here at Drumcar has been open to such learning and to embracing new thinking and best practices in providing outreach support, in developing skills and appropriate programmes and training and employment opportunities for those with special needs, so that they can be more fully integrated into family, community and society.

There is one special ingredient, however, which I hope will not be completely lost or forsaken as the Saint John of God brothers move on from here.  For the brothers, and for the wider community of care which existed here at Saint Mary’s, everything that was done here was situated in an ethos of prayer, and was inspired by the love and compassion of Christ.  An essential part of ministry every day took place here in this very chapel – the commending of everything to prayer and to the guidance of the Holy Spirit – we are grateful to the local clergy who over the years provided chaplaincy and sacramental services to the community including the Eucharist.

As our health services become increasingly secularised, it would be a shame if we were to lose the spiritual motivation and inspiration that can add so much value to healthcare.  For generations the people of Ireland were almost entirely dependent and were very grateful for the provision of health services by Catholic religious congregations like the Saint John of God brothers.  Catholic healthcare places, at the centre, the life and inherent dignity and respect for each individual human person, created by God and made in the likeness of God.  It seeks to build around it a community of caring companions who are motivated by the desire to serve, not to be served, and by a longing to provide hospitality, accompaniment and hope, inspired by the Gospel of Christ, to all; it looks out especially for the poor, the vulnerable, for those who might not have the resources or means to access healthcare services or who may otherwise be excluded or rejected by society; it aims to bring healing to the whole person by modelling the tender, one to one, attention and compassion of Christ which springs from a heart full of love and mercy. These were, and remain, the hallmarks of Catholic healthcare that is inspired by the Gospel, which I hope will never be completely lost from this country, as the Catholic religious congregations move away from the frontline provision of healthcare services.  I hope and pray that the lay-led Saint John of God Hospitaller Services will keep their ethos alive.

The particular chapter of mission brought to Drumcar by a community resident here of Saint John of God brothers has come to an end.  However, the need for love, compassion, care and attention for the marginalised among us remains as important as ever.  As we say thanks on this Mission Sunday for the mission and ministry of the Saint John of God brothers here in Drumcar, let us commit ourselves individually and collectively to be on the alert for the new needs, the new missions, the new opportunities for hospitality and accompaniment in the Ireland of today.  As in the time of Christ, as in Ireland 145 years ago when the Saint John of God brothers first arrived, so also today, in modern Ireland, there are those being left on the side of the road.  Perhaps the Holy Spirit is saying something to us in that Drumcar is now providing hospitality to more than one hundred Ukrainian refugees, some of whom are here with us today. You are very welcome!

Let us always keep our eyes open for the new ways in which Jesus may be saying to us today: ‘You shall be my witnesses’.  Amen.

+ Archbishop Eamon Martin

Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland.