Posts Tagged ‘Archbishop Diarmuid Martin’

Punitive God image must be overturned, Dublin prelate says

Tuesday, September 30th, 2014

The Catholic Church has to turn the image of a punitive, judgemental God head over heels, the Archbishop of Dublin says. Speaking at a Mass in Dublin on the feast of Our Lady of Mercy, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said many in his generation grew up in a religion where this punitive image prevailed. “Mercy was Read more

Pope Francis ruffling a few conservative young feathers

Friday, August 8th, 2014

Pope Francis’s courage is causing disquiet among those with “a very conformist and closed Catholicism”, the Archbishop of Dublin has warned. At a Catholic leadership conference in Melbourne last month, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin spoke of a young curate who recently told his parish priest he was not happy with some things the Pope had said. Read more

Irish government sets up inquiry into mother and baby homes

Friday, June 13th, 2014

The Irish government is to set up a formal investigation into issues in mother and baby homes, which were run by churches and the state. A special commission of investigation will examine the high mortality rates, burial practices and secret and illegal adoption and vaccine trials on children at these homes. Irish minister for children Read more

Archbishop calls for inquiry into Irish mother and baby homes

Tuesday, June 10th, 2014

The Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, has called for a full investigation into mother and baby homes in Ireland. His call follows controversy over a mass grave containing the remains of nearly 800 children from a convent-run home in Tuam in County Galway. The children, aged one to nine, died between 1925 and 1961. The Read more

Irish newspaper apologises for anti-priest cartoon

Tuesday, April 29th, 2014

The Irish Times newspaper has described as “a regrettable editorial lapse” a cartoon it published suggesting that no priests can be trusted with children. The cartoon by Martyn Turner showed three priests, with one holding a paper stating “Children First Bill” and “Mandatory Reporting”. The three priests were singing “I’d do anything for children (but Read more

Catholic writers hurting church credibility: Ireland Archbishop

Tuesday, September 17th, 2013

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has hit out at some Catholic writers who he said lack basic Christian charity. He also criticised elements of the Catholic media who he said were damaging the credibility of the church. In an address yesterday to the ‘Faith of Our Fathers’ conference in Kilkenny, organised by the ‘Catholic Voice’ newspaper, the Read more

Irish archbishop slams Church treatment of children

Tuesday, July 23rd, 2013

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has hit out at the Catholic Church’s treatment of children after an official report trenchantly criticised three former Dublin archbishops for their mishandling of an abuse case. The report also found there was “shocking” police connivance with Church authorities in failing to investigate complaints. “The priest was looked after, people Read more

Renewing the Irish church from within

Tuesday, May 21st, 2013

I entered the seminary in Dublin in October 1962, just one week before the opening of the Second Vatican Council. The winter of 1962-63 was one of the bleakest in decades, and our seminary was a very cold place in more ways than one. My memory of the seminary is of a building and a Read more

Archbishop Martin: Church must be ‘destructured’

Tuesday, April 9th, 2013

Irish Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said the Church should be “restructured and destructured” in order to bear more effective witness to the Gospel. “Newness and life will not come out of a Church which still wants to look on itself as an institution of power, even a renewed institution, or from a Church which is Read more

Catholic Church in Ireland ‘too timid’ to engage with society

Friday, July 20th, 2012

The Archbishop of Dublin has told the Catholic Church in Ireland it is “too timid” in bringing the Christian message to the problems of society. In a homily in his pro-cathedral, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said the Church “should be active and present in society, drawing attention to suffering and repression of any kind and being Read more