DUBLIN: New Archbishop of Dublin Dr. Dermot Farrell urges people to forget the past and embrace the future. Speaking at his inauguration ceremony at St Mary’s Pro Cathedral in Dublin, Dr. Farrell warned against defending the status quo.
The archbishop said: “This is not to forget the past, and especially not the painful past where so many were hurt.” Dr. Farrell, also a former bishop of Ossory, ironically referred to the Mother and Baby Home incident, saying that the Church must “never again” put its needs before the needs of “the little ones”.
“Rather than being focused short-sightedly on the glory of the past, and the magnificent institutions which our sisters and brothers before us built – we need to accept the responsibility of mission as we experience it now,” he said.
The archbishop said the church needs to play a role in protecting vulnerable members of the community, even as churches are closing due to high financial costs. Emphasizing the need for discussion and cooperation, he said church leadership should not tell people what to do, but overcome obstacles and mentality to bring ordinary people into Church life. He said there were no pre-arranged packages to meet the challenges of the church.
His predecessors Archbishop Diarmuid Martin and the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Jude Okolo, also attended the ceremony. Due to Level 5 restrictions, no one from the new Archbishop’s family could attend the ceremony directly. They watched the ceremonies online via the Cathedral webcam. “The future is a different country, we must do things differently there,” Archbishop said.
Challenges awaiting new bishop
Many challenges are awaiting the new Archbishop of Dublin. The ageing priesthood in Ireland are the most important. Half of the priests in the capital are 70 years of age or older. The decline in the number of parishes is also a problem. The level of Mass attendance in the inner city is very low. The COVID-19 Pandemic has also put the diocese’s financial situation in crisis.
Dublin is the largest diocese in the country with 197 parishes and 350 priests. The bishop made it clear that through Zoom he would have contact with the advisory councils and priests. Archbishop said that he was “happy to embrace this new mission” and starts it “with hope in my heart”.
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