Catholics From Ireland

"We were created to be creators."

"One of the great modern philosophers of beauty, Immanuel Kant, spoke of the joy we take in the Beautiful as 'disinterested delight'. The animation of the Beautiful is so immediate and fulfilling that we simply enjoy it for itself; it never occurs to us to ask what purpose it serves."

"It is ironic that so often we continue to live like paupers though our inheritance of spirit is so vast."

"In contrast to how a child belongs in the world, adult belonging is never as natural, innocent, or playful. Adult belonging has to be chosen, received, and renewed. It is a lifetime's work."

"A person's faith can take on a special significance when living far from home. It provides a wonderful opportunity for migrants to come together with others to worship, it creates a strong bond and a supportive network to soften, to some extent, the isolation of emigration. While their circumstances and locations may change, God's love is a constant for them to hold on to."

"The Holy See encourages the peaceful resolution of disputes. So the Holy See is a voice of conscience that we want to relate to at a diplomatic level. Also, the Holy See is a great source of insight on particular situations if you want to understand what's happening in certain parts of the world. The Holy See, because of the presence of the Church on the ground, often has a particularly fine understanding."

"elations between the African Bishops, missionary institutes and the other agents of evangelisation are generally good. But it is precisely because of the huge potential for the Church in Africa and the need to define and respect various roles and charisms, that new inculturated structures for dialogue are required. There is an urgent need for all involved in missionary activity - male and female, clerical and lay - to discuss, analyse and plan together."

"Bishops' Conferences must create space for us to discern evangelization in our spiritual and pastoral lives. As father and brother we bishops must travel closely with our priests evaluating their parish apostolates and keeping before them the light of Evangelization. We must welcome the new movement but continue with them to keep the vision of the diocese within the contours of their charisms."

"This whole area of ministry is first and foremost the fulfilment of baptismal responsibilities. This demands lay participation in all areas of Church life, and calls for collaboration in ministry. Therefore, I call upon this Synod, firstly, to recognise that collaborative ministry is an imperative, not an option, and secondly, to allow Churches to shape ministries adapted to their particular pastoral priorities."

"As the Pope's representative I very much hope firstly to be able of course to be a support to the local church, that's our first task, and also to in some way do whatever I can to facilitate the ongoing peace."

"The value of a democracy stands or falls with the values which it embodies and promotes. Today let us pray that our democracy will always embody and uphold its present core value, the dignity of the individual human person. What we sorely need in Ireland are more informed and articulate people who can challenge the idea that a person's religious beliefs should be relegated to the private sphere."

"He was, by nature, a man with vision, who was blessed by God with many opportunities to realise it. He always seemed to be in the right place when the opportunity for change presented itself and allowed him room to be creative and to create something new for the future."

"Yes, a musical entitled The Train has for its theme that notorious contraceptive train which ran from Belfast to Dublin in 1971 and is to open next week in Dublin. I participated in that original stunt, but I have declined any further connection with the performance in question and chosen not to appear on any radio or television programme associated with it. I do not endorse Rough Magic's enterprise in turning this episode into a musical, because, for me, it is not the way to explain the historical context of birth control in Ireland - and elsewhere. I also feel that an experience which belongs to my life has been stolen. It is for me to tell my story, at least while I am alive, not others."

"[On the "contraceptive train" episode] I knew that this was something which had to be done, because it would make a point dramatically, sensationally, even historically. I was also wretched about doing it. I knew how upset my mother would be – how mortified to see her daughter in the headlines, even identified as a ringleader, in a stunt which involved buying French letters in Belfast."

"I remember thinking, "here's this great Irish guy, hope he does well." Little did I know he was already working circles around us native guys, just in terms of totally immersing himself in the community, making everyone feel that he was a kindred spirit to them, and he was. Dave was never a chameleon. He was never pretending to be any of these things. He did it because he was genuinely interested in everyone, wanting to love everyone."

"We are at a critical stage of the journey to peace and a shared future in Northern Ireland. We need investment for peace, stability and growth, not measures that leave tens of thousands of our young people without hope or a stake in a better future. We know that our local politicians could take their own decisions on this matter but we want to support them in making the case to Westminster that Northern Ireland does have unique circumstances."

"We're all we're all a bit traumatized, people are easily triggered, people get mad at each other, blaming each other, condemning each other, canceling each other... and that's just the American bishops!"

"I guess when we love somebody we want to see them loved by others and being praised by others. And that's what Jesus, even all through history, so many miracles are done at the intercession of Our Blessed Mother, so much good comes into the world at the intercession of Our Blessed Mother, because Jesus wants her to be loved. Wants people, wants you and I to love her as much as he loves her."

"A remnant of the settlers who constitute a bare 5 per cent of the population, this small group of Europeans denies to the African majority fundamental rights and is determined to hold on to power and privilege even though in this manner it has now become a political absurdity—a state without a nation."

"It is clear that in the future, we will be a smaller faith community, but with the help of God we will be a more faith-filled, vibrant, welcoming, grounded community. A faith community that is aware of our individual human weakness while, at the same time, ever striving to overcome such weakness with the merciful healing help of God. A faith community that lives the message of Jesus in a way that better speaks in equal measure to the lives of our fellow women and men."

"No teenager should be banned from public school for not having paid school fees."

"The Church here is not subject to the kind of persecution that it experienced in the 17th century during Saint Oliver's ministry, nor as it is in many other parts of the world today. But I don't think you have to be paranoid to believe that there is a kind of persecution of the Church taking place here all the same. It is not physical persecution but it is no less real for that. It is more subtle. It takes the form of gradual exclusion of Church people or activities from the public space."

"Even the most elementary research reveals that Paul derived his titles for Christ from Jewish messianic expectation. Confrontation with Rome was an unforeseen consequence."

"As always, the experience for our young people is meeting young people from different parts of the world – in an Ireland in which it’s not necessarily cool and popular to be a young Christian and a young Catholic – for our young people to see that there are many others experiencing the same experience and to go away strengthened in their faith"

"I think that when a man becomes a bishop he doesn't cease to be a citizen and as a citizen every responsible man has right make up his own mind and his own conscience and to follow it and I think also that wise people would believe that everybody being free to to ventilate his own view, whether they like them or not, well, that's the real freedom of democracy."

"The blows never really stopped from the right or the left, but he continued on because for Daniel Mannix the spiritual and the practical missions were connected the why and the how they informed each other and they enriched each other. Now Daniel Mannix was one of a kind and during the Labor split I couldn't say his role was a good one, there might be others in the audience who disagreed, but there's so much that we can learn from his long life."

"Mental health has no evidence base."

"He went beyond the boundaries of the old Roman Empire to brave the terrors of a pagan land whose people needed the Gospel. The descendants of those people have the same need today. And like St. Patrick, we Irish Christians must hear the voice of our contemporaries who yearn to hear that human life has a meaning and purpose."

"The announcement took me by surprise and all I can say is that I was humbled by the appointment from Pope Francis. He has put his trust in me in serving the Church's mission in the world and in particular, here in the Archdiocese of Melbourne, making God's love come alive for people. I accept this new challenge with the help of God’s grace accompanying me into the future. I would appreciate it if you could keep me in your prayers during this time."

"He is a true pastor. I was deeply moved by his homily on the day of the inauguration of his ministry, particularly by the use of the image of the wasteland. Many people, for different reasons, including poverty and abandonment, are living in the wasteland of modern, secular society. It seemed to me that in the words of the Holy Father there was a wonderful compassion and understanding of the suffering of people in today's world."

"I am sure that tourists will come back very soon after the crisis that put Gambia for the first time at the center of international media, something I had never seen before. Now it is over. If you want to help us, go back to Gambia as tourists."

"Northern Ireland and the peace process is still a delicate initiative, it needs some tending, it needs support, it needs accompaniment, it needs midwifing."

"My heart is Yours, my mind is Yours, my thoughts are Yours. Ask me for anything. Nothing matters now, since nothing I have is mine! Possess me, Jesus"

"Our faith is counter-cultural to the American ideal of individualism. We are a part of the universality founded in Christ and thus a part of a larger, single family-the people of God. The care of our common home does not fall in step with individualism. God asks us to think about ourselves in relationship to God and thus in relationship to our immediate family and our extended family throughout the world."

"As priests we give thanks to the Lord for our calling. It's always a tremendous joy when we are able to help others in need, in pain, in difficulty, those who are suffering. As priests we must always make ourselves available to the people we are called to serve. That's a quality that people in parishes very much appreciate. We must make ourselves available. We give thanks to God for the good we have achieved in our ministry and with His help, we thank him for the good we will continue to do, for His people, to whom we are called to serve."

"The most beautiful history book of the year is Marking the Hours: English People and their Prayers, 1240–1570... Eamon Duffy examines surviving copies of the Book of Hours, the most intimate book of the late Middle Ages, tracing the marks left by readers — everything from laundry lists scribbled in the margins to personalised versions of prayers. This richly illustrated book takes us back into the hearts and souls of the English long ago."

"Eamon Duffy's The Stripping of the Altars takes its place besides A. G. Dickens' The English Reformation as a landmark book in the history of the Reformation, and with this book the author assumes commanding rank in the revisionist camp."

"I do not think there is a Christian shape to history in the sense that things move according to God's plan in any discernible way. I think a Christian approaches history with a sense that human life matters and has meaning and that it is both possible and important to tell the truth. Perhaps that constitutes a Christian approach to history because none of those things can be taken for granted now, even among people practicing history. There are people who practice history who think that it is a branch of the creative arts in the sense that we impose patterns on the past. I believe that we discover patterns in the past."

"Duffy's aim is to redress an old historiographical imbalance. He has admirably succeeded in this, even if at the cost of another imbalance. This is, as it stands, a very illuminating and satisfying book, which takes a major step towards better understanding of the English Reformation."

"The reason the Pope is the Pope is that he is the custodian of the relics of St Peter."

"Marian devotion is very deeply embedded in Ultramontane papalist Catholicism, and has been for centuries. The Virgin in the nineteenth century, apparitions of the Virgin, play an enormous part in focusing Catholic loyalty, Catholic identity, and also in offering a dimension of Christianity... If you've got a very rigid, hierarchical, masculinely-dominated form of Christianity, the tender, nurturing, feminine element in Christianity can only be rescued by some sort of balancing act. This I think was an enormous strength in nineteenth century Catholicism over and against say nineteenth century Fundamentalist Evangelicalism - with which it has a great deal in common in some respects - but where I think it has an edge is in this feminine dimension."

"The Stripping of the Altars by Eamon Duffy, professor of the history of Christianity at Cambridge and a former president of Magdalene College, is the most important study of our time in the field of early modern English religious history. It has completely changed our view of the reception of Protestant theology under the Tudors."

"Putting the rights of the child explicitly into the Irish Constitution is a way of signalling the rights of the child so they are no longer implicit, but this must go hand in hand with practical support for children and families under stress, particularly in this time of economic crisis. Legislation is one step, practical support is now needed."

"I have learned a huge amount and I think I would want to say that I think my heart was in the right place. But obviously when you are in a leadership role around issues as sensitive as this it is easy for trust to be damaged, so the question really is to assess that and to see can you recover trust and rebuild trust."

"I am not privy to the reasons I was appointed bishop and to this day it is still a mystery to me! However, I was active in the promotion of vocations to the priesthood and religious life as well as the area of communications, proclaiming the good news of the Gospel. They are two areas that I am passionate about and do all I can to support in whatever way I can."

"Dublin's a big city, so Cork is much smaller, people are very friendly. It's a nice place to be, a lovely city, but it wasn't in my trajectory. I was very happily doing a busy job in Dublin. I had a lot of things going on. It came totally out of the blue."

"If your faith is the foundation of all that you do, it actually enchances everything else and gives you a greater joy to experience everything else because everything is ordered properly."

"The real forces behind Bolshevism in Russia are Jewish forces, and Bolshevism is really an instrument in the hands of the Jews for the establishment of their future Messianic kingdom."

"Haiti is a very poor country. It gets a lot of negative publicity in the media because of the natural disasters, the political instability, and the violence. What I discovered here was an enormously gifted people, very creative artists, musicians, writers, and poets."

"We remain very grateful for the historic communities who have served us so well in the Diocese over many years, and yet we are also grateful for the new life that the newer communities – like Sister Adorers – bring to our future life in God."