The Church Of Ireland
Press Release

The Most Revd. Dr. William Walsh, Roman Catholic Bishop of Killaloe, gave the address at the Annual Citizenship Service in Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday, 7 November 1999 at 11.00 am.

The last time a Roman Catholic bishop preached at Citizenship Service was in 1990 when the Most Revd. Dr. Anthony Farquhar, Auxiliary Bishop of Down and Connor, gave the address.

The Archbishop of Dublin, the Most Revd. Dr. Walton Empey, presided.

The holding of the Citizenship Service is a long standing tradition when members of the Government, the Diplomatic Corps and Dublin Corporation join with representatives of the cultural, commercial and industrial life of the city to ask God's blessing on Dublin and its citizens.

The service began and ended with a colourful procession led by the deputy Lord Mayor, preceded by the city's sword and mace-bearers. Others in the procession included representatives of third-level institutions in academic dress, judges in wigs and gowns, members of ancient orders of chivalry in their robes, and uniformed members of the Civil Defence, the army, the Garda Siochana and youth organisations.

Dr. Walsh's address follows:

My dear friends

We gather for the final Citizenship Service of this decade, of this century, of this Millennium. In doing so it is only natural that we would ponder a little on the past and dream dreams for the future.

Standing here in this pulpit this morning I can't help reflecting with some degree of sadness that this 2nd Millennium, now drawing to a close, opened with the first major schism in the Christian Church - the schism between East and West. Midway through the Millennium the further sad division within the Western Church occurred. The scandal of a divided and at times divisive Christendom is still with us. Thankfully over this past 50 years considerable progress has been made in healing these divisions. The journey towards unity is a slow one but one we must continue to follow. Whether ever destined to achieve full unity we leave to the will of our Heavenly Father. We can however be certain that to treat each other with anything less than mutual respect, affection and love is a betrayal of all that Christianity is about. I believe that a gathering such as we have here this morning is a statement of that mutual respect, affection and love which is at the core of Christ's teaching.

Reflecting on the century just ending we recall the gaining of our independence as a people with our own democratically elected government. We remember and celebrate and give thanks to God for all the people who have worked generously down the years to preserve and enhance that democracy - our politicians, civil servants, local authorities, our army and gardai. At a time when there is much emphasis on the failures of the few it is important to recognise the generosity and dedication of the many.

Side by side with that independence there was the sadness and tragedy of division - division of North and South, and especially the division within the Northern part of our country. That division of course resulted in the enormous pain of the past 30 years. We hope and pray that the continuing efforts towards a final peaceful settlement may bear fruit so that there will be no more Omaghs or Greysteels, Black Fridays or Bloody Sundays, Enniskillens or Warringtons.

This final decade of our century and Millennium has been characterised by a sometimes bewildering pace of change. The traditional trust given to the authority of many of our powerful institutions has been eroded. It has been revealed that in times of serious economic difficulties a significant section of powerful people in our society effectively withdrew their support from the Irish economy and that they were colluded with in doing so by banks and politicians.

A series of scandals has undermined the trust of many in my own Church. These revelations have been deeply disturbing and painful. Nonetheless we must be grateful to those who have worked to replace that culture of concealment which has operated in these institutions in the past with a culture of openness and accountability.

From here onwards those who take on positions of authority must be prepared to have their authority subjected to constant testing. Trust must be earned rather than assumed as it was in the past.

Before leaving the subject of wrong doings which have been revealed could I dare to suggest a note of caution. Is there some danger that we may become slightly addicted to a daily dosage of the wrong doings of others, making us feel good that we are above all that and that all the wrongdoing of the world are the monopoly of the powerful? There is I believe a danger that we might forget our own frailties and become an unforgiving people ready to cast the mote from my brother's eye and failing to see the mote in my own. I'm reminded of the older son who stayed at home in that wonderful parable of the prodigal son.

I believe however that by far the greatest challenge which we face. as we enter the new Millennium comes from our new found prosperity. The very significant economic progress which we have made over the past 10 years must be welcomed. It would be churlish in the extreme not to recognise and give credit for the good work done by trade unions, workers, employers, politicians etc. in overcoming the difficulties of the past. It would be equally churlish to fail to recognise that while most of us have benefited significantly by that progress many of our people have been left behind. In a climate of aggressive individualism many individuals are left powerless and unable to cope.

If we wish to espouse Christian values and Christian standards as we enter the new Millennium we must commit ourselves to working towards a society where every human person has a rightful place and where no person or group of people are left powerless.

If I can be allowed to be a little parochial. I live in the town of Ennis in County Clare. We had a very exciting Conference there during the past week, a conference which reflected our need for balance in our value system as we enter the new Millennium. One of the speakers, journalist Fintan O'Toole, suggested to us in a most convincing and indeed challenging way that while we often speak about how power can corrupt we tend to forget that powerlessness can be even more corruptive.

By leaving people powerless, by treating them as mere clients in need of our help rather than people with a right to participate, by leaving them without the possibility of choice we destroy them as people. We can never develop a sense of responsibility unless there is the possibility of choice. Experience shows that people who grow up in a society where they are powerless, will very often abuse whatever little power they can find. The victims of powerlessness often become oppressors themselves.

It is not surprising that the vast majority of people, who are in our prisons, come from the poorest and powerless sections of our society. It is not surprising that most of those who are guilty of violence in the home are people who have no power outside the home.

We need to ask if the increased violence among groups of our travelling people in recent years is a symptom of their sense of powerlessness in our society?

We need to ask if the horror of the violence perpetrated in some of our institutions is linked to the powerlessness of those who inflicted it?

We need to ask if much of the violence, which has occurred in Northern Ireland, is rooted in a sense of past powerlessness of the perpetrators?

The recently acquired prosperity which we enjoy in this country is to be welcomed. The great challenge ahead is how we use that prosperity. It is not prosperity which erodes moral standards. It is rather our moral standards which determine how we use our prosperity. We can use it in a selfish manner. The powerful in our society, and by powerful I include the majority of us here this morning, can use it in a greedy and indeed corruptive manner or we can use it in a just and liberating way to restore their rightful power to the powerless in our society.

It is all too easy to suggest that this is a task for politicians, for trade unions, for the business world. It is up to each one of us to play our part in creating an environment in which there is a rightful place for each person in our society. if each one of us has the will politicians, trade unionists and others will find the way.

The first reading in today's ceremony spoke of the Great Jubilee as time for forgiving of debts and a challenge to be just in our dealings with others.