ACTIONS by the State may not prevent a drift "towards new forms of social disorder", the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Desmond Connell, has said.
In what appeared to be a reference to proposed changes in the bail laws, the archbishop said that although State action "may cut off some poisonous growth, it will not get down to the roots".
His comments were part of a homily delivered yesterday at the Edmund Rice Beatification Celebration in Tallaght, Co Dublin.
In a reference to "recently disturbing events" such as the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin - Dr Connell said the roots of lawless behaviour were best dealt with by telling the difference between good and evil.
He said this point had already been made as part of the Pope's Encyclical On The Splendour of Truth.
"When we begin to compromise about good and evil we are bending our convictions so as to narrow the difference between them and we deflect our spiritual growth towards what is false as though it were true."
The archbishop said there was a deception practised "where what was evil was permitted under the appearance of a good that suits our convenience". With this deception, "the need for reform and repentance is then suppressed and with it, the need for reform".
Dr Connell said he believed "communication today greatly depends on rhetoric - an art more concerned with persuasion than truth - an art which gained its effect by exciting the kind of emotion that clouds the perception of principles".
To a congregation of 2,500 people the archbishop praised the educational philosophy of Blessed Edmund Rice, who he said "would have no time for the recent assumption that moral education consists in the presentation of facts without guidance on the difference between good and evil".
Although poverty could be relieved by "alms giving" he said education was the best way to overcome it.
Dr Connell suggested that, at a time when there was "so much pressure to eliminate the spiritual dimension of Irish life", a federation of Christian Brothers past pupil unions could be set up to make the "Catholic lay voice" heard better.
"Where the brothers can no longer be present they will be careful to form their lay successors in the spirit of Edmund Rice", he said. The purpose of a federation would be to "preserve and develop the proud tradition" of the Christian Brothers and Blessed Edmund Rice.
The archbishop said the "beatification has come at a difficult moment in the history of the Presentation and Christian Brothers in Ireland", with "vocations at home fewer than vocations elsewhere". The way to improve this situation, he said, was for the Christian Brothers "to follow their founder's constantly repeated example by placing unwavering confidence in the providence of God".
The inspiration for a renewal of vocations and spiritual life in general could be found in the life of Edmund Rice and particularly the way he "sought light in prayer after his wife died.
The President, Mrs Robinson, has also paid tribute to Blessed Edmund Rice, saying in a letter of congratulation that it was "heartening to see Blessed Edmund Rice's major contribution to the development of 19th century Ireland receiving the recognition and appreciation it so rightly deserves".
Brother Edmund Garvey, Congregation leader of the Christian Brothers, said "Blessed Edmund Rice had made enormous efforts to ensure that as many people as possible could live life to the full". He told the congregation that Blessed Edmund Rice "devoted himself to giving people their dignity as human beings and believed the key to this was education".