IRELAND'S DESTINY and identity are "clearly and irrevocably bound with that of Europe", the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Most Rev Diarmuid Martin, has said.
"Ireland cannot evade its European calling nor shrink from its European responsibilities," he said at the Pro-Cathedral in Dublin yesterday.
"Christians are called to work to create the conditions in which people, to quote Pope Benedict XVI, 'will understand fully the greatness of the enterprise that is the European Union, and will become active artisans of the same'," he added.
Dr Martin was speaking just over a week after members of an Oireachtas committee criticised Catholic bishops for not being more positive in calling for a Yes vote during the Lisbon Treaty referendum campaign.
Responding to the criticisms by members of the Oireachtas sub-committee on Ireland's future in the European Union, the Catholic Primate Cardinal Seán Brady said a call by the bishops for a 100 per cent resounding Yes to Lisbon would have got "people's backs up".
He told the committee that "Ireland must stay at the heart of Europe", and that "Irish bishops believe passionately in Europe".
But he wondered whether some of the original idealism had been lost within the EU. Was this because the human and social dimension of Europe, on which it was founded, had been relegated by structural and bureaucratic priorities, he asked.
Delivering the homily yesterday in a Mass to mark the feast of St Laurence O'Toole, Dr Martin said that "far from looking at Europe as a threat to our distinctive Irishness, we should realise that Ireland has the capacity to contribute to Europe, to change Europe.
"This requires a more robust and discerning politics towards Europe, recognising the immense value of the European project as well as the challenges that the creation of a pluralist Europe entails in our times."
He noted that "within European political culture there are certainly tendencies towards a more secularist, positivistic and relativist philosophy. But these tendencies will not vanish by ignoring them or simply by criticising them from the margins or from outside. What is needed is a critical engagement from within."
Christians in Europe "should assert their commitment to Europe and unashamedly bring their contribution within the democratic opportunities that are available," he said.
"A truly pluralist Europe on its part should not feel threatened by the Christian message, which is a message about a God who loves, a message capable of enlightening and enriching the European project."
He recalled how, a few days ago, he had said Ireland needed a poverty strategy. "Irish Christians need also a European strategy: they need to be engaged in the debates, challenging with all respect for those with differing views any dominance of relativist tendencies, working for a Europe of internal solidarity and of solidarity with the poorest nations, witnessing to the basic values which a Christian vision can foster, and supporting European initiatives for peace in our continent and farther afield."
St Laurence O'Toole "was one who in the difficult times in which he lived walked the unsafe paths of a tense Europe as one committed to peace and the harmonious living together of different peoples. The Church in Ireland today, especially its lay men and women, can learn from his steps. Commitment to a better Europe involves engagement rather than resignation or simply lamenting from the sidelines," he said.