Will Ireland in the future be a country where Christian faith is strong, "or will it be part of a secularised desert in which God has disappeared below the horizon of people's lives?" the Catholic Bishop of Limerick, Most Rev Donal Murray has asked.
"I often ask myself when I confirm young people, what kind of world they will live in and whether they will be part of a living Catholic community like the one in which I received so many blessings and so much support." he said. He continued: "it seems certain that they will experience in the next 25 years far more change, far more challenges than those which marked the last 25. Many of us lived most of our lives in a generation when one might have taken that for granted. They will not."
Bishop Murray said: "The people who went before us left us a legacy: our parents and grandparents, our priests and bishops. They persevered and kept Christian hope alive in their time. Now it is our turn to persevere so that the same light shines from us.
"We do not know what the future holds, but we do know that the flame of hope can continue to burn brightly, even in the most impossible situations."
Bishop Murray was speaking on Sunday in St John's Cathedral, Limerick, on his 25th anniversary as a bishop.
"I see a picture very different from what I could ever have imagined. I see things to regret: mistakes made and opportunities missed and hurts inflicted; I see events I could never have anticipated: changes, crises, delight and devastation; I see things for which I can never adequately express my thanks: the joys and blessings, the remarkable signs of Christian faith and life and energy in many people and parishes." He added: "Our time has seen great achievements in science and technology, in awareness that we human beings are interdependent members of one family, in consciousness of the need for respectful dialogue between people of different faiths and cultures. But progress is always ambiguous: there has also been 'progress' from the slingshot to the atom bomb.
"That is why what John the Baptist called God's winnowing fan is always needed," he said.