In his first address as the newly appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Dublin, Most Rev Diarmuid Martin said he recognised that "there are many who are estranged from the church". Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondent, reports.
Speaking in the Pro-Cathedral on Saturday, where he had been introduced to the people and the media by Cardinal Desmond Connell after 11 o'clock Mass, he said: "I am aware that there are those for whom meaning and hope were lost in their lives through the actions of church personnel. Their hurt is all the greater if they feel betrayed by someone they had turned to in trust."
He continued: "I am prepared to work with them and with all so that the church in Dublin diocese can be more and more church at its best, bringing the comfort and strength, that hope and meaning of the message of Jesus, which has inspired so many in this city and diocese over the years."
Expressing his happiness that "this first meeting takes place here in the Pro-Cathedral at a regular morning Mass, in a church that is a unique centre of prayer and of the sacraments" he remembered "the many great priests I know who have worked here" and "all the great priests who minister untiringly to all the people of the diocese".
Welcoming Father Martin Cosgrove, chairman of the Dublin Council of Priests, he said he looked forward "to renewing my acquaintance with all the priests during the coming months".
He reflected that Saturday morning was a time in downtown Dublin when people were "out and about talking, meeting and spending", while "at the same time the Pro-Cathedral is a place where the poor and the marginalised know they can come for help and support". It was a bishop's job "to help all those different groups to see Jesus, and to feel his help in their lives".
Earlier he had said that, after many years in a very specialised ministry at the service of the Holy See, he was happy "to start being a real bishop, in a pastoral setting". A bishop's job, he said, was "to preach the word of God and to form Christian communities in which women and men begin to know Jesus and to find in his person and in his message meaning and hope for their real every day lives".
He had been "born and grew up in Dublin, but I have lived most of my life away from Ireland". When he left Geneva on Friday morning - where he was Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See at the UN - he was "somewhat nervous". He saw a group of elderly people wandering around the airport and heard one of them saying "in the name of God where are they taking us?" It was the way he felt himself. "But I have to say that it only takes a couple of hours being back here before you realise that Dublin is a great place to be." He thanked Cardinal Connell for his warm introduction. "This is my first day and I have a great deal to learn." He was happy therefore to have in the Cardinal "a novice-master who is wise, kind and patient". He looked forward to working with him in the challenging task ahead.
Introducing Archbishop Martin, Cardinal Connell said it was "a wonderful day for us, for the diocese". It was nearly 200 years since a coadjutor had been appointed in Dublin "and that was Archbishop Murray, one of the great archbishops". Archbishop Martin had all the gifts to go down as one of the great archbishops too.
He explained that "exactly this day [May 3rd\] last year" he had sought the appointment of a coadjutor to Dublin to assist him in his responsibilities. That followed the appointment of Bishop Jim Moriarty as Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin and of Bishop Eamonn Walsh as Apostolic Administrator to Ferns diocese. Both men were auxiliary bishops of the Dublin Archdiocese.
"In response the Holy Father has given us this gift," he said. The appointment of "a highly-regarded member of the Roman Curia and a distinguished envoy of the Holy See to the United Nations conveys the Holy Father's benevolence and particular favour towards the archdiocese as well as the importance the Pope attaches to the church's mission to the contemporary secular world as represented in the evolving circumstances of a changing Ireland," he said. Archbishop Martin's "outstanding priestly qualities and his exceptional experience" meant he was "particularly suited to assist me in the service of the archdiocese and eventually to assume the leadership of our Catholic people", he said.