THE NEW papal nuncio to Ireland has paid tribute to the work of Irish missionaries in spreading “the flame of faith” abroad.
Archbishop Charles Brown, who takes up his post in Ireland later this month, made the comments in a homily at Mass yesterday in the Augustinian Irish national Church of St Patrick’s on Via Boncompagni, Rome.
He recalled that last year he travelled to India with Cardinal William Levada, the head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. At one point in their journey, they travelled to Pune, 150km southeast of Mumbai. Archbishop Brown was intrigued to discover that the city’s large Catholic cathedral is called St Patrick’s. The cathedral, built largely by Irish soldiers who served in the British army in India in the 19th century, was witness, he said, to the extraordinary Irish missionary spirit.
For his first homily since he was ordained Archbishop of Aquileia last Friday by Pope Benedict XVI, the new nuncio chose a church that has long been a focal point for Rome’s small Irish community.
As he prepares to travel to Ireland later this month, Archbishop Brown paid tribute to the role of Irish missionaries throughout church history, saying: “As you know, I go now to the beautiful Island of Ireland as the pope’s representative . . . Ireland has a Catholic history that goes back to 300 years after the death and resurrection of Christ.
“The flame of faith has been kept alive . . . not only in Ireland but it has been spread throughout the world by countless Irish missionaries and not only by them but also by simple Irish people who brought the faith to America and, in a certain sense, gave my ancestors their faith.
“I haven’t been to Ireland for a long time but I look forward to going there . . . doing my best to be the pope’s representative there in humility.”