Bishop: Courage vital for leaders

THE BISHOP of Down and Connor Dr Noel Treanor has said the Church, Government and other institutions of the state “must encourage and foster courageous leadership” if we are to rebuild people’s trust in society.

Speaking at the annual 1916 Rising commemoration mass at Arbour Hill, Dr Treanor said that despite the huge economic and political strides made since 1916, “cancerous growths in the tissue of society” have developed and these “require radical surgery”.

He said faith had been lost in the Church, Government, banks, hospitals and media and that we were living through a “crisis of trust”.

“How do we respond to such distrust, to the anger it generates and to its erosion of hope: how are we to respond as a people, as institutions led and animated by citizens, and as a nation? How are we to respond as Christians and members of Christ’s Church to the dilution of trust in the Church as a result of the scandals arising from the sexual abuse of children and vulnerable persons and its cover-up,” Bishop Treanor said.

“Not even a full week ago, we read survey statistics indicating the surge in the growth of distrust in the Church, Government, banks, hospitals and the media. Our country does not stand alone in this regard. Commentators in other European countries, in France and Germany for example, refer to the crisis of trust in the institutions of society. We know all too well the contagion of distrust and how corrosive it is, of hope, another vital and spiritual element in the social capital of a people and nation.

“Evidently there are no instant solutions. Serious, informed public debate must be pursued on the basis of renewal steps already taken. Civil society and intermediate organisations must encourage and foster courageous leadership,” he said.

Dr Treanor called on people to rediscover through the gospel of Jesus the spiritual resources “for the renewal of governance structures in Church and public life and for the strengthening of those values on which institutions, the state and political life depend for their functioning”.

President Mary McAleese and her husband Martin led the attendance at the Mass at the Church of the Sacred Heart. Taoiseach Brian Cowen attended, as well as cabinet ministers, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and leading opposition deputies.

Also in attendance were two former taoisigh, 90-year-old Liam Cosgrave and Albert Reynolds.