Cardinal hopes public can move past 'negative caricatures' of faith

Cardinal Sean Brady has appealed to all those who go to a Church or visit a crib this year to reflect on why they are a follower of Christ.

In his Christmas Day message, the Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, expressed the hope that the relationship between faith and public life in Ireland would move beyond the sometimes "negative caricatures" of the past.

Cardinal Brady said unprecedented financial pressures and an ever increasingly aggressive public culture, along with social, moral and spiritual fragmentation, are leading to lives being overwhelmed with stress.

In his Christmas message, he said the future belongs to those who can provide trustworthy reasons to hope.

He said we should prioritise the elimination of child poverty, and that the failure to do so is unworthy of a jurisdiction which claims to have a paramount concern for children.

Meanwhile, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin asked people to rediscover the simplicity of Christmas, to learn from the simplicity of children, and to to rebuild stronger relationships with neighbours, particularly the elderly and most vulnerable, in an effort to restore true community spirit.