A new leader - Welcome, Cardinal

THIS MORNING Pope Benedict XVI will invite Archbishop Seán Brady to become a Cardinal and the leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

He will join Cardinals Cahal Daly and Desmond Connell, creating the unprecedented situation where there will be three Catholic cardinals in Ireland.

No one will be more aware of the challenges facing Irish Catholicism than Cardinal Brady. Many Catholics will hope that he will oppose the Government’s inclination to widen the definition of marriage by trying to ensure that the privileges of civil union are not extended beyond heterosexual couples. Others will look to him to oppose the Department of Education’s insistence that schools accept teachers that they do not want.

As he has already shown, he is very capable of criticising our excesses and our belief in the potential of market forces to inform and construct a fair society.

It is ironic that at a time when we have more cardinals than ever before, we never had fewer practising Catholics. Nevertheless, let us wish Cardinal Brady well in his efforts to make our society a more caring and loving one.